Okay, granted: a new family home won’t fit under the tree…
This year, Portland TVs have been filled with commercials that mix Santa with new
automobiles. If you believe the ads, a number of automakers apparently offer models that will fly
like reindeer onto driveways for big boys and girls who are sufficiently nice. One dogooder is
portrayed stitching up Santa’s ripped tunic in an act of selfless unnaughtiness that earns him a
new sedan on the big day.
We are pleased to say we haven’t seen a National Association of REALTORS
Santa and elves flying a new home onto a surprised family’s driveway, but the idea is no more
divorced from reality than Santa’s barnful of vintage Mercedes (it looks like he loves the red
coupe best). If you’ve never thought about shopping for a home during the year-end holiday
season, you might be surprised to consider that in some cases this is a very fortuitous time of year
for home sales. Aside from the few who can actually give such a fantastic gift (it actually
happens!), there are a couple of other reasons why holiday Portland metro area home sales do take place:
Lower Prices
First of all, nothing typifies the holiday spirit quite like the spirit of generosity—and at this
time of year, there are some Portland home sellers who are predisposed to be more generous than
usual. The possibility of their accepting lower offers doesn’t necessarily owe to holiday altruism
decking their halls. Fewer visits and fewer offers are made over the holidays, while at the same
time there are a number of circumstances that could materially benefit sellers who can close out
the Old and usher in the New before calendar year’s end. In some cases, as Forbes points out,
home sales may be a matter of the seller wanting to complete the transaction before year’s end for
tax purposes—or simply to get the sale out of the way.
Favorable Rates
When you buy in part determines how much you’ll pay, and the waning days of 2014 still
offer historically low home loan interest rates. Whether home sales in Portland during the coming year
will long be able to boast the same advantage is a matter of conjecture, but certainly this is one
year when beneficial rates are in place. Last minute year-end shoppers may reap a happier holiday
if they’ve locked in the kind of rates currently available.
Asking Santa for a new home may sound like a bit of an overreach, but for those who make
this year’s holiday buying benefits work in their favor, it can be a most memorable season! And
for the rest of us who will be leaving a chocolate chip cookie and milk by the fireplace…it
couldn’t hurt, could it?
We Sell More Because We Do More! Contact the Craig Reger Group at (503) 893-2022.
