Home for the Holidays: An Excellent Time to Buy and Sell
Conventional wisdom holds that spring is the ideal season for the real estate market, but this isn’t always the case. Even with COVID-19 and the holiday season, now can be an excellent time to buy or sell a home.
Home for the holidays. These words evoke emotion as people recall childhood memories of celebrating the holiday season with their families. This call to return home and gather with loved ones is even more appealing when there is room in the kitchen to make a festive meal together, and when families from out-of-town have ample space when visiting for a week or two.
Now, enter COVID-19. More than ever, a home is a sanctuary and we all crave a place to feel safe and renew ourselves after an extremely challenging year. 2020 has underscored the need for shelter, and a place to raise a family in new and different ways. There is the need for additional space to work from home, host an adult child who has returned to our community, or create a home school environment.
One ideal aspect of buying and selling homes during the holidays is that there is less inventory. If you are a buyer, your offer will be given special attention because there are fewer offers to compete with and there is much less likelihood of a bidding war. Also, you might have additional leverage because a seller who places their home on the market during the holidays is a motivated seller and may be more amenable to a quick sale. If you are a seller, you may be able to command a higher price because the lower number of buyers in the marketplace are also more serious about making a transaction happen.
Many people are looking to take advantage of tax breaks, and to deduct mortgage interest, property taxes and loan interest costs. Others need to move for a job transfer and don’t have the luxury of waiting until the school year is over.
“This year, with the pandemic expanding access to telecommuting and online school, more individuals can move at any time of the year. With fewer children attending school in-person, students of any age can seamlessly continue their education online, wherever their new home may turn out to be in the future,” remarked Dave Wetzel, President and CEO, MLSListings Inc.
In our region, year-round temperate weather means our home showings are unaffected by challenges found in other parts of the country such as freezing rain, sleet, icy sidewalks and roads waiting to be ploughed. Dirty snow piled up out front doesn’t need to be shoveled.
We can still show off our beautiful outdoor kitchens and backyard gathering spaces that are an added bonus with buyers thinking about COVID and being outside year-round. Even without that blanket of white, we can still conjure up the feel of the holidays with the smell of an apple pie baking in the oven and mulling spices simmering on the stovetop.
During the holiday season, some are motivated by the emotional connection they feel having a new home to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. The decorations of the neighborhood and the home can help sellers motivate buyers to imagine themselves there in the near future. Sellers should be mindful of making sure that decorations don’t obscure beautiful features like cozy fireplaces, beautiful railings and exceptional windows showcasing spectacular views.
Ultimately, serious sellers and buyers won’t be deterred by the holidays. If you are looking to buy or sell a home in this
® part of the Golden State, your Realtor armed with the latest MLSListings data can be your North Star to help you identify and achieve your real estate goals. Whether you are the buyer or the seller, this holiday season might be the perfect timing to complete your New Year’s resolution for a new home.