Your Realtor For Life - Holiday Home Buying Advantages

Your Realtor FOR LIFE

By Gary Stubblefield The Stubblefield Home Team of Keller Williams Realty

Holiday Home-buying Advantages

The holidays are upon us, and that means a busy schedule of shopping, parades, parties and other holiday-related activities. So, you may ask yourself, why would you even consider buying a home in December? The answer is simple: Santa knows best. Santa keeps a lot of lists this time of year. Here is Santa’s list of five tips for considering why to buy a home in December.

Less competition. Let’s face it, most people wouldn’t pick the holidays as a time to move. With so much going on and weather concerns, many people might hold off until spring to buy or sell a house. That’s why spring is always such a busy time for real estate. But the spring busy time equates to more buyers and sellers competing. In December, there is far less competition. Yes, there are fewer homes for sale, but there are also fewer homebuyers, meaning potentially a lot less competition for buying the perfect home off-season. Sellers are motivated. It’s totally understandable that most sellers might not pick the last month of the year to sell their house. However, there can be reasons why they do. Sellers may be relocating, for instance. The seller’s house may be a holdover listing that still hasn’t sold, and now it’s time for the sellers to deal. Sometimes sellers need the proceeds by the end of the year. Combining these motivating factors with a smaller pool of potential buyers gives you the upper hand in negotiating a better deal. Real estate agents are motivated. A good real estate agent is motivated to help their clients 12 months out of the year. However, in December, a slower market means fewer clients and more time to dedicate to each client. The greatest satisfaction for a real estate agent, and the reason we do what we do, is the sense of accomplishment in helping a client find their home sweet home. There is an adrenaline rush when the keys are handed over to smiling new homeowners. Even when the market slows down, our desire to help people doesn’t slow down. If anything, we are motivated to go into overdrive to bring more smiles in time for Christmas! Get to the closing table faster. For all the reasons listed above, it only makes sense that once an offer is accepted, there is equal motivation from all parties to get to the closing table as fast as possible. Getting a home purchase expedited helps buyers or sellers who are relocating stay on schedule. Both buyers and sellers would love to be in their new home by the holidays. Both parties may be motivated for tax purposes to close before the end of the calendar year. The slower season also means home inspectors can respond faster, speeding up the appraisal and title work. Lenders, of course, are extremely motivated to get the loans on this year’s books. Holiday sales. December also brings a slew of seasonal and clearance sales as retailers try to beat the clock reducing inventories by January 1. A well-negotiated home purchase may very well yield enough savings to allow you to purchase items you need for your new home. A word of caution: Avoid large credit purchases that could negatively impact your credit score during the home-buying process. While this may make perfect sense during the time you are seeking approval of a loan, it is also critical in the few weeks between when your offer is accepted and the day of the closing.