Best time to buy a home is during the holidays.
I submitted an offer on my San Francisco Victorian duplex on Thanksgiving Day. This was in 2015 — when bidding wars were at an all-time high. However, knowing we were the only offer on the table, we leveraged that to our benefit with a price and terms that were more favorable to us.
the lower unit of our Victorian duplex staged
Of course, even as a Realtor, I have the natural jitters… is this the right move for us? This is, after all, a BIG purchase. The biggest of our lifetime, thus far. I remind clients of that too. “Realtors, they’re just like us.” (Us Weekly, anyone? ;))
Having pulled comps and knowing the ins and outs of the Alamo Square market, I knew this Victorian duplex was a smart buy.
In consultations, clients often ask, “When’s the right time to buy?” Our response is often, “when the time is right for you, financially and emotionally.” The numbers have to work out — meaning your expectations have to align with the market; you also have to know what you want as the market moves fast, and we find our most successful clients are able to make decisions quickly because they know what they want. There are always windows of opportunity (a home may be poorly marketed or the starting list price was way too high), it’s hard to “game the market.”
But if you want in on a little secret, we find the most pockets of opportunity during the holidays. Here are my reasons why:
People are out and about enjoying their time off, planning and gathering, and not thinking about the “hard stuff” (aka the big financial and emotional decisions of buying a house and moving).
Post pandemic, people are traveling more than ever. This means less people actively going to open houses and private showings.
During the winter time, the weather is cold and wet… during these times, people don’t want to leave their home.
For Buyers, seeing a home during the rainy season is CRUCIAL as it gives insight to the home’s structural integrity (the roof, foundation). The main way to know about a home’s likelihood to experience a leak is from heavy rainfall, especially with the recent and impending rainstorms we’ve experienced in the Bay and LA.
Parents with kids are less likely to move their kids mid-school year. New teachers, new friends, new routines.. talk to any parent to learn the many reasons why!
During the holidays, people are typically in a more giving mood. Sellers are too! This could come in the form of a lower price, potential closing cost credits, a sweet letter.. even a bottle of wine at closing too. I’ve seen it all.
Sellers are concerned of the unknowns, especially as the days get closer to the holiday/post-holidays and into the new year. The cumulative days on market (which sites like Redfin and Zillow show are a real concern as Buyers tend to equate the longer days with a fault to the home, which may not always be the case.
Sellers have daily carrying costs (staging, mortgage, insurance, HOA dues, etc). The weight of carrying these costs into the new year and possibly through spring when the market picks back up is not a decision taken lightly.
Sellers may have a tax advantage to sell their home by that year’s end. There’s a motivation to make something work, especially if the Buyer seems to be serious and motivated.
Realtors take time off too — “They’re just like us”, remember? ;)
All this to say, Buyers are likely to secure a home under market value and with more favorable terms (hello, contingencies!) in comparison to hot, competitive market where contingencies are often waived.
Case in point: Our Buyer clients just got into contract on a newly renovated 3 bedroom home in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond neighborhood. Even with 3 offers on the table, we secured the home for our clients — not because we were the highest offer. In fact, our offer came in under the list price. We were very proactive with our communication with the Listing Agent gathering as much intel to share with our clients (more on the importance of agent relationships in another post!) Our appraisal just came in for $40,000 more than our contract price! That’s instant appreciation and equity for our clients, and also the peace of mind knowing they made a sound financial investment.
The fun twist to the story… our clients were not even preapproved a week prior; they had just begun to think of purchasing in San Francisco (they didn’t even know it could be a reality for them!) To empower our clients with good people and the tools to move forward is my favorite part (we connected them with our go-to lenders, who were able to move just as quick). It also goes back to the notion — our most successful clients know what they want and can move with the pace, as a result.
As for my San Francisco Victorian Duplex, we sold that home 4 years later for $500,000 more than we paid for it. We then bought our Rockridge home in Oakland over July 4th weekend, and two years later, sold that for $600,000 more than our purchase price.
Through market data and in-the-field experience assisting hundreds of clients along with my own personal transactions, I’ve experienced firsthand the power of real estate, especially during these windows of opportunity. I hope my sharing gives you insight into the real estate market in a helpful and approachable way.
xo-
Connie
p.s. The morning I began writing this post, I later met a new mom friend for coffee (shoutout to wildheartmamas for the mama community). In chatting with my friend, I learned her dad was a trailblazer of a Realtor for 35+ years in the San Gabriel Valley, and was also a big advocate for the Asian American Realtor community. She shared a conversation where she asked him for tips in hopes of purchasing her own home one day, and as she was telling me this, I was in awe of the universe as my post was still in draft mode. And how her dad had shared some of these very same tips! I felt even more compelled to finish this post in honor of her dad, who is no longer here with us, and evident that his spirit and power lives on and within us. 💛