Summary: Spring has traditionally been the ideal season of the year to buy a home in WA, OR, CO, or ID. But there’s no reason not to take advantage of the freedom of the summer months to find your new home. This article will outline reasons why summer is a great time to start the house hunting process.
If you’ve been putting off your house hunting, it’s time to head out. Summer is a great season to go shopping for a new home, for a variety of reasons. So, if you’re in the market to buy a new home, don’t wait, and here’s why.
1. More Inventory
Homeowners list their homes for sale in the summer more often than any other season. Many homeowners use the warmer months to spruce up their homes’ exteriors and improve their curb appeal to attract prospective buyers. They can do a lot more with their landscape in the summer than they can in colder months when snow gets in the way.
When you shop for a new home in Denver or Bellevue during this time, you’ll have a much wider selection of homes to choose from. This will widen your selections and give you a lot more inventory to peruse, which is especially helpful when the inventory situation is tight, which has long been the case in places like Seattle and Portland.
2. Better Prices
More inventory in summer often turns the local real estate scene into a buyer’s market. Home sellers may have to compete with other sellers on the same block or even down the street. When there are more homes to choose form, sellers have to pull out all the stops to make their listings stand out, and one way to do that is to price their homes competitively. Not only does this strategy help sellers sell more quickly, but it also helps buyers save a little. This gives buyers a nice position of leverage to possible get a better price on a new home.
3. More Neighborhood Activity
There’s no better time to get a true sense of the neighborhood than summer. In summer, kids are out playing, homeowners are out tending lawns and friends are gathering for backyard BBQs. These are all activities that can give you an accurate portrayal of the neighborhood culture. Take advantage of summer weekends, too; you’ll find even more neighborhood activity then.
Having this opportunity to see the neighborhood in which you are considering buying will tell you a lot about the sense of community. It will also show you how other homeowners take care of their Seattle or Boise homes, which will have an impact on your property’s value. The freedom that summer brings will also allow you to scope out all the amenities in the area, including parks and eateries where locals hang out. Summer really is the best time to get an accurate picture of the neighborhood.
4. More Visibility
By summer, all the snow, ice and autumn debris has either melted or been cleaned up by homeowners. You’ll have more visibility to view the condition of the roof, siding, deck, lawn, driveway and walkways. You can also see what the landscaping and greenery looks like when in full bloom and not under a layer of the white stuff. Under the cover of snow and ice, you might miss important issues.
5. Evidence Of Any Flooding Problems
Spring rains produce evidence of any flooding issues with water lines along foundation walls. If there are any issues with gutters and roof structures, any precipitation could make its way into the home and cause damage.
Summer is the best time to go home shopping because this kind of evidence will be fresh and easily identifiable. These issues will typically be marked by yellow stains on ceilings and walls, bubbling of paint, or musty odors. Flooding isn’t always a reason not to buy a home, but it helps to know what potential issues you could be facing. Water damage can be very expensive to rectify, so you’ll certainly want to know of any of these issues exist before you put an offer on a home. And if you do, your offer should reflect the cost required to repair any water damage.
6. More Free Time
Most people have more free time in summer than any other time of year. The kids are out of school, and many people tend to take their holidays from work to spend more time with the kids and enjoying the warmer weather. Even though many people may travel during this time, there are plenty of others who enjoy taking a “staycation” and sticking around close to home. And if that’s you, then you can use all that extra time to spend perusing homes on the market in WA, ID, OR, or CO.
It is more relaxing to go home shopping when you know you aren’t taking valuable time away from work. On your summer vacation, you also don’t have to take unpaid days off to view homes with your real estate agent.
7. Easier School Transition
When you do go ahead and buy in the summer, your kids will have an easier time of transitioning to a new school. Many homebuyers with school-aged children strategically time their new home purchase so that their kids are not pulled out of their old school and forced to start at a new school mid-year. This can be challenging for children, and many parents want to make sure they’re already in their new homes before the start of the new school year.
Instead of breaking up the school year, your kids can end one grade in one school and start the new year at the new school.
Buying a home in summer just makes good sense. Contact your local real estate agent today so you can hurry and take advantage of the summer real estate market in your area.
Ready to Buy a Home and Apply For a Mortgage?
Are you considering buying a home some time soon? Sammamish Mortgage can help. We are a local mortgage company serving the broader Pacific Northwest region, including Washington state, Idaho, Colorado, and Oregon. We are proud to offer a wide variety of mortgage programs and products with flexible qualification criteria. Please contact us if you have any questions or are ready to start the mortgage application process.
