Here’s why the holiday season is a great time to buy or sell a home.
With the holidays fast approaching, how does real estate change during this season? Would-be sellers oftentimes prefer not to list during the holiday season because they assume they’re better off listing in the spring, but November and December are some of the busiest months of the year for me. The thing is, if you have your home on the market during these months, you’ll face much less competition.
Sure, the springtime has more buyers, but it also has more sellers. People who list in November and December typically see good buyer traffic, and the best part is, it’s real traffic. In other words, you won’t see any November or December buyers who are just looking at homes for fun. They’re motivated this time of year.
I’ve even shown houses on Christmas Eve—not because the buyers had nothing better to do, but because they had a moving truck on its way and absolutely had to find a house soon. When I sold my house in American Fork, I listed it in November, and it sold above the appraised value.
“You won’t see any November or December buyers just looking at homes for fun.”
On the flip side, is it worth buying this time of year? There are a couple of things to consider. First, a lot of other would-be buyers hold off on buying during the holidays because they’re too preoccupied. Second, being a buyer means you’ll encounter sellers with various motivations to sell. Some are driven by the holiday season itself, some have to move due to work-related issues, some have realized due to holiday events that their home is either too big or too small, etc.
In short, there are plenty of opportunities to be had for buyers. One of the best deals a client of mine ever got came from a home that was listed the day after Christmas. It was only on the market for a couple of hours; most people never even saw it. As with sellers, sitting back and waiting isn’t always in your best interest.
If you’d like to know more about the pros and cons of buying and/or selling this holiday season, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.
