If you leave out Thanksgiving and Christmas, there are 120 days between September 1st and the end of the year. But rest assured, this is not an ad for shopping days before Christmas! It is, however, a wake up call to action, for people who plan to move before 2018 comes along, or for people who want to move when the timing is best.
Every year, I remind agents and clients that the best time to buy a house is between Halloween and Thanksgiving. That's when the deals are, because sellers want to close before winter, and before another tax year begins. But what does that say about the timing?
The average residential transaction lasts, give or take, 120 days from start to finish. Therefore, if you are planning to buy this year, you need to start looking this week. It takes about 16 or 18 weeks to train for a marathon, so it makes sense that it would take as long to buy and move. Luckily, mortgage rates are almost always at their yearly low around Election Day, so that works out perfectly, if you find a home to buy around that time.
For sellers, this is a reminder that New Haven is a university town. We still do things by the school year calendar, and that includes real estate. Late August sees a big increase in activity and traffic. If you've been planning to sell next spring, you might think again--this can be a really good time, since the end of the year provides a nice ending point for buyers to aim for, and that tends to make things move more quickly. That tends to cut down on the random lookers, too. Mortgages also tend to have a way of going through the system faster when the holidays are coming.
So are you listening? This is your moment. Fall is here, and it's time to act!
