Thursday, December 11, 2014
by Tucker Robbins
Yes, it’s true…real estate activity slackens during the holidays. But, many home owners really don’t have a choice because of a necessity to relocate. You may find yourself in that same situation as a buyer. Or you may simply want to take advantage of some extra time off during the holidays to look for your dream home.
Most of us do tend to want to have our time free to enjoy all the activities that surround the year-end holidays. But, it can actually be a very advantageous time of year to be a buyer. Realtors will all tell you that many folks have vacation time during the holidays that make it a good time for both marketing and hunting to buy.
Right now is a good time to be looking to buy a home before 2015? Home prices are expected to rise in 2015, although not at the same rate as in 2014. Therefore, it is definitely a good time to be buying with prices continuing to climb. Here are some other considerations about housing hunting during the holidays…
- Lower seasonal prices are likely before the anticipated increases in 2015. Many homes on the market during the holidays are being offered because the sellers are being transferred. January is a high workplace transfer month. Transferees are trying to sell their homes during the holidays because they feel they have to.
- Less competition among buyers is common because many are concentrating on holiday activities. If they don’t have to move for some reason they tend to wait until after the year-end holidays. That means fewer competing offers and less likelihood of bidding wars.
- Seller anxiety begins to set in during the holidays. That means potentially better deals can be had. Sellers who need to move get more willing to bargain during the holidays because there is less demand from buyers.
Additional advantages of house hunting during the holidays before 2015 include:
- Cold weather means that you can experience first hand how efficient heating systems and fireplaces are in the cold months of the year.
- Realtors can be more attentive because the number of buyers in the marketplace is diminished during the holidays.
- Less competition from other buyers means you can do your house hunting being a little more relaxed about the potential of losing a house that you really are interested in.
- The winter landscape provides an opportunity to see the property and assess its privacy without the foliage on trees being in full bloom.
No matter what your motivation for house hunting during the holidays, it is a time to enjoy touring homes for sale when they are decorated and looking their best for the holidays. That can turn your holiday house hunting into a fun activity at a festive time of year.
Information courtesy of New Castle County Realtor Tucker Robbins.
4 reasons to buy your home now.
is and do your best to make sure that it shows better than any of the other houses out there for sale. 
