3 Tips on the 4th Quarter to Come

First Time Home Buyer, Tips

3 Tips on the 4th Quarter to Come

This time last year the summer sky was overcast and the rain was on it’s way. This last week, we got over 117 degrees and there’s a 10% chance of rain, but I don’t know that I believe it will actually happen. A year ago this week, short sales were all the rage and the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act allowed you to avoid paying taxes on mortgage debt forgiven–but that ran out at the end of 2012.

Speaking about the end of the year, we’re in the second quarter now and that Q4 time from October through December will be here before you can say “Jimmy Crack Corn”. As the old-time realtors say, “Them be the slow months. Might as well kick up your heels and sit for a bit”.

But as I find myself thinking about the end of the year, I can tell you in my experience that last Halloween through New Year’s was all work for me in the real estate business. People were buying and selling through me last Q4 like there was no change of the season.

What “they” say is supposed to happen is that people stop buying or selling houses because the holidays just creep up on them and they get distracted. They say the market slows down after the summer and maybe you can negotiate a better deal during the holidays or Christmas. That has definitely not been the case for me in the last three years.

Look at previous years in the chart below. You’ll see this is generally true; especially around Thanksgiving. In the first chart, you’ll see the last nine years. Some of them drop off drastically, but come back around February.

In the second chart you will see 2004 and 2005 compared to 2010 and 2011. In ’10 and ’11 there was a little drop around November, but then we just picked right up again.