Holiday Hustle

Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Company Holiday Party, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Years Eve and New Years Day. With so many “dead days” in such a short span of time, it becomes common place to just go through the motions on every other day between Thanksgiving and the New Year, content with what you’ve already accomplished for the year. Of course, that is probably the biggest mistake you can make heading into 2011.

End of November, early December is when the market odds are in your favor and next year’s success is determined. Pretty simple to see why. Success is just a game of statistics. The more you play, the more you prevail. Throughout most of the year, the odds are stacked more heavily against you as your competitors are pursuing the same business that you are. During the holidays, people begin to slack, and your competition subsides.

Furthermore, who is selling real estate during the holidays? For all the reasons you want to take off during the holiday months, are the same reasons many don’t want to deal with the headaches of selling: they want to enjoy this time of the year. So if someone decides they do want to deal with all the hassles and inconveniences of selling between Thanksgiving and New Years, they must be motivated. A quick search on how to sell real estate during the holidays, produces many results on the importance of pricing real estate right. Beyond pricing, many of the flakes seem to go away during the holidays. In addition, there are many sellers who are motivated to close by the end of the year for the purposes of a tax gain or loss.

And what about the business you don’t capture during the end of the year? The flakes you do deal with during the holiday season can often turn serious at the beginning of the year. I don’t know if it’s New Years resolutions, but often those who can’t seem to make up their mind in the last weeks of the year, come into the new year more decisive and ready to negotiate in earnest. So all the tracks you’ve laid at the end of the year can pay huge dividends the next year. I know it has in my real estate career. So, in addition to turkey, ham and wine, a little hustle during this holiday can turn out quite fine.

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.