I am  constantly asked the question, “when is the best time to sell my house?”  That question can best be answered by you. Do you have a time table?  Are you waiting until the next school year, or your job location changes?  If you have an idea of when you want to make a change, figure the dates by the following general guidelines.  On the average, you need 30 days to close on the purchase of your new home once your offer is accepted.  It takes buyers an average of 30-45 days to find a home they want to buy.  In today’s market, everyone should have a pre-qualification letter from a lender.  Many sellers will not even look at offers from buyers without this letter.  Most of us will need to sell our current home before buying a new home, or we could potentially have two mortgage payments. This means your home needs to be on the market when you start to shop seriously for a home to buy. You will also need to consult with your Real Estate professional about pricing your home to make sure it sells by the time you are ready to buy. Depending on your local market, the average days on market may be 60.  This means you should expect to have your home on the market for 2 months before receiving an offer.  This way the closing of your current home can be scheduled to work out with the closing of your new home.  So, to review, if you want to move in April 2008. You need to sell your current home before purchasing a new one.  It takes approximately 30 days to close on each., and 30-45 days to find a home you want to buy.  Average days on market (DOM) in your area is 60.  This means you need to consider listing your current home in January 2008 and start seriously shopping for a new home mid-January/early-February 2008.