Every year around now, the For Sale signs along Friars Road start thinning out. Sellers who didn't get their number over the summer pull their listings before the holidays. The ones who haven't listed yet decide to wait for spring. I think most of them are making a mistake.
Here's what the fourth quarter looks like in Mission Valley. There are fewer new listings. There are fewer buyers too, but the ones still out in November aren't browsing. They've sold something, or they're relocating for a job, or their lease at one of the big rental buildings off Fenton Parkway ends in January and they're done paying rent. Those are people who write offers.
Take Civita. In spring, a three-bedroom townhome there competes with every other townhome in the community, plus whatever new construction is going up nearby. In November, it might be one of two or three. There's less noise, so a buyer who walks through it actually remembers it the next morning.
That's the case for sellers listing now rather than in March. You give up some foot traffic and you gain attention. I'd take six serious buyers over forty people wandering through an open house for the biscuits.
Buyers, the quiet quarter is where you get a bit of room. A seller who lists in late October has a reason, and a reason usually means motivation. Ask for help with closing costs. Ask about a rate buydown. The worst you'll hear is no, and in a thinner market you'll hear it less.
Investors, don't sit this one out either. Rental demand in the Valley doesn't take the holidays off. The trolley lines and the freeway access keep tenants coming, and the SDSU Mission Valley development next to the stadium has only added to that. Meanwhile you're up against fewer competing offers than you'd face in April.
One more thing, and this is the former financial planner in me talking. If you're buying, ring your accountant before you pick a closing date. Closing on the 20th of December versus the 5th of January can change what you're able to deduct this tax year. It's a ten-minute conversation, and I've watched people skip it and wish they hadn't.
Twenty years in, the pattern hasn't changed much. The people who move while everyone else is waiting for spring get the better terms.
So if you've been telling yourself you'll have another look in March, what exactly are you waiting for?