“Should I buy or sell during the holidays?” People ask this question every year.
Conventional wisdom has a tendency to tell us that there won’t be that many people buying at the end of the year. We hear some people say that things will slow down or why would you want to list during the holidays.
However, it is sometimes good that we go against conventional risk wisdom and really look at the true market picture.
There are three reasons why you might want to consider selling here just prior to and during the holiday season.
1. One Step Ahead of the Competition
Right now, you can still be extremely successful in selling your property as long as it shows well and is priced with a little bit of energy. This is because we have low inventory now. Combine that with the traditional holiday season when we see even less homes typically coming on the market.
The holidays can point to a phenomenal time to sell your property because you’re truly going to be able to stand out from the crowd. You’re ultimately able to get out ahead of the rest of the people who are thinking about selling
2. Serious Buyers During the Holidays
This appears to be case every year. You may not know it but there are typically more serious buyers looking during the holiday season than throughout any other time during the rest of the year.
If they’re willing to take time out of their holidays to go look for a property, typically, they have some sort of need to make that purchase. And when we’re entering a shifting real estate market, the “need” piece is the most important aspect. We’re seeing it become more of a “need” market, whether it’s a larger home, downsizing for some reason, family split up and have to go different directions, and/or tax purposes.
At the end of the year, there could be a number of folks who need to do something from a tax purpose and get a purchase completed prior to the end of the year. Thus, it’s a good time to to try to take advantage of those more serious buyers in the marketplace.
3. Taking Advantage of Equity
If you’ve thought about making the move up, this could be a great time to do it, whether it’s a move up or a move down or a 1031 tax-deferred exchange. So many of Americans are sitting on a large amount of equity, and a large amount of equity can equal a strong down payment a much larger down payment.
When you have a larger down payment, your loan is less, which then in turn, makes the higher interest rates not be as big of a deal in the actual monthly payment. In this case, you are harvesting some of your equity, taking advantage of that, and if you find the right property, don’t delay your plans, go grab that property. Take the equity and put it down as your down payment.