INVESTORS’ CORNER: Best Day of the Year to Buy a Home

Listen to this article

Many of us have vague notions (mostly secondhand, or worse, so dislocated from the source that we cannot begin to gauge their authenticity) of the best time of year to buy or sell a home (two sides of the same coin).  I’ve always heard that winter was a tough Season to sell in, parents enjoy moving less when the kids are in school, and in the Northern reaches of our country, most people would prefer moving in a t-shirt and jeans to doing so in a snowstorm.  My experience has seemed to confirm this, but is that only because I have been expecting it to?

RealtyTrac.com put forever to rest such questions, with five year study where theyhey analyzed over 32 million sales to find when the largest discounts were given.  Here’s what they found:

October is the best month to buy at a discount.  Numbers don’t lie, but I was shocked that this was not December.  With the holidays, response to my Direct Mail to buy houses drops dramatically.  Apparently, people still sell their houses to somebody in December, just not to me.

Monday is the greatest day of the week for discount.  Another surprise, since offers that come in on Monday generally include those sent on Sunday if the brokerage is closed that day.

The very best day of the year to buy a house, according to over 32 million sales, is October 8^th.  Realtytrac has several guesses as to why this is, and they undoubtedly beat any that I could venture.

This information is of huge importance to Real Estate Investors.  When it is hardest to sell a house traditionally (to someone getting a loan that will live in the house), it is easiest for us to buy at either a price or terms that make financial sense.  Conversely, if we buy and rehab a house and put it on the market, we surely should know if it is the best or very worst time of the year, and adjust our timelines and business models accordingly.  If I have to make payments on an empty house while it sits on the market for 6 months rather than 2, shouldn’t I ensure that my business plan and cashflow projections reflect additional holding costs?

Lou Gimbutis is director of education at the Metrolina Real Estate Investors Association, which provides education, mentoring, and networking for real estate investing in the Charlotte region.  He can be contacted via his website, www.SoldCarolina.com.  For more information, visit www.MetrolinaREIA.org.