If we learn nothing more from Warren Buffett, learn this: “You don’t get rich doing what everyone else is doing.” So let’s take a look at the advantage to buying a home in fall or winter.
Face it, just like the NBA or the NFL or Deer Hunting, Home Buying has a season. That season, Spring and Summer, sees the most frantic activity. Parents want to get their children settled in both the Home and the Neighborhood they’ve chosen. And they get to orient their children to the School District that best suits their needs.
Come the Fall and Winter, the competition from hungry Buyers wanes. 
If Your situation allows, You’ll get to enter a Real Estate market that operates at a saner pace. Survey after survey shows that Sellers are more motivated in the Fall and Winter Months. More motivated Sellers means Homes priced more favorably for You. This a definite advantage of buying a home in the fall and winter.
The flexibility associated with Home purchases in the Fall and Winter extends to far more than just the Home price. Annual average home sale “data” always has exceptions. Do to the current covid pandemic, The fall and winter of 2020 through 2021 are not necessarily falling into the annual average of home sales.
Unlike in the warmer weather, Movers’ calendars allow for a greater choice of move-in dates. In the Fall/Winter, Your Home closes during a down time for ancillary businesses such as house painters, HVAC and landscapers.
Home Mortgage Bankers also feel the effects of this sleepy season. They often dangle more favorable mortgage rates before the cool weather Buyers. Thus giving You one more incentive to declare this the Buying time that serves You best.
In a prior post, we covered tools most new Homeowners need. Maybe You’ve decided to chuck the original stove and/or refrigerator for shiny new models. Perhaps You see a tool or pool purchases as Your priority. Either way, You’re in Luck.
Any Home Improvement big box store You can name runs their annual sales to coincide with Your Home Purchase. So, it follows that any Mom and Pop hardware or pool supply store worth their salt runs their sales NOW! This would be an additional advantage to buying a home during the fall or winter.
Homes go on the market any time of the year. Ideally for parents with school age children, that time is Spring or Summer. But job transfers, empty nesters, divorces, Mega Millions winning tickets have no season. There’s a 50/50 chance they occur during the Fall or Winter.
When they do, the advantages to You are widespread.
Fewer House Hunters means less competition. Less competition from other buyers means more motivated Sellers. More motivated Sellers means greater potential for downward flexibility in an otherwise stable Home’s price.
Add to that the potential for Mortgage Rate flexibility during their sleepy season. Movers and subcontractors hungry for Your business compete for Your attention.
Even the supporting retail stores, large and small, drop their prices at just the right time.
We at The Ewen Real Estate Team have a large and growing inventory of Homes in great neighborhoods for You and all the information you need on buying a home. If you have a home to sell before you purchase, we can find your home value for you. Since You know the vast majority of Homes Sell during the Spring and Summer, we have a question for You.
What would Warren Buffett do?
We think he’d contact us today. Shouldn’t You?
-Researched and written for the Ewen Real Estate Team by James F. Ewen J.D.
