Selling Next Spring? 6 Things to Do Now

If you've decided to wait until spring to sell your home in Livingston, Millburn, Short Hills, Summit or any of the neighboring towns, you have likely thought about price and competition. 

According to Realtor.com, price reductions tend to peak in the fall, as sellers who didn't sell over the summer find they’re competing for a smaller pool of buyers. 

In today’s higher-rate environment, you wouldn’t be alone in thinking next spring could be a more advantageous time to make a move. Plenty of buyers right now are setting up camp on the sidelines as rates above 7% drive up the cost of a home purchase.

Plus, years of data point to spring as a time when sellers typically have an edge. 

That said, waiting to list and waiting to get ready are two different decisions. If you push both to spring, you'll end up cramming every step of your sale into a few short weeks.

Below, I'll walk you through what the spring data tells us and the steps you can start on this fall, so you're ready when your listing date comes.

What the Data Says About Listing in Spring

This year, Realtor.com picked the week of April 12-18 as the best time to sell a home in 2026. To find it, their team looked at seasonal trends from 2018 to 2025 (leaving out 2020) and scored every week of the year on how much the market favored sellers. In 2027, it will likely be around the same time. 

Compared with the average week of the year, homes listed that week have seen:

• Listing prices 1.3% higher than the average week, and 6.6% higher than the start of the year

• 16.7% more views per listing

• 17% less time on the market, or about 9 days faster

• 11.9% fewer sellers on the market

• 18.9% fewer homes with a price reduction

A big reason spring works in a seller's favor is that a crowd of buyers is shopping for a smaller number of homes. Mortgage rates aren't part of the score. Realtor.com left them out because rates move with the larger economy and don't follow a seasonal pattern.

You Can Prepare Now and Still List in Spring

Getting your home ready and putting it on the market are two separate steps. You can start the first one this fall and save the second one for spring.

A Realtor.com survey found that 53% of sellers took one month or less to get their home ready to list. Finding an agent and preparing a home for sale is a process, so give yourself plenty of lead time before your listing date.

The two paths for a spring listing look like this:

• Prepare now and launch later. Your pricing strategy, repairs, photos, and marketing are done before spring, so you aren't starting from scratch when it's time to list.

• Wait to prepare and rush later. Every decision, from repairs and pricing to photos and marketing, gets squeezed into a short, stressful window, and you end up with fewer choices and less control.

Between now and spring, you can control your preparation, pricing strategy, presentation, marketing, timing, and how ready you are when the right opportunity comes along. 

With that work done this fall, January becomes the month you finalize your plan.

6 Things to Do Now for a Spring Launch

I recommend tackling these six things over the next few months, so your home is ready when your spring launch date arrives.

1. Set your pricing and positioning strategy. Sit down with your agent and look at where your home fits in your local market and how to price it for a spring launch.

2. Make a prioritized list of repairs and improvements. Ranking what needs to get done gives you the winter to work through the list at your own pace.

3. Get your exterior photos, aerials, floor plans, and video done. Capturing your home's exterior and surroundings while the yard and trees look their best gives us strong images to work with. Waiting often means getting images at the end of winter. 

4. Build a full launch marketing plan. Your marketing plan can be ready to go, so nothing is left to scramble on launch day.

5. Put your plan in writing. Lock in your plan and reserve your launch window, with a listing date set for when the timing is right. 

6. Schedule a final pre-launch review. Before your listing goes live, walk through everything with your agent one more time to make sure your home and your marketing are ready.

A spring sale brings a lot less stress when the prep work is done before the season starts. 

Get your plan in place this fall, so your home is ready the moment your best week in our local market arrives.