AUTUMN ADVANTAGES: FIVE GOLD SELLING SECRETS OF THE UNDERRATED SEASON

Autumn gets a bad rap as a season for selling your home. It's always pushed back behind the blossom of spring, the sunshine of summer, and the festive magic of winter.

But Autumn is what you might call the hidden gem of seasons to sell. There's still plenty of activity from buyers, the leaves are turning into a bold and beautiful display of colour, and there are no stressful deadlines like Christmas and school years to meet. Instead, Autumn can be the most relaxed season for starting and planning a move.

Even with homes selling quickly, the average timescale for moving home remains around 4-5 months, which gives you all the time and space you need to plan your spring move to perfection without feeling rushed or frazzled.

If you've been thinking about moving in the spring but thought you should wait until the new year to put your home on the market, this week's blog is definitely for you. Read on to discover how finding a buyer in the Autumn has given many sellers a surprising and valuable head start.

CATCH BUYERS AT A TIMELY MOMENT

Autumn is when the seeds of many a move are sown, and often unexpectedly.

After seizing every opportunity to get outside in the summer, from enjoying the garden to picnics at the park to sitting on the terrace at the pub, the nip in the Autumn sends us retreating back to where it's warm.

As we spend more time indoors again, we start paying more attention to the space inside our homes, and this is when we begin to notice where we're feeling squeezed.

Maybe the living room feels smaller after the wide-open spaces of the summer, or the children playing back in the house have disturbed the sense of privacy and quiet. Or perhaps working from home feels different now that evenings are spent inside as well as the day.

Whatever the reasons for considering a move, the planting of the idea is where it all starts. And what does everyone do at even the slightest thought of buying a new home? They head straight online to the property portals, "just to check out the options", and before they know it, the home of their dreams scrolls into view.

You'd be surprised at just how many moves happen like this, and Autumn is often the trigger.

ENJOY A RELAXED EXPERIENCE

Many people move to a deadline, and these immovable dates cause much of the stress associated with buying and selling a home.

Trying to orchestrate a move for the start of a school year or to be in a new home for Christmas are hugely popular timeframes. This massive concentration of activity increases the number of sales going through and puts pressure on mortgage lenders and conveyancers to have everything ready on time as they struggle to keep up with demand.

But from the end of September, the mania subsides. The school year is well underway, and anyone needing to be in for Christmas has already found a home, which leaves refreshingly relaxed conditions to think about a move.

In case you're wondering, the level of enquiries from buyers is still extremely high right now. Parents, in particular, find viewings far easier when they don't have the kids in tow, but this year's unsatisfied demand has kept the market strong with ready-and-waiting buyers for every type of home.

SELL WITH LESS COMPETITION

If you've ever looked for a property on the portals during the peak selling seasons of spring and early summer, you'll remember just how many hundreds of homes you need to scroll through before hopefully finding the one.

With so many listings to get through, it can be easy to miss the perfect home for no other reason than the sheer volume of entries. Then there's the task of actually getting around to seeing everything, which can feel like an impossible mission with so much available.

It makes sound marketing sense to list your home for sale when the competition is smaller, and the chances of being noticed are greater. You'll find it much easier to stand out and shine when you're not competing with a crowd, and buyers offer faster when there are fewer reasons to stop them from making a decision.

Most sellers will wait until the new year to put their home on the market, so now is your chance to hog the autumn limelight, agree a sale and get your move underway.

CAPTURE NATURE'S GOLDEN BLESSING

When it comes to conjuring up the warmest of welcomes with an inviting invitation to step inside from the chill in the air, it doesn't get much better than having your home framed by dazzling golden leaves against a crisp blue sky.

As the year's most colour-coordinated season, Autumn's sumptuous palette of reds, oranges, yellows and greens can be a photographer's dream and produce some of the most incredible and memorable photos of your home. Whether it's the front view from the street or looking across your garden, autumnal photography has a special kind of magic that is supremely eye-catching and equally hard to resist.

Book your photos for the time of day when your home looks its best in the light, then let the sun catch the leaves for a fiery and radiant glow. If you'd like any tips on maximising your kerb appeal for Autumn, call for a chat on YOUR PHONE.

GET AHEAD OF NEW-YEAR SELLERS

If there's anything we can safely rely on from the property market in YOUR AREA, it's the constant see-sawing between feast and famine. One minute there are more homes available than you could ever view; the next, a bit like now, there's hardly anything around.

Seeing a lack of homes to buy could deter you from putting your own home up for sale in case you can't find anywhere to go. You don't want to make yourself or your family homeless, so you might decide to wait until the new year and the traditional upturn in homes coming onto the market. It's logical thinking, but you can use the market better to your advantage.

Most people thinking about selling their homes in the new year will start talking to estate agents in October and November, which means we'll know about more homes than are visible online. By having a buyer already in place, you'll put yourself in pole position to secure one of those before they hit the market, or to be ready to offer when they do come up for sale in January.

The vast majority of buyers will wait for you to find a new home if you're open with them from the start, and those who are looking now will usually not be rushing against the clock.

Final words

Autumn's destiny is probably to remain an underrated time of year to find a buyer. But for those in the know, the golden season holds several unique and valuable benefits when it comes to selling your home.

We'd love to help you capture your home at its Autumn best so you can move into a new place for the beginning of spring. Why not call for a chat on 01566 818180 or email viewings@athelstans.co.uk to talk about your plans and get things underway.