Best months for new renters

[Wesley C.]

I know home selling is greatly affected by seasons. But, in your experiences, have you found that there are months in which rental activity goes up or down significantly for single family homes? Obviously on college campuses most leases will correspond with the academic calendar. I'm assuming the school calendar plays a role in family rentals as well.

A second part to the question is is this enough of a factor to consider when to sell and when to rent? For example, a landlord may have a home that vacates in late Feb just in time for the increased spring selling activity (at least where I live there is a spike). Conversely, he has another property that opens up in June when rents increase. Should season be a primary consideration in his strategy to hold or sell in most 'normal' markets?

Maybe an obvious and dumb question, but I don't have a ton of experience in real estate investing and am interested in perspectives.

[Jon Klaus]

Google Real Estate Index

http://www.google.com/finance?q=GOOGLEINDEX_US:RLEST