Real Estate Seasonality

If you want to know the time of year that most people buy and sell a home in Tallahassee, all you need to do is study real estate seasonality.

And with all due respect to Andy Williams, my Realtor peers and I believe now is the most wonderful time of the year.

Measuring Real Estate Seasonality

The study of real estate seasonality is merely long-term recording of two key measurements.

First of all, we identify how many homes go under contract each day. Secondly, we record the number of closed home sales each day in the Tallahassee MLS.

We then take those numbers for each month of each year, and then determine the pro-rata share of the year each month carried in both new real estate contracts as well as new real estate closings.

The following real estate graph shows that April, May, and June see the most written contracts, while June, July, and August record the most closings.

The data supporting the graph above comes from real estate seasonality numbers from 2003 through 2012 in the Tallahassee real estate market.

Like a child on counting down the 12 days of Christmas, we are a mere few weeks away from June, historically the busiest month of the year for home sales.

Applying Real Estate Seasonality

So how do we take the results of our real estate seasonality study and use it to our advantage?

If you want to buy a home, you need to recognize that good real estate agents are very busy, so make sure you get a busy real estate agent. If you know somebody who has plenty of time to spare for you (during this most busy time of year), you might need to be concerned that you are their only client.

While this might conjure up images of being pampered, I would worry that somebody who does not negotiate a lot of real estate contracts on a regular basis might not be the best one suited to make sure you get the best deal on your purchase and all the other associated costs you will incur.

Solution: Interview agents for the job of helping you buy a home, then sign a buyers brokerage agreement that dictates the services they will provide for you.

If you need to sell a home, take the time to interview several real estate companies. Get them to show you their comprehensive internet marketing plan, which is designed to drive traffic to your home. Take the time to visit them at the office, demand to meet the broker, get them to show you what they do. Don't be too casual about this.

Remember, more than 50% of home sellers fail to get their home sold during their first listing period. Why? It has nothing to do with real estate seasonality! It's because they choose the wrong real estate company. Don't let this be you when it is very easy to identify the most active agents with a few simple Google searches.

And if you want to know more about using real estate seasonality to help you make the most of the housing market, just drop me a note and we can schedule a time to review your specific situation and needs.

*Joe Manausa Real Estate is a brokerage company headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida. Its unique business model provides specialists to both home sellers and home buyers, and the results speak for themselves. JMRE has significantly more 5-star reviews on google than any other local competitor. Joe Manausa Real Estate is a leader in internet marketing and utilizes search engine optimization, email marketing, social media and data analytics to get their clients’ home sold faster and for more money than any other Tallahassee brokerage firm. For more information, visit www.manausa.com or call us at (850) 366-8917.