Buying a Home During Holidays Season

The year-end holiday season is a good time for gift-exchanging, entertaining, and general merriment. But what about buying a house? Should you try to do that in November or December, too?

If you're not picky about the home you intend to buy, the answer might be yes. Sellers tend to avoid the end of the year due to the short days, winter weather and conventional wisdom that says buyers are otherwise occupied. But those who do choose to sell at year-end are often under pressure and highly motivated to cut a deal.

Advantages:

1. Less Competition
 Lots of family, school, and work activities, combined with the weather in many locations, lead to fewer real estate transactions over the holidays. Since fewer people are looking to buy houses, you will have less competition for your preferred house – and this gives you leverage.

Holiday home sellers often have to adjust their price downward or make other concessions if they want to sell. Keep this in mind as you search for homes. Bargains may be available, and listed prices may be more open to negotiation.

2. Motivated sellers
People who are selling their homes over the holidays often have great incentive to sell, such as an upcoming job relocation. If a house has already been on the market for some time, that incentive is multiplied.

Companied with less competition from other buyers during the holiday season might mean you'll be able to negotiate a favourable price for a home you want to purchase.

3. Better interest rates
Due to limited demand and greater competition among lenders, you may be able to negotiate an abetter interest rate, during the holidays compared to other times of the year.

4. Faster closings
Generally speaking, all parties involved in the home-buying transaction have an incentive to complete it before the end of the year. Lenders want to close their books, real estate agents want to receive their commissions before the year closes, sellers want to move on to their new home and settle in for the holidays - and just like the sellers, you want to settle in as well.

Since all parties are motivated and there are fewer transactions taking place during this time, it should be easier to put everything in place for a smooth and rapid closing.

Disadvantages:

1. Fewer homes for sale
The biggest downside is the limited supply of for-sale homes, which occurs mainly because sellers are so uninterested.

If you can't find a home you like, you might be able to tap into homes that aren't on the market. One strategy is to research what brokers call "old expires," which refers to homes that were for sale several months ago but weren't sold at that time.

Another approach is for the broker to send letters to homeowners in your preferred neighbourhood, trawling for someone who's willing to sell a home that meets your criteria.

A third technique is to call brokers who sell a lot of homes in your target area and ask them about homes that aren't yet listed, but are being prepared for sale and are "coming soon."

2. Seasonally obscured defects
One pitfall in winter house shopping is that homes might have defects hidden by the snow, only to be discovered by thaw in spring. That should be a concern for buyers in the winter season.

Snow covers a lot of things, so make sure you understand the landscaping and that the sellers aren't trying to hide something.

Photographs of the home taken earlier in the year and a home inspection can help mitigate some of the risk that a home might be listed in the snowy season to hide its faults.

3. Difficult to get professional help
Not only sellers and buyers but also real estate professionals like to take time off from work in November and December. Realtors and mortgage brokers have friends and family, too.

That said, many pros do work during these months, precisely because they know many buyers have vacation time to devote to year-end house hunting.

Individual mortgage brokers also might take some time off at the end of the year. But it would be unusual for a mortgage company or bank to be closed on any normal business day other than the official holidays.

Either way, it's a good idea to ask your agent what his or her plans are so you won't be caught off guard or left hanging if your calls or emails suddenly aren't answered as quickly as you'd expected.

If you're a serious buyer, you needn't be shy about intruding into sellers' homes at a time normally reserved for family and friends. If a seller is willing to put their house on the market during the holiday season, they really want buyers to come in.

The weather may be unfavourable, but your opportunities to buy a home around the holidays may be just as delightful. Enjoy the holiday season as you explore your options. Don’t forget to give Santa your new forwarding address!