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Timing: Truth or Hype?

Right now, there’s a popular . . . I’m not sure what to call it, honestly, but it’s a thing a bunch of people are doing on Facebook where they post a list of ten concerts they’ve supposedly attended, and you have to guess which one is an outright lie.  I’m not sure if the object of this “game” is to see how well your friends (you know, all 3,642 of them on Facebook) know you and your concert attendance habits or how cool you want those 3,642 people to THINK you are for having attended the concert of at least nine bands.  While I’m certainly not THAT old, social media causes me to SMH more often than LOL. 

At any rate, the gist of today’s article is going to be SORT OF similar: I’m going to tell you three things related to the mortgage/real estate world, and only one of them is going to be absolutely true.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you guess – but you can play along that way if you wish. 

According to a recent article I read online, industry experts are telling potential home buyers that they might want to think about waiting until August or September to purchase a home to get the best price possible.  They’re basing this on past data showing that, in most markets, home inventories spiked in those months, which means buyers have more selection and a stronger position to negotiate a better deal.  Okay, I’m not saying this is patently false – they’re basing this on historical data, and I’m sure these experts are very smart people whose mothers are very proud of them – but 2017 is . . . well, it’s weird, to put it mildly.  Using housing and sales data from 2016 to indicate what will happen in housing and sales in 2017 would be like predicting Leonard DiCaprio would win the Best Actor Oscar again in 2017 because he won it in 2016.  I digress, sorry.  Inventories are ridiculously low at present, and it’s not looking to vastly improve over the next 3-4 months to give buyers that advantage. 

Next, a similar report indicated that, based on historical data, the first half of May is the very best time of the year to list because you’ll see a $1,500 boost to the final sale price.  In other words, you have only ONE WEEK from the date of publication of this article to list your house.  HURRY!!!!!!!  Sorry, I got whipped up into a frenzy by those same pointy-headed experts using past data to prognosticate the future.  Again, I’m not saying they’re wrong (or that their mothers have any reason NOT to be proud of them), but being in the perfect storm that is 2017 – gobsmackingly low interest rates and equally low inventories – I think you’re safe if you list your house on May 16th or later. 

Now, for the absolute truth!  (See, I told you I wasn’t going to make you guess.)  Whether you’re the seller, the buyer, or one of the real estate agents involved in the transaction, when you’re throwing around dates for the close of escrow, I would strongly recommend shooting for the middle of the month.  Loan officers and escrow officers are paid based on what closes in a given month, which means that the last few days of each month are absolutely insane in their offices.  If you want your transaction to get the best handling and most careful attention, set the close for the middle of the month because people’s heads don’t catch on fire until about the 23rd or 24th day of the month.  Also, by closing in the middle of the month, you have some wiggle room for coordinating moves and other logistical matters without being crushed for time – you might even have time to catch a concert or two and brag about it on Facebook.  SMH.

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