Why Now is the Best Time to Buy

Here we are at the time of year I affectionately call 'white death' which goes from Thanksgiving until after the super bowl. This is traditionally when home sales slow down because of the holidays, family visits, shopping and the endless number of football games. With the volume of home sales at record lows, you'd have thought that this year's 'white death' had carried over from last year.

Between the holiday shopping and countless festivities, searching for the perfect dream home is not high on most people's priority list this time of year. But for the savvy buyer this is a great time to start your search. It's important to know and understand how the selling cycles work in each industry. This little bit of knowledge can help you negotiate your best deals during your purchase.

Consumer buying cycles
In retail, you'll get better bargain deals after Christmas. If you want to buy a car, wait until the end of the month when the dealer is trying to meet his monthly target. As for home purchases, our most active period for sales and listings is the late winter through spring. Families want to get settled when school lets out so their kids will have all summer to make new friends. Home sales typically slow down in the summer because of vacations and then pick back up after Labor Day and cools down again before Thanksgiving.

Which brings me back to 'white death.' In my opinion, the cool down periods are the best time to start your home search. For those home sellers who can't wait for the peek selling season to put their homes on the market, time is of the essence. If the sellers don't make a deal now, it may be a long, cold and lonely winter till another offer materializes. By then, their home may lose some of its appeal from being on the market too long. With limited competition during the slower months, home sellers will be more open to negotiate deals that could be favorable to the buyer.

Buying a home is also the best present you can give yourself and your family. If you haven't decided on a holiday gift yet, let me suggest a beautiful home decorated with low interest rates and delicious tax benefits. It's a present that will be remembered for years to come. While it may be tough to top this present next year, it will supply you with an endless supply of ideas for future gifts. You can give a new kitchen next year followed by a new master bathroom the following year, and the list goes on and on.

Market trends
Nationwide housing inventory has dropped a little from the record levels at the end of the 3rd quarter, but remains historically high for this time period. The reason for the decline in inventory isn't because homes are selling more quickly, but because older listings are being taken off the market.

Now is also the time of year when many listings traditionally expire, so plenty of sellers are going to be talking about what to do with their home and their Realtor's performance. In a few cases, you may have picked an under performing Realtor. But more likely, you went through an extensive process and selected the best one in terms of qualifications and personality match.

It's also important to note that depending on trends and outside factors impacting your local housing market, changing Realtors may not get your home to sell faster — not that I wouldn't love your listing. But replacing your agent won't change much. Maybe you'll get a little more advertising or maybe you'll get less. You know the grass always looks greener until you get up close and start to notice it's got the same brown spots and weeds as yours.

Advice for home sellers
Changing agents can even backfire in a small community. When Realtors see homes listed several times with different agents, they develop negative feelings about the owner. This could even conceivably result in fewer showings because Realtors may not want to deal with someone who they think is difficult.

So if your home isn't selling, don't be too quick to blame your agent. The recent economic downturn isn't exactly helping consumer confidence right now either. In every buying cycle, things do slow down. Patience and flexibility can mean the difference between a sold home and one that sits on the market for over six months. Personally, if you're a seller and you have to lower your asking price, I'd wait until January to make an adjustment. Why lower the asking price during the holidays if there are less people looking at homes?

And for those of you who are too busy during this holiday season to look at homes, you can still wait until the spring. This way you can pay top dollar and compete with all the other buyers. You may even get lucky by finding yourself in a bidding war and pay above the asking price.

Steven Hyman is broker and owner of Century 21 Sunset Properties Half Moon Bay, CA.

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