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One real estate broker says that just because it's the holiday season does not mean you need to shy away from the housing market. NY1's Jill Urban filed the following report.While many believe that the real estate market slows down for the holiday season, Jacky Teplitzky of Prudential Douglas Elliman looks at it as a time of opportunity.
“It is a misconception to assume it’s a bad time to buy real estate,” Teplitzky says. “Now you can take advantage of fact that everyone else thinks it’s a bad time.”
She says now many sellers take their homes off the market, or wait until after the first of the year to put it on. But she says putting your home on the market now may give you the advantage because there’s less competition.
“It’s the same thing with the summer. During summer, people say they will wait until after Labor Day. My answer is everyone else will put their apartments on the market after Labor Day, so you are competing against more people,” she says. “When you compete against fewer people, you maximize your selling price.”
And, usually more serious buyers are the ones looking during the holidays.
She adds that part of the reason many brokers convince sellers to pull out during the holidays is simply because they want some time off.
“Align interest of sellers and brokers. If a broker doesn’t have assistant or a team, they may want to wait because they want to take time off, not because there are no buyers,” says Teplitzky. “So ask your broker if they will be around before you sign.”
One major advantage to having your home on the market at this time of year is that people are off from work, and may have more time to view places. And, if there’s more than one person buying, it might be easier to coordinate schedules.
Also, many people decorate or do an extra cleaning around holiday time in anticipation of guests, so the home may show better now.
As a buyer, you may not see as much inventory, but you might find that sellers who are in the holiday spirit, and may be willing to negotiate in better faith. Or, if their home has been on the market a while, the may want to get the deal signed by the end of the year and may drop the price to get it done.
So even though it’s time for the holidays, some say ‘tis the season to sell.