For homesellers, the holiday shopping season can bring much more than just buying gifts, eating turkey, and sharing good tidings of joy.
The period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s can potentially be “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” for sellers for multiple reasons, experts say.
Those reasons include the ability to reach more motivated buyers, face less competition, and acquire offers from individuals seeking tax benefits for the upcoming year.
Of course, the traditional wisdom is that spring and summer are the best times to sell and there are fewer buyers during the colder months. Yet others contend that now makes good business sense to sell before the home-buying season kicks off in the spring when housing inventory rises and sellers face more competition.
In fact, according to a study by real estate brokerage firm Redfin, homes listed in the winter have a 9 percentage point greater likelihood of selling, sell a week faster, and sell for 1.2 percentage points more than homes listed in any other season.
Here are several key reasons to consider selling your home during the holidays:
More Time to Search for Homes Online
Many potential buyers take vacation during the holiday shopping season, giving them more time to perform home searches and see your listing.
People Relocating are Often Anxious to Close
With companies often relocating workers from one location to another, these buyers typically need to find a home fast. These folks often are willing to push away savings and comfort, making them ideal buyers for sellers. Additionally, January is frequently the month when transfers occur. Since many of these buyers can’t wait until spring, sellers can potentially sell those buyers before then.
Lack of Competition
Many sellers perceive the holiday season as a bad time to sell, causing them to take homes off the market or not list them. That can work in a seller’s favor, particularly if there is a low inventory of homes like yours available to be purchased.
Tax Credits Boost Activity
Tax and financial benefits make winter a good time to sell. Many people, including first-time homebuyers, are eligible for multiple tax credits during the upcoming year if they buy a house before the current year ends. Some families take money from IRAs with no penalty to help children buy their first home. Others are rushing to buy before the tax benefits fall into the approaching year.
More Foreign Buyers
A rising number of homebuyers from other countries are becoming more infatuated with the U.S. housing market. They often don’t follow the same schedule or calendar Americans do, making them more serious about house hunting during the holiday season than others.
Position Yourself to Buy Later
If you are able to sell now, it will provide an opportunity for you to buy during the spring or summer when more homes are listed.
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Jeffrey McKinney
Jeffrey McKinney is a long-time freelance business writer and reporter, contributing to Black Enterprise magazine for several years on broad range of business and financial topics. He also writes regularly for Franchise Times, a highly regarded publication covering the franchise industry.
