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You Should Be Shopping for a Rental Investment this Season

A “For Sale” Sign in Front of a Snowy PropertyAs you begin your holiday shopping, one item you may not yet have on your list is a new Exton investment property. The holiday season is a period for numerous people to focus on festive activities and spending time with loved ones. However, studies have shown that if you want to acquire a rental property, the winter months might be the best time of the year to do so.

If you’re like other rental property investors, you’re constantly looking for a good bargain on real estate. When you’re ready to purchase, you may want to time your acquisitions at year’s end to find the best possible prices. According to a new analysis from Attom Data Solutions, you are more likely to find properties at a discount during the last month of the year. In their report, Attom analyzed over 23 million single-family home and condo sales in a 6-year period. As they calculated the dates when homes sold for a discount, three days in December stood out: the 4th, 26th, and 31st.

To be sure, it’s a clear pattern and a strange trend. The data seems to indicate that closing on a property in the days adjacent to major holidays may give rise to lower prices. But why? Industry experts theorize that a number of conditions may contribute to the lower sales prices in December. As an illustration, sellers may be more motivated to sell if they are trying to move close to the holidays. Few individuals enjoy their entire lives being thrown into chaos by a move just before Christmas. This alone is a powerful motivation to finalize the sale as soon as feasible. As a result, the sellers may be willing to sell at a discount to avoid an ill-timed move.

One more key factor likely contributing to lower home prices during the holidays is less competition with other buyers. Like sellers, homebuyers may avoid shopping for a new residence in December. There are multiple reasons for this, including a reluctance to move children out of a current school district and the sheer logistical difficulty of moving house in cold temperatures, ice, and snow. As competition for single-family homes declines, investors may be able to more successfully negotiate a lower purchase price from sellers unwilling to wait until the market picks back up in the spring. This is particularly the case if your offer is the only one the seller receives. With only your offer in hand, they may be much more accommodating and may accept terms in an offer that perhaps wouldn’t be suitable at other times of the year.

Lastly, it’s imperative not to overlook the effect of the holiday season on the negotiation process. For most individuals, the holidays bring a sense of goodwill and anticipation. These positive vibes may have a quantifiable effect on your negotiations, as sellers may feel more generous and eager to make a fresh start in the new year to come. When mixed with the other elements, it’s clear that the holiday season itself may create some of the best conditions in which to buy your next investment property.

Are you eager to add another rental property to your investment portfolio this holiday season? Real Property Management Varanasi can help! Our professional Exton property managers help investors with a wide range of services, from connecting investors with off-market sellers to getting your rental property ready to rent as early as possible. Do you want to discover more? Give us a call at 215-770-2707 or contact us online today!

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