Summer house shopping: buying a home during real estate’s busiest season
Throughout the United
States, the summer months have long been known as the most-hectic time to buy
or sell a home. There are several reasons for this. The biggest is that, in
summer, people with children have the spare time to concentrate on finding a
home that suits them.
Closing prices throughout the summer months tend to be a little higher than in
winter. And the overall pace of the real estate market in the summer is
breakneck; people who want to snag the home of their dreams must be prepared to
go to closing fast.
This means that the summer months are a generally more-stress-filled time to
shop for a home. Because of these considerations, many experts recommend that
people avoid house shopping in the summer. However, like everything else in
real estate, whether avoiding the summer home-buying rush is best or not
depends on many factors. The fact is that participating in the summer real
estate market can provide several significant edges for both buyers and sellers
when the way to succeed in the competitive summer market is understood.
Although regular and physician
mortgage loan options are often slightly
worse in the summer months, the opportunities to save money overall on a summer
home purchase abound.
Competition is a two-way street
The summer months often produce slightly higher average closing prices because
there are far more buyers going after limited inventory. However, this is
offset by the fact that there are also often more sellers in the summer, which
means that those selling their homes are competing for offers almost as
fiercely as buyers are competing for homes.
As a buyer, understanding your local real estate market can help you to
determine in what segments the real competition is taking place between
sellers. In competitive markets, being able to make fast offers and get to
closing before other buyers can provide a considerable edge. Having your
financing arranged beforehand, only making offers on properties that you are
prepared to immediately go to closing on and knowing ahead of time exactly what
features you require in a property are all essential for remaining competitive
in the summer months.
The good news is that, especially at the mid-priced level and lower, sellers
understand they are competing in a market where inventory is likely vast. This
means that swooping in with a cash-in-hand offer that can get a deal closed in
a matter of weeks can be a hugely useful negotiating tool when dealing with
sellers, who often realize that they may be waiting months to get another
serious offer should yours fall through.
When you play it right, summer allows you to get more for your current home
There are compelling reasons to avoid the summer real estate market for those
who are not currently selling a home while simultaneously looking to buy a new
one, at least for those who may not have the experience and knowledge to compete
successfully.
But for those who must sell their current home to buy a new one, summer
is almost always the best time to make the transition to a new
home. The simple fact is that the knowledgeable summer seller can maximize the
selling price that they get for their current property. At the same time, the
expert summer buyer can mitigate or even reverse the downside to summer
purchases by learning to quickly assess properties and make competitive offers
that sellers have a tough time declining.
Additionally, summer days can have up to twice as many hours of light, making
touring vast numbers of homes in a short timespan feasible. While summer might
still not be the best time for you to buy your next home, approaching this
competitive seasonal market the smart way can open new advantages that might
make it the right time to make a move.