Why the End of the Year Can Bring You the Best Investment Property Deals & How You Can Prepare
With the holiday season quickly approaching, chances are you’ve started gathering Christmas lists from your children. In order to get the best deal on gifts, you are in full of anticipation of the holiday sales ahead. After years of experience, you know that some of the best deals can be found closer to the holidays, but you have to be prepared, have a plan, and be able to act quickly, or others will beat you to the sale and you’ll be looking elsewhere — or miss out on the item all together. We’ve all seen that certain item at a great price, only to pass on it, returning later to find that it is already sold out. If you are a real estate investor and are in the market for a new investment property, the holiday season can also present you with some of the best investment opportunities you will see all year. However, you have to be prepared to act quickly.
Why can the holidays, and specifically the end of the year, be the best time to buy investment real estate?
- Banks need to clear troubled assets from their balance sheets before the end of the year to avoid regulators criticisms, and they are willing to give big discounts to qualified investors to help them do that.
- Less competition! Many investors like to take the holidays off, opting to start fresh in the New Year.
- Some property owners get tired of dealing with issues such as trouble tenants, evictions, and maintenance calls during the holidays. The stress that the holiday season often brings tends to amplify these normal property ownership issues. Sometimes it’s just the motivation owners need to sell.
How can you be prepared to take advantage of end of the year deals?
- Build key relationships before the holiday season. Just like your children do when making their Christmas lists, you need to make build a list of bank workout officers (bank officials in charge of disposing of troubled assets) and build relationships with them. You need to let them know who you are and what you do so that when they have a property they need to liquidate, you’re the first one they call.
- Align the money. You need to put together the capital up front so that when the big discount opportunities present themselves, you have the capital to close the transaction. If you wait until the last minute, especially during the holiday season, you will miss out.
- Build your team and be prepared to move quickly. You need to have your team in place prior to the deals. Many discounted property sales have to be closed quickly. If you don’t know who you can call to get an inspection done in a week, or financing in two weeks, you won’t be able to close — no matter how good the deal is. The only thing worse than missing a deal is getting a great deal and losing it because you weren’t able to close to sale.
As a savvy real estate investor, if you have made your list, checked it twice, built your team, cultivated the right relationships and can act quickly, the holiday season can bring you some of the best investment opportunities you will see all year. These opportunities can bring you joy for years and years to come.
Photo: Ben Husmann
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Article Author: Spencer CullorSpencer has written 15 articles for us.
Visit Spencer's Website: http://www.ApartmentVestors.com
Spencer Cullor has spent the last 10 years as a real estate investor and currently owns single family, multifamily apartments, and commercial properties with his investment partners. Currently he is the Director of Acquisitions and Principal of ApartmentVestors, a multifamily real estate investment company.
Joshua Dorkin
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s a really good point you’ve made above Spencer. I like to call it “work while people are sleeping”. Thanks for the reminder.
M Stephanie
You’re welcome
Spencer –
Very timely article. We have found some of our best deals at the end of the year and I do not expect this year to be any different. We are already seeing stirring of some big deals before the end of the year.
Chris
Great article !! The holidays are notably our best months. The deals we can convey to our clients from the banks move properties very quickly, not to mention add several quality investors to my client list. Happy Holidays everyone !!!!