As the year draws to an end and people move into holiday mode, the real estate market across the country slows down.
Many sales agents take the entire month off and we see a sharp drop in both sales and listings. However, for savvy buyers, the holidays can be a great time to buck the trend and try to find a great property.
There are a number of reasons why this can be a great time to buy.
People make decisions over holidays
The biggest spike in views on real estate listing portals is typically over the holiday period. Christmas and Boxing Day in particular are times when people take stock of where they are at and make big decisions on things like houses. They also sit around the dinner table and talk about what’s for sale in the area and consider selling if they think they can get a price they’re happy with or that now is the time to make a move.
If you’re prepared and have a network of agents, you can be the first call that a sales agents make. This gives you the opportunity to pick up a great property, while most people are still recovering from New Year’s Eve.
Being proactive is key and that’s often what it takes to find the best deals and most in-demand properties. There are many vendors who want to sell without the fuss of marking, open homes and auctions and will entertain fair offers for good properties. That’s why off-market deals are there for those willing to do the work.
Smart agents
This year smart agents are not thinking about Christmas, they have already moved on to Easter.
This year Easter falls in March, which makes the first portion of the year very short if you are only returning to work in February. For smart sales agents, they know this is the case and they are already planning their campaigns now. A normal sales campaign is four weeks and add to that the few weeks that are needed to prepare a property, get photos done and the documentation and marketing and you can see why you need to start early this year.
For these agents, they are already preparing their pipeline of listings to launch prior to most of the other agents. That means they are not only going to be on the job but they will be prepared to field offers before these properties ever see the light of day.
If you know what you want, being proactive and talking to agents can be a great strategy during the holidays. They are ready to sell if you’re ready to buy.
Stale listings
Most agents and vendors would have hoped to have all their business done prior to the holidays. Transacting over the break can be hard with professionals away.
However, not all properties are able to be sold. Given the fact that properties are still hanging around, can also make older listings a good source of opportunity.
Many of these stale listings might have been overpriced, which is why they didn’t get the attention the vendor and agent might have hoped for. This is an area where you can negotiate and find a good deal as the expectations would have fallen away. While many of these listings may have problems, there can still be opportunities for good properties that see their asking prices come back to realistic levels.
As is often the case in real estate, you will be rewarded when you are prepared and proactive. So instead of celebrating too hard this year, turn your focus to getting started in 2024 on the front foot.
If you are interested in getting ahead in the property market, feel free to reach out to a Henderson buyer’s agent today for more information.
