Many people believe that spring is the best time to sell a house, with buyers wanting to be moved in ready for summer, viewings able to take place later in the day thanks to the lighter evenings, and spring traditionally being a time for new beginnings.

However, there are plenty of reasons why September is actually a better time to sell, with leading property website Rightmove even confirming an increase in traffic numbers to their website in their most recent figures.

If you’re thinking of selling your property in Brighton & Hove or Mid Sussex, here are a few reasons why September is a great time to sell:

Buyers who start looking for a home in September are generally planning to be moved in by Christmas, particularly if they’re looking to host family and friends in their new home.

As a result, they see December as a self-imposed deadline, which can encourage them to make an offer quickly and also do their best to speed up the buying process.

Summer is usually seen as the worst time to sell, especially if your home is ideal for a family. With the kids off school, and many families going away on holiday, most parents don’t have the time or energy to be looking at properties during July and August.

However, once September comes around again, it can be much easier for buyers to fit the time in for viewings. It’s also better for sellers too, as it’s easier to keep the house clean and have viewings during the day with the kids back at school.

As parents will know, school admission deadlines fall in late January, or early February. Therefore, families looking to move into the catchment area for a particular school will need to be moved in by this point, making September an ideal month to start looking for a new home.

With the Winter months approaching, gardens become less of a focus for buyers, as they’re more interested in a cosy home where they can stay warm.

This gives sellers a great chance to highlight the interior features that make their home ideal for the colder months, such as a fireplace or a wood-burning stove.

And having it lit for the estate agent’s photos can really make a difference to buyers.

If your home has great views that are obscured by fully blossomed trees in the spring and summer months then September can be a great time to highlight its full views to buyers.

With autumn fast approaching and the leaves starting to fall, it may be the ideal time for buyers to see the views at their best, and it can even allow more light into the house and garden.

Research shows that September is a strong month for buyers, with property searches very high, compared to November and December for example.

This means more potential buyers for your property, which in turn means more competition among buyers. When you consider the fact that there are more motivated buyers too, it can create a perfect storm for sellers.

It’s also worth noting that if you list your house during a quieter month it might stay on sale for longer. This may lead to buyers questioning why, and perhaps going in with a lower offer than they’d otherwise be making.

Of course, it is important that you listen to good advice from your agent when valuing your home to ensure you get buyers through the door. So you do not miss a window of opportunity to maximise viewings in September, make sure you listen to good advice and the agent you instruct can demonstrate this with comparable evidence of recent sales achieved in your area.