Purchasing a home is a gargantuan – and rewarding! – task. There are many moving pieces and steps to buy a house that start as early as when you personally decide it’s something you want to do.
Timing plays a major part in the home buying process. A lot comes down to luck, but with some research and strategy you can make things work in your favor.
One thing to take into consideration is the time of year you’re looking for homes. Each season has its challenges and perks. These largely depend on location.
Spring
This is generally the optimal time of year when listings go up on the market and options are plentiful. April is a standout month and spring is widely considered “home buying season.”
Keep in mind, this also means competition is fierce as other prospective buyers are also out there scoping out homes for sale.
Prepare your loan application papers so you can jump on the right house as soon as you see it.
Summer
As the temperatures rise so does the inventory in a booming market as options and competition build after the initial spring onslaught.
As summer comes to a close you may see price cuts in the market, so keep an eye out around the month of August.
Sellers may be frustrated with homes that are still left after the initial rush to buy, therefore lowering the price to attract more buyers.
Fall
Much like the seasons, this is a cooling down period.
This is the time of year when families have already settled down before the start of the school year, or people have purchased and moved into homes to get ahead of the treacherous winter weather.
This is a great time to find better prices. Check on that home you were fawning over in April. If it’s still available, chances are you can get it for a much lower price.
Winter
The winter is notoriously the worst time to buy a home. Life, in general, in less active thanks to folks hiding away from the cold. Many don’t want to be traipsing about to open houses.
The upside is that prices may be even lower than the fall, and you are unlikely to run into a bidding war with another buyer.
However, you may have a narrow field of homes to choose from after everything has been picked over throughout the year.
Other Factors
While there is certainly a season for home buying, there are many other factors to consider when shopping for real estate.
Do research to know what the current market trends are in terms of pricing. Compare the prices of homes for sale in a given area and also look at what homes sold for in that same are over the previous six months.
Find out what interest rates are like in the current market.
Is it a buyers or a sellers market? If it’s a sellers market you’ll be in for bidding wars no matter the season and may find homes snatched out from under you in a heartbeat.
