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It seems like outside the shopping mall the everything slows down between Thanksgiving and New Years- even home buying.
Has anyone got a really good deal on a home purchase during this slow period because the seller was ready to sell and did not want the house sitting without any activity during the slow holiday season to the dead of winter? Tell us you story.
Yes on new construction....trying to make the year end numbers looks good. They will almost agree to anything if you can close before 12/31
So for those sellers that are selling a home during the holiday season in order to close on a new construction that has to close by 12/31, these sellers can be motivated and you CAN get a good deal! Everyone's a winner lol
We HAD to sell our home to move into our new home by 12/23 last year. We were prepared to do anything to sell our old home. Luckily we had 2 offers so we had a better bargaining position and didn't have to give too many concessions.
Yes.
For my first house, we made our offer the day before Thanksgiving.
He was stuck paying the expenses and she was getting the proceeds. (Ain't divorce wonderful?)
His agent unknowingly let me listen to the phone conversation and I could hear his agent telling him "take the offer as you will not get any between Thanksgiving and New Years".
The seasonality of real estate markets varies around the country. However here in the northeast, during the winter there are a lot fewer buyers. Also, a lot fewer listings to choose from. So it ends up offsetting each other. You can possibly get a better deal during the winter as people who list then tend to need to move but there's also less of a chance that you'll come across the house you want to buy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tamlym
Yes on new construction....trying to make the year end numbers looks good. They will almost agree to anything if you can close before 12/31
Keep in mind that this would only apply to larger corporate developers that have to report to shareholders. Around here, we mostly have small scale, private developers who just build a couple of homes at a time. They don't care what their annual report says because they don't have one. They just want to get the most money for their projects.
Probably not in Florida, but anywhere that it is cold, people aren't out house shopping. First it is the holiday season becasue they don't want to move over the holidays or in the middle of the school year.
Then they don't look because it is too cold and they don't want to move when there might be snow.
I've gotten some pretty good prices in the middle of winter. Not many people looking to buy and the sellers don't want to make mortgage payments until June, so they will come down a bit on price if they get an offer that isn't totally trying to steal from them. They know that with no buyers out house shopping that your offer might be the only offer, so they consider it very carefully
I think it comes down to playing the odds in the end with a bunch of dumb luck timing.
Case and point. We listed our primary residence a few days before xmas some years ago. All conventional wisdom would say that's one of the worst times to list in a cold weather region. We got a decent amount of traffic interested in the home and we got a sale contract on New Years eve day and the buyers closed some weeks later. And this was in an at best mediocre housing market.
So you never know. I personally think pricing the house to the market correctly and having a house that shows well as far more important. And given we priced our house to the market, there were no "deals" to be had for the buyer from us as we weren't desperate to sell. I suppose for someone who's desperate to sell quick, you might get a good deal, but I wouldn't count on that just because it's a certain time of year.
I think it can be, but not necessarily. There are a lot more influential factors than seasonality, but it does have some effect.
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