Timing is just as important as pricing - By Matt Trudel

Ready to sell your home this spring, but just not sure when is the right time to put it on the market. The real estate market is always changing, so having a broker who has a good feel for what the pulse of the market is doing is very important. Working with someone local and who knows the area is key. Timing can be just as important as correctly pricing your property.

The real estate market has what I like to call "the holiday lull" or the time from Thanksgiving into the new year when the market slows down and there is not an abundance of activity. Generally this is over by the end of February or first week of March. Not the case this year. The second week of January there was a significant spark of activity.

Perhaps it has been the milder winter that has brought the buyers out early, or the recent drop in mortgage rates could easily have been one of the triggers. Regardless of the reasons, the spring real estate market is in its early stages. If your house is not ready to go on the market, I suggest you get it ready and do it quickly. Some things may have to wait, especially outside projects like exterior touch up painting or landscaping. The point is, if you want to sell and you don't have your home on the market, you are missing out on many buyers who are shopping around and putting other homes under contract.

Be careful when it comes to pricing your home, and spend time to make sure you get it correct. This is often the area where homeowners make the biggest mistake. Overpricing a home is pit fall that so many fall into. An overpriced home will not be shown very often by buyers’ agents who know the home is overpriced. As a realtor, a lot of our time is reviewing homes and pricing for our buyers. As buyers begin to look at more and more homes, they too get a sense for what is a good value and not so good. If neither the realtor nor the buyer feel the value is there, you are very unlikely to get a second showing and much less receive an offer. So work closely with you realtor when setting a starting price, and get that house on the market sooner rather than later.

Matt Trudel, President Five Star Realty, Windham.