Buying a Home this Fall Makes Perfect Sense for First-Time Buyers

For first-time buyers who couldn’t beat the rush this past spring or summer, count it as a blessing in disguise! Autumn is the perfect time to shop for a home and settle on the one you love. Here’s why:

• You are bound to find some frenzied sellers by October and November. These folks have more incentive to bend toward a buyer’s wishes, whether it’s escrow timing, contingencies, repairs, or other transactional items and issues. Some of these sellers listed their homes back in the spring or early summer and now they need to sell immediately.
• Home prices can be cheaper in autumn. With less buyers in the market, sometimes those left shopping can find a house for cheaper than in spring or summer. In general sellers will be desperate to sell after waiting for months-on-end.
• There are less bidding wars. From a cyclical standpoint, real estate market activity and home sales have slowed down, which means less buyers competing over the same property.
• Less family-household buyers are in the market. Many families who peg their lives to the school-year calendar have finished their shopping, buying and moving by summer, settling in for the fall and winter. While it’s true that homes-for-sale also declines, in many cases there’s still plenty of inventory in a variety of neighborhoods in relative comparison to the lower number of buyers in the market.
• Tax consequences mean some sellers want to sell by year’s end. There are certain gains and losses during the tax year or even expenses that some home-sellers want to “realize” for the tax year. By mid-autumn, buyers have more leverage on these types of sellers. You may want to explore listings that offer incentives to close by year’s end.
• You’ll receive the customer service you deserve. Real estate agents, escrow officers, property appraisers, inspectors, and insurance agents are often times swamped in the spring and summer. It’s not that they won’t provide you service; it’s just that sometimes their attention is diverted with the busy season. In autumn, you likely won’t have this problem. There are fewer home transactions in the market to take up everyone’s time.
• The holiday season means sales on big-ticket items are coming. Whether its appliances for your new kitchen, garage, laundry room or elsewhere, they can be expensive. Fall is a great time to do your purchasing online or at big-box retailers. Also, if you need a quick facelift on your house such as new paint, windows or something else, contractors are sometimes cheaper going into the fall season since they aren’t as busy like they were months before.
• With holidays on the way, sellers want to wrap things up. Many want to snuggle-in for the holidays, which means they are more inclined to sell. Holiday festivities and spirit means that parties need planning and gifts need purchasing. You can’t do that until you’ve sold and moved!

While the benefits of purchasing a home in autumn are widespread, sometimes those benefits will vary depending on the local neighborhood and real estate market. Just remember, it’s a prime time to buy a home for so many reasons!