Labor Day is Around the Corner

Even though the weekend traffic indicated that many people are headed home after the summer, and that most schools are starting this week, we've always considered Labor Day to be the kickoff for the fall real estate season.  And, even though most people think of spring as the primary buying and selling season, that is less true than it used to be, particularly in Connecticut.  We have an older population and a lower birth rate than other states, so we are less driven by the school year, and maybe more by taxes.  Many people want to buy or sell before the end of a calendar year, to deduct expenses sooner.  If that applies to you, it's time to get moving.

Fall is an excellent time for buyers in particular, since the expenses of heating and plowing start when the temperature drops.  And, given the aforementioned interest in the tax consequences of real estate, autumn is when sellers strongly consider offers that they might not accept earlier in the year.  I say every year, so I'm saying it again now:  The best time to buy real estate is between Halloween and Thanksgiving.  Prices are low, and motivation is high.

Sellers also should pay attention to the fall boomlet, since it's often a new pool of buyers that are beginning to look now.  Properties, especially those new to the market, have fresh eyes to consider them, especially since people spend more time on the internet and with newspapers when they have less daylight to use for other pursuits.  Homes also show well in crisp, clean air and changing leaves.  New England is at its best! 

So during the last picnics of summer, think about your own real estate goals for 2016.  Have you achieved them yet?  If not, the big push toward the close of the year starts now.

Real Estate Markets Are Like the Weather

As Mark Twain said about New England weather, "If you don't like it, just wait a few minutes."  The real estate market--unfortunately for us in the field--isn't quite so quick to change, but it does sometimes seem to go almost week by week.  We are learning that it's harder to tell what causes a shift than it used to be.  Hot weather, and the Fourth of July, used to mean a serious lull in activity.  This year, many agents were showing homes right into the holiday itself.  Others found that office calls were slow, and transactions sluggish. 

Hot weather doesn't slow the market down as much as it used to, before we had winters that were epic.  Now we need to use that time, because we lose so many days to snow and ice.  As I've written before, the school calendar affects sales much less than it used to, before so many jobs moved out of state.  So how do we know what's going to happen? 

We don't.  We can't tell you with certainty when to list, or when we should hold open houses.  We know certain things, like that Mother's Day is dead, while Father's Day isn't, but we aren't as sure of timing now.  There seem to be the equivalent of microbursts in weather, where one town will be slow, while others are booming. And that's not just the Shoreline in the summer, where people on vacation look at property.  It seems to be true throughout the region; one town's good year is another town's dip. 

Advice?  Follow your own internal clock, but don't wait for rates to rise, or prices to start spiking!