Best Time to Buy? Best Time to Sell?

When is the best time to buy? When is the best time to sell? I get asked these questions constantly everywhere I go. In short, the answer is that it depends on your individual circumstances. Each person has a unique personal buying or selling situation, whether starting a new job, facing rent increases, retirement, etc.

However there are certain seasonal trends that govern the real estate market. Traditionally, Spring is the busiest time in the housing market. This past Spring we experienced a very strong seller's market with extremely low inventory and a bevy of buyers competing for those homes. Now, throughout the Summer, the inventory of available homes has steadily increased, providing more choice for buyers. The outlook for the upcoming Fall and Winter seasons remains strong. More properties on the market means that buyers have less competition for the same homes and may be able to get a better deal. In the late Fall and Winter, when inventories generally drop, homeowners who do decide to sell are more likely to capture the active buyers.

But the real answer to the question of timing is whatever makes the most sense for you financially. Homes are bought and sold every single day of the year, including weekends and holidays, so timing may be important but not necessarily crucial. What really matters and the question you should ask yourself is "Do I need to buy now?" or "Do I need to sell now?"

Brian Block is a Realtor with Re/Max Allegiance in Alexandria, Virginia. He is also a real estate attorney. He can be contacted at 703-626-0715. If you or anyone you know has real estate questions or is looking to buy or sell real estate in the Northern Virginia and Metropolitan D.C. area, contact Brian Block. For more information and to start your home search, visit his website at http://www.brianblock.com

MORE RESOURCES:

Leading Real Estate Company Announces Over $1 Billion in New ... - MarketWatch

Realtors Say Foreigners Hold Key to Real Estate Revival - FOXNews

Real Estate Market Slumps, Showhomes Soars - MarketWatch

Investment Regimes for Indian Real Estate Sector Explored - MarketWatch

Moody#39;s: Commercial real estate prices rise - CNNMoney.com

Winston amp; Strawn Continues Growth; Adds 19 Litigation, Corporate ... - MarketWatch

Architects see drop in real estate design contracts - Los Angeles Times

Target shareholder revises real estate proposal - The Associated Press

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUSTRE4AI5MH20081119cid=1271977767ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNEHc-6zb-b1PoUbNqvxrkFsy4e-lQimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=XVuA8yiQ2LIJimgurl=www.reuters.com/resources/r/%3Fm%3D02%26d%3D20081119%26t%3D2%26i%3D6876351%26w%3D192%26r%3D2008-11-19T193234Z_01_BTRE4AI1BTF00_RTROPTP_0_TARGET width=80 height=50 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Reuters/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-0fd=Rurl=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5izZJX0Q9xiHBM5Mg3-Ee1B6sI8wQD94I9R8O0cid=1271977767ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNFBKpDNcYPt2IamSBPQc-hhm--0dQTarget shareholder revises breal estate/b proposal/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Associated Pressnbsp;-/font nobr13 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Ackman unveiled a plan last month that involves creating a breal estate/b investment trust that would take ownership of the land Target owns underneath its b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-1fd=Rurl=http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2008/11/17/daily25.htmlcid=1271977767ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNFLi33KABT10NuH6MtuxnoXmw9PWgPershing revises Target land spin-off proposal/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBizjournals.com/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-2fd=Rurl=http://www.reuters.com/article/americasDealsNews/idUSTRE4AH7PD20081118cid=1271977767ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNE1fkmdP0eAEU3pO5eCt66EyUAAWAPershing#39;s revised Target proposal out Wednesday/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-3fd=Rurl=http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-dealzone/2008/11/19/troubled-retailerackman-5-bln-reit-ipo/cid=1271977767ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNHhInBRsW2GDilkJ5QAq91N4eRAdgTroubled retailer+Ackman= $5 bln REIT IPO?/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters UK/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-4fd=Rurl=http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/8044333cid=1271977767ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNHLQbFgUfjAGDqODdZrW2HQydau_Anobrguardian.co.uk/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-5fd=Rurl=http://leapsinvestor.com/market-news/ackman-target-shares-worth-37share-726/cid=1271977767ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNGhuUGsNyvdNI2Z9d9Og7qRg_qIkQnobrLEAPSInvestor.com/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1271977767hl=ennobrall 131 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Commercial Real Estate Debt Index Plummets - Wall Street Journal

