So some background. I recently sold my first house to move for a new job. The housing market is much hotter here than where I was. I am looking for a house, but am comfortable in my current apartment, and have no desire to rush into buying anything. I am content waiting for a house to really "grab" me before I buy. At the very longest, I expect the wait could take 1 year.
With that said, I have the proceeds from the sale of the first house sitting in a simple savings account right now. I know I am not maximizing its growth in this way, but if a house that I love does come up, I expect to have no more than 1 week to move on buying, so the money needs to be very accessible.
So my question is: What is the best way to maximize growth on this sum of money, given that the time frame for investment would be short (no more than 1 year), it needs to be extremely liquid, and it needs to be a very safe investment since I am making concrete plans based on the amount. Is a simple savings account the best option I have right now?