The mid-April listing week: a spring plan for agents

Last week NAR’s Real Estate News reported realtor.com’s forecast for the best time to sell this year, and the answer is close: the week of April 12 to 18. Sellers who list that week could net about $26,000 more than at the start of the year, according to the analysis, and homes listed in the same week of 2025 spent about 50 days on market, 10 fewer than the yearly average.

That leaves an agent roughly three weeks. Homeowners who want to hit that window are choosing their agent now, getting the house ready and booking photos. Below is how we would use those three weeks.

Why spring still decides an agent’s year

The pattern is old and it has not gone away. NAR’s seasonal analysis from April 2024 found existing-home sales average about 16,530 a day from April through June, against 11,380 a day from December through February. In June, sales pass 18,000 a day and homes are about 16% more expensive than in the winter months, because buyers are trying to move and settle before the new school year.

It then cools in stages. July through September averages about 16,200 sales a day, and median days on market climbs to 37 by September. October and November drop to about 13,810 a day, with the typical home roughly 5% cheaper than in June.

Where you work changes the shape:

• The Midwest swings hardest. NAR counted about 4,430 sales a day there in June against 2,050 in January, more than double.
• The West is the least seasonal region, and warmer areas in general see a milder winter slowdown.
• Softer spots in the South and West. Realtor.com’s analysts note that where inventory is more plentiful, in parts of the South and West, sellers face softer conditions, which is worth weighing before promising anyone a mid-April premium.

The sellers you want have not done this often. NAR’s 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers found sellers had owned their homes for a median of 11 years before selling, so most of them are relearning the process and will lean hard on the agent who explains it best.

Three weeks out: seller marketing, not buyer volume

For the rest of March, put the budget and the hours on sellers.

• A listing page that answers the questions sellers ask. Pricing, timing and marketing are what sellers say they want help with in NAR’s 2025 Profile. A page showing how you price, what your listing photos and video look like, and how you time a launch week does more than a home-value widget.
• Your Google Business Profile, updated this week. Recent sold photos, your service areas, and an answer to the question every seller has about the April window. Referrals check you here before they call.
• Review requests to everyone you closed with in the past year. Spring sellers compare agents by reading reviews. A short text with the direct link to your profile, sent personally, works better than a mass email.
• A past-client check-in. The neighbors of your past clients are the likeliest new listings you have. Ask by name whether anyone on their street is thinking about spring.

The ads, and the rules that come with them

Seller search ads are worth running in these weeks, timed to people searching for an agent or a home value. Plan the cost honestly. WordStream by LocaliQ’s 2025 benchmarks put the median Real Estate search ad at $2.53 a click, with 3.28% of clicks becoming leads and a cost per lead of $100.48, for campaigns running from April 2024 to March 2025. Its 2025 Facebook ads benchmarks put Real Estate lead ads at a median of $16.61 per lead. Those are market medians, not promises, and a form lead from a listing ad usually needs more follow-up than a search lead.

Two rules shape how those ads can be aimed:

• Google does not allow ZIP code targeting for housing ads here, and does not allow age, gender, marital or parental status targeting for them either.
• Meta requires listing ads to run in its Housing special ad category, which removes ZIP code, age, gender, lookalike, saved and exclusion audiences and widens city and pin-drop targeting.

That rules out the classic farm-by-ZIP campaign on both platforms. Aim at the city or a radius, and let the ad itself do the selecting: a move-before-school guide, a downsizing page, a short video of a recent listing.

Check every ad for your state’s disclosure before it runs. Texas wants the broker’s name at least half the size of your largest contact details, California wants your eight-digit license number and responsible broker on electronic ads, and Florida wants the brokerage name next to your contact information.

Buyers in spring, under the new agreement

Buyers will arrive with the season, and the buyer pool looks different from a few years ago. NAR’s 2025 Profile found first-time buyers fell to a record low of 21% of purchases, with a median age of 40, while repeat buyers made up 79% and 30% paid all cash. Many spring buyers are also sellers, which is a reason to talk to both sides of the move in one conversation.

Since August 2024 a buyer signs a written agreement before touring a home with you, so buyer marketing should lead to a consult, not straight to a showing. Open houses remain the exception: NAR’s homebuyer guide says no agreement is needed just to talk with an agent there. Have a sign-in process and a follow-up text ready before the first spring open house, not after it.

What to do this month

• Message every past client from the last two years and ask whether anyone near them is thinking of selling this spring.
• Send a review request to each closing from the past twelve months, by text, with the direct profile link.
• Publish or refresh a listing-marketing page that explains pricing, photos and launch timing for mid-April.
• Start seller search ads now, aimed at the city or radius, with your disclosure in every ad.
• Move any Facebook and Instagram listing ads into the Housing category and remove ZIP code or age targeting.
• Prepare an open house sign-in and a same-day follow-up message.

April 12 is under three weeks away. If you want help putting the seller pieces in place, our real estate agents page shows how we work with the trade, and our Google Business Profile page explains the profile work that referrals see first.