Open-House Ready

Zillow reveals the best time to put your Dallas home on the market

Better start prepping your home now.

Photo by Phillip Spears/Getty Images

It seems Texas' lack of a real winter has a ripple effect that extends far beyond agriculture. Spring has been declared the ideal time to list your home in Dallas-Fort Worth, with homes hitting the market at the end of June fetching $2,000 more.

That's according to a recent study from Zillow, which analyzed the history and outcome of millions of home listings over the last several years.

Late May is almost as profitable in DFW, but as soon as the calendar hits late June, the numbers start falling. Seems the extreme heat of Texas summers is nearly as bad as possible ice in the winter, with sellers taking a sizable cut from late November through January.

If you want to get the most eyeballs on your listing when it first debuts, make it live on a Sunday. Saturday and Friday are close behind, but posting on a Tuesday means a sharp downtick in views.

Buyer interest also fades quickly, Zillow confirms, with traffic for new listings dramatically falling after only seven days. In the first week, homes in DFW are 53 percent likely to sell at or above list price. By week 12, the number drops to only 11 percent.

The stats are slightly different elsewhere around Texas, with Austin seeing Saturdays in early May as the best time to list. Early birds get the worm in Houston and San Antonio, where early and late May are the key list times.

But the rest of the nation is even earlier, with homes listed for sale anytime in April selling one full week faster than average.

Real Estate News

Dallas real estate developer pleads guilty to bribing 2 city officials

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Dallas developer Sherman Roberts

Dallas real estate developer Sherman Roberts pleaded guilty on November 12 to conspiracy to commit bribery, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Roberts, 70, who previously helmed City Wide Community Development Corporation, was indicted in December 2020. According to court documents, Sherman bribed two city council members — Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway and City Council member Carolyn Davis — to support loans and low-income housing tax credits for his apartment projects.

In return for several thousand dollars in cash – plus the promise of future payments after her city council tenure ended – Davis lobbied for Roberts' real estate projects, including Serenity Place, Runyon Springs, and Patriot’s Crossing.

She promoted Serenity Place to the City Housing Committee, demanded other developers also seeking real estate funding withdraw their applications in order to increase Roberts' chances of success, recommended Serenity Place receive a 9 percent low income housing tax credit, and voted to approve a $1.9 million loan from the city of Dallas.

“Right now you and me are making money,” Roberts texted Davis shortly after the vote.

Later, she repeatedly reached out to ask for more money — "just a few dollars" — and he agreed.

Davis and Roberts then met with Caraway to address a problem with the Patriot's Crossing project. In return for several hundred dollars cash and a $2,000 monthly stipend, Caraway agreed to stop the city from issuing a request for proposal (RFP) for the Patriots Crossing project and to deliver the project for Roberts.

“How much is the project worth?” Mayor Pro Tem Caraway asked. “Once you’re successful with this project, don’t forget about me.”

“I won’t forget about you,” Mr. Roberts responded. “That’s where the money is… the money has never been an issue.”

Roberts now faces up to five years in federal prison. He is slated to be sentenced on March 12, 2025.

Caraway pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and tax evasion and was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison.

Davis pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to commit bribery concerning an agent of a local government receiving federal benefits, but passed away in a car crash before she could be sentenced.

Roberts was one of three real estate developers charged in connection with the bribery scandal. Devin Hall, the developer behind the Grand Park Place apartment project, pleaded guilty in August 2020. Ruel Hamilton, the AmeriSouth Realty Group executive who backed the Royal Crest housing project, is awaiting retrial on conspiracy and bribery charges.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation with the assistance of IRS – Criminal Investigation’s Dallas Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcus Busch is prosecuting the case with the help of Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Max.