The magic listing window likely won’t work in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Making recent news in the world of real estate was an announcement by Zillow about a new tool for home sellers. The listing portal’s “Best Time to List” tool estimates how much the timing of when a property is listed will influence its sales price, based on the sales history of the property’s local market. “Sellers can use this information to have a more informed conversation with their local real estate agent to determine the best time to put their home on the market,” Zillow said when announcing the tool. Click here to enlarge chart. Everyone knows that the spring is a hot time to sell in San Francisco Bay Area, but Zillow shares specific dates to list your home.

However, there are two caveats that Zillow does not include:

1. If sellers held their listings from the market and took Zillow’s advice, there would be a spike of inventory on the market during the two week window they suggest which would have the exact opposite effect of what benefit they are purporting and “cluster the competition”. Prices would actually drop.
2. The second caveat is that with such low inventory that the San Francisco and East Bay housing markets are currently experiencing, the statistics they are using to find the “best dates” can be a less than accurate data pull.   “Big data works on so many levels in determining what consumers are doing or about to do”, says Berkeley Hills Realty Broker, Tracy Sichterman. “However, when you ask your Realtor, “When’s the best time to list my home?” to get top dollar for your property, the answer is in the local expertise. We have specific knowledge of the Berkeley, Oakland and East Bay market and we track local sales statistics daily.”   “We encourage home sellers and buyers to do internet research”, Sichterman added, “But when it’s time to get the local story with the real time housing statistics for this area, we suggest talking to a local Realtor.”

Krista and Rosie offer complimentary comparative market analysis to determine the value of your home and advice about the selling or buying process. Contact us today!

Reposted from the Berkeley Hills Realty blog.