How to Sell a Home and Buy a Home in the Best Time of Year and Make $100K Extra.
Each year we write a report on the best time to buy a home in the Portland real estate market and the best time to sell a home in the Portland real estate market. Guess what? Those two optimal times are never the same. But there is a way to both sell in the best time of year and then buy in the best time of year! I’ll explain by the end of this article.
Best Time of the Year to Sell a Home
Every year in Portland the best time to sell a home is in the spring and early summer. The most optimal overall season is March through May. The reason for this is simple, supply vs. demand. The first five months of the year have extremely low inventory and buyer traffic climbs high by March, then peaks in June. The reason why June is not in the best time of the year to sell (it is a close second) is because inventory starts to climb by late April and keeps climbing in May and keeps climbing in June, then typically inventory hits a high water market in late July or August.
Best Time of the Year to Buy a Home
Inventory is high by late July and stays high through September. Meanwhile buyer traffic starts dropping at the same time. Most home buyers purchase in spring or early summer. In late summer a lot of local home buyers are on vacation. The weather also gets the hottest locally in late-July through August. Then school starting in early September also slows down home buyer traffic. While all that is going on, inventory is at its peak. It is no wonder then the best time to buy a home is late-July through September.
Quick note on the rest of the year
The market is fairly balanced in October as inventory drops and home buyer traffic picks up after the school swing is past. Also Nov. through Jan. is not the best time to sell or buy because while inventory is low, buyer traffic is low. And extremely low inventory is never good for homebuyers. Sure you can buy Nov. through Jan., but it can be very tough to find what you’re looking for. The high inventory, medium to low buyer traffic late-July through September creates the seasonal buyers market effect.
The only way to “play” the local real estate market and sell in the hot season and buy in the best season is …
Put your home on the real estate market in mid-May. Negotiate a 45 day close (that is the longest out you can set closing without having to worry that you’re negatively affecting the buyer’s loan). Then also be sure to negotiate a 60 day rent back, or short-term lease, from the new homeowners after you’ve sold. Since you’re selling in the hot season (May) you should be able to get those terms without a problem, as long as you don’t price your home outside of market. You can stay in the home after it is sold for up to 60 days on a short-term lease without negatively affecting the buyer’s loan. That’s a total of 105 days!
How it works.
Let’s say you list mid-May. Then you’re closed by the first of July. Now you have the money from the sale (so you can make a good offer on your next home) but you can still stay there another 60 days. You start making offers as the real estate market turns in your favor. By late-July or early August your offer is accepted. You move in by late August, early September. Perfect! You just won the real estate market. Selling in the best season can increase your price by 10% and buying in the best season can reduce the price you’d pay by 10%, a total potential win of 20% of the cost of a home, which in Portland the average price is around $500,000, making a grand-total potential savings of $100,000.
Work with a top 1% agent.
I’ve been licensed since 2003 and my small team is approaching 2,000 home sales. We’ve been through the hottest and coldest real estate markets in Portland’s history (we’ve been living in extreme times lately). We have dedicated, experienced sellers and buyers agents ready to help you make the best out of your next move. See our pay less and get more home selling services or read about our experienced buyer’s agents. Let’s make a plan together.
