Great Deals During Holiday Season

Sellers benefit from pool of serious buyers

If you are a serious home buyer, the absolute best time of the year to buy is between Thanksgiving Day and New Year's Day and extending into January. There are fewer home buyers are in the market during the holiday season so competition is low while those homes that are on the market during the Holidays have anxious sellers who are usually highly motivated to sell and will listen to any reasonable purchase offer.

During the Holidays most unmotivated sellers take their listings off the market, thinking that there are no buyers ready to buy. Actually, there are many home sales that take place during this "slow season," and for buyers who are ready to take action, there can be some terrific incentives either offered by motivated sellers, or negotiated into the deal by your Realtor (me, of course!).

Sellers that have their homes on the market now are ready to listen to all reasonable purchase offers. And for a select few buyers, we can get some extraordinary deals! In other words, it's a great time to be a home buyer.

If you are a motivated home seller, especially in the lower price ranges in your community, this can be a superb time of year to sell.

Buyers who are in the market now are usually very anxious to buy, perhaps motivated by a job transfer, marriage or divorce, birth or death in the family, down-payment gift from parents, year-end salary bonus, or other buying incentives. The tax advantages to closing the sale before the old year runs out can also be substantial.

For example, many home buyers want to close their purchases by Dec. 31 to claim the extra tax deductions, such as for loan fee points, pro-rated property taxes, and prepaid mortgage interest. However, if you can't move out by year-end, you can probably rent-back for a month or two from the buyer providing the sale is recorded before New Year's Day.

An extra seller bonus is if the home was your principal residence at least 24 of the last 60 months before the sale, Internal Revenue Code 121 gives you up to $250,000 tax-free capital gains (up to $500,000 for a qualified married couple filing a joint tax return).

If you want a deal in our local market area, let get started! Give me a call at 661-287-9164.