Buying A Home During The Holiday Season

The year’s end brings a lot of joy, a lot of stress, and hope for the new year. One thing that you may not consider at the end of the year is buying a house.

There are pros and cons to buying a home at the end of the year. The positive being that you can get a home for a better deal. The negative is that there is often a limited selection of homes. There’s much more to this. 

Sellers Avoid The End Of The Year

Sellers tend to avoid listing at the end of the year. It could be because of wintry conditions, short days, or the notion that buyers won’t bite at this time of year. People who are selling at the end of the year are highly motivated. They need to move their property fast for one reason or another. Life circumstances like a death in the family, a job change, or divorce can lead to the need to sell at this time of year. As a buyer, you can take advantage of the need for these sellers to get a property off their hands. 

Limited Supply

The limited selection of homes is perhaps the most significant downside to searching for a home over the holidays. The limited supply problem is where your real estate agent will come in handy. Your agent can access expired listings. These are homes that were formerly for sale and have faded off the market. The seller may have decided not to sell, were lacking offers, or just didn’t pay enough attention to marketing their listing and let it fall by the wayside.

Your real estate agent can also contact other agents who tend to work in a preferred neighborhood or area. Your agent can get the inside scoop on homes that aren’t listed for sale yet but are being prepped to go on the market. These properties are known as “coming soon.” 

Less Competition

Another significant advantage to buying a home during the holiday season is that there’s not a lot of competition. This means you can possibly avoid bidding wars, get a home at a better price, and even find sellers who have their homes on the market for less than you would during a peak season.

Easy Access To Realtors

Another advantage to buying during the holiday season is that of easy access to real estate agents. These professionals are less busy during this time of year, meaning they have more time to spend with each client. You can often get an agent’s undivided attention. Open access to an agent means that you can get to see more home showings with the listings that are available and be able to look at the homes in detail.