His opinion: If you need to sell now -- or know you'll need to in the foreseeable future -- then put it on the market now. "It's the same as the stock market," he said. "You can't time it."

Though sellers often want to wait if Christmas is approaching, he said, "people truly looking this time of year -- November, December -- are people who have a need to buy. So you're generally dealing with a lot less curiosity seekers and tire-kickers."

Another consideration: The average home that sold in the Baltimore metro area in October was on the market 103 days, up from 70 a year ago, according to Metropolitan Regional Information Systems. (In 21230, the ZIP code that includes Locust Point, it was 137 days -- four-and-a-half months.) Should you have a deadline to sell, you're more likely to run into trouble the longer you wait to get your house on the market.

Coincidentally -- we don't coordinate these things, believe it or not -- Andrea Siegel has a story in yesterday's real estate section about people trying to sell during the holidays. You can find the article here. 

Pat Hiban of Keller Williams Select Realtors in Ellicott City will address next week's How-to issue -- what's a reasonable price in a slumping housing market? -- so as long as I had him on the phone, I asked him about timing. He basically agrees with Wright, with one exception: Once you hit the middle of December, he thinks you might as well wait until January to list your home.

If November and the beginning of December can be slow, those last few weeks of the year are glacial, he said.

Opinions? Arguments? Questions? I'm all ears.