Timing a holiday home sale

Flickr photo by Fauxen.

DEAR BERNICE: My husband just received a job promotion that will require us to move from Virginia to South Carolina. He starts his new position in January. Our girls are 2 and 4, so we don't have to worry about when we sell in terms of their preschool.

I was wondering if it would be smart to list our home over the holidays or to wait until after the first of the year. We have owned our home for 10 years. It's in a good school district. There are not many houses for sale in our area, so we're thinking it might be smart to sell sooner rather than later. What's your opinion? --Cheryl S.

DEAR CHERYL: There's no question that showing activity generally slows down between Thanksgiving and the first of the year. Part of this is due to the fact that many agents decide to take vacations during that time. Personally, I had some of my best months for sales in December, especially when I stayed in town rather than taking time off.

There are several advantages to having your property on the market in December, especially if you decorate your house for the holidays. A warm fire and the smell of homemade cinnamon rolls (even if they came out of the can) will make your house more appealing.

If your neighbors decorate their houses, that's an additional plus, especially if there is any type of neighborhood competition. Most buyers are drawn to communities where the residents take pride in their property.

Even though there are fewer buyers looking over the holidays, those who are looking are usually very motivated to buy. Like your family, they often have to move quickly.

The last few months of the year often see an uptick in investor activity. An investor may be purchasing because the current interest rates are very favorable or to pick up some additional tax write-offs in this tax year.

The wild card in your decision is the fact that the lenders appear to be sitting on a huge inventory of REOs ("real estate owned" by the bank through foreclosure). The estimates about how many properties are actually involved vary dramatically. For example, some experts believe Freddie Mac has about 350,000 properties in their portfolio of REOs.

Others put the estimate closer to 1 million. Regardless of which number is correct, there are probably a similar number at Fannie Mae and even possibly at FHA. This doesn't even take into consideration the additional REO portfolios held by both large and small lenders. ...CONTINUED

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