Is it a good idea to buy or sell during the holidays?

By holidays, of course, we mean the end of the year, Thanksgiving, Christmas, new Year's, all that jazz.

But should you buy or sell during that time? Is it a good idea? Well, if you're selling, it's not the worst plan, and the reason why is because everybody else takes those months off.

Bell of the ball

So therefore, if you want to sell your house, you're going to be the bell of the ball, so to speak, because there's just not that many other houses to choose from. And the reason why that might work is because there are people in all days of the year who need to buy a house right away, whether it be a job transfer or the kids are starting school, or they got a lease that was up and they need to get into something else.

So there are always buyers out there. There might be less buyers during the holidays for sure, but there are buyers out there, I guarantee it. If you're thinking about buying during the holidays, yeah, there's less inventory to choose from. No doubt you're going to find more places for sale in April, May, June than you would in November and December. But here's the thing, there's also less buyers out there too, so you don't have to compete against everybody and their grandma for the really nice shiny object house that just popped up down the street that's going to get 12 offers. If that house comes on the market in November, December, you might be the only buyer looking at it, and therefore you're going to get a better deal.

Bay Area’s Low Inventory

The story of the Bay Area is that there's low inventory. There are not as many houses for sale as there are buyers, and that has been consistent for the last 10/15 years, and it's not going to change anytime soon. So as a buyer, your best bet is to put yourself in a position where you don't have to compete with cash buyers or people who are willing to spend more than you for a house that you really like.

Food for thought: If you're interested in learning more, you want to get started, just message us.