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-0fd=Rurl=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122703851606838297.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsjcid=1271977795ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNFyrh4Wfv6eTObvtXNUGI7BGkMs1QCommercial bReal Estate/b Debt Index Plummets/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fWall Street Journalnbsp;-/font nobrNov 18, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By PRABHA NATARAJAN WASHINGTON -- A commercial breal estate/b debt index plummeted Tuesday after a Credit Suisse research report warned that two loans included b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-1fd=Rurl=http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1933428520081119cid=1271977795ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNEXnkWA_7XQ8dxuXRQ36yCit2n0gAUPDATE 1-Economy, TARP conspire against commercial mortgages/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-2fd=Rurl=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601087%26sid%3Da7v3wNC8x9WA%26refer%3Dhomecid=1271977795ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNHdpssEo71ef_n_r9SnsnYp8VjZSwWestin, Promenade Commercial Mortgages Near Default (Update2)/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBloomberg/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-3fd=Rurl=http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1826572220081118cid=1271977795ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNHeWcNdOH4-nADAFL4sybRxE7SbUgUPDATE 1-Big CMBS loans seen near default, index yields soar/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-4fd=Rurl=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122703851606838297.html%3Fmod%3Dspecial_page_campaign2008_mostpopcid=1271977795ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNEHNzYL9EO6GV3QJKhaEI0V6yECrQnobrWall Street Journal/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-5fd=Rurl=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601087%26sid%3Da0GR3cE_UyEE%26refer%3Dhomecid=1271977795ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNH6rRZsfDnzNPVQVNqZCWvn76sWrgnobrBloomberg/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1271977795hl=ennobrall 31 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Artis Real Estate Investment Trust announces monthly cash distribution - FOXBusiness

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-0fd=Rurl=http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/artis-real-estate-investment-trust-announces-monthly-cash-distribution-319904495/cid=1272287796ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNE7mR_M7f9BuMhKhsbba4-zPB89igArtis bReal Estate/b Investment Trust announces monthly cash distribution/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fFOXBusinessnbsp;-/font nobr8 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Artis is a growth-oriented breal estate/b investment trust focused exclusively on commercial properties located in primary and growing secondary markets in b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-1fd=Rurl=http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D2192:amid-global-economic-slowdown-investors-are-well-advised-to-train-their-sights-on-real-estate-%26catid%3D47:propertiescid=1272287796ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNHINypxTPJ3WrV6ZQma2Uj2fMeosA‘Amid global economic slowdown, investors are well-advised to b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBusiness Mirror/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-2fd=Rurl=http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2008/19/c2246.htmlcid=1272287796ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNG2UPelFWAZv1yPSz9zal0-nHb3qwCrombie REIT announces monthly distribution/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCanada NewsWire (press release)/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-3fd=Rurl=http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/investors-real-estate-trust-announces-increase-regular-quarterly-common-share-1154743513/cid=1272287796ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNGj6RRfdd7s7reuApW01PyTPRQkPgInvestors bReal Estate/b Trust Announces Increase in Regular b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrFOXBusiness/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-4fd=Rurl=http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/holloway-lodging-real-estate-investment-trust-announces-monthly-distribution-1482787386/cid=1272287796ei=sVwlSajaLpXM8AT0pt3GAQusg=AFQjCNFo3vw4cdEh6snTH9S-J_9SeV6GQAnobrFOXBusiness/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1272287796hl=ennobrall 24 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Real-Estate - Google News

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