How many End of the World prophecies have you heard of in recent memory?
It’s ok, I’m not channelling Jim Jones
From Marshall Applewhite’s Heaven’s Gate Cult who all had to ‘pull the pin’ to hop on the back of the Hale-Bopp comet to eternal life in 1997, to the interpretation of the Mayan Long Calendar that had us all evaporating on the 21 December 2012 – there is always someone willing to call it.
What if I told you the end of the World, and life as we know, comes every year on the 25th of December?
It’s ok, I’m not channelling Jim Jones (stop mixing the kool-aide), I’m just sharing the long-held beliefs of many of my former, current and potential clients over the last sixteen years.
If I had $10 for every-time I heard the following assertion/statement, it is highly likely I would be able to afford my dream of an office under a palm tree, with clear turquoise water three steps away and a steady supply of breakfast through to dinner cocktails to keep me upbeat about my challenging surroundings;
“Nothing happens in December and January. There is no point in trying to sell until the New Year.”
I’m TOO BLOODY busy to take a vacation…
This urban myth continues to be rolled out by almost every home owner that has reached that decision that it is time to go; whether by a private house sale or through an agent – as the year (just a number on a calendar) draws to an end.
Why do I know it is a myth?
Because I have lived and worked through 15 or 16 of them and I have only ever taken one serious vacation during the time frame we are discussing today.
And that time frame is 1st of December to the 31st of January.
And do you know why I only took one serious holiday in that time period over the last 15 or 16 years?
Because I was (and still am) TOO BLOODY busy from the 1st of December to the 31st of January!
Busy – listing and marketing properties for sale, taking and qualifying buyer enquiry, conducting inspections, negotiating and putting deals together.
Hell…I remember one Christmas Eve, showing a couple three or four houses during the day, then at about 5.15pm (I’ll never forget the time) as I was preparing to do my Christmas shopping, the husband calls and says, “We want to make an offer on house X.”
Waddaya do?
I dropped everything (an IOU to the Mrs would have to suffice) and to cut a long story short, a very happy seller and buyer had a great deal by 7pm.
Here is the scoop.
During the ‘End of the World’ period there are three days, yep three days, where the market takes a break.
The 25th, 26th and 27th of December, then another possible breather on the 1st of January.
Here’s how buyers (the market) behave during the end of the world.
On the 25th-27th of December they drop all tools and head off to far flung corners of the country to visit the relatives they moved away from so happily years ago.
Tons of chook, prawns and turkey – as well as oceans of sav blanc and TED’s (or Asahi’s if the kids were forced to buy dad a present) – are consumed like all the human race is about to undertake a mass hibernation or even extinction.
As they emerge from the food and alcohol coma of the 25th, there are three huge undertakings to embark upon on the 26th:
Consumption of the left overs, the Boxing Day Test and the big sales.
So much to do, so little time.
It was not uncommon for to me to showing properties during that Christmas/New Year period
The 27th brings forth a day that should be dubbed; ‘I can’t be f*cked day’ – as Australia have capitulated on Day 1 and we have to watch the other mob rack up 500+ runs, the left overs are down to a couple of slices of ham and nana’s fruit Christmas Cake, and the buyer’s remorse from the Boxing Day sales is a deep as it is painful – “Did I really need that Google thingy that will tell me what time it is in Estonia when I ask it?”
But then…on the 28th, laptops fire up, phones get feverishly fingered and those who were thinking about a move start to act.
It was not uncommon for to me to showing properties during that Christmas/New Year period and locking down two, three or four contracts.
Sure, all the poor, slave-like lawyers scuttled away until about the second week of January, but a locked and loaded deal would be waiting for the little dears on their email after their two week Cook Island breather.
The long and short of it is – serious property buyers generally put their cue in the rack for about three to five days over the Christmas period, then they come out swinging after ‘I can’t be f*cked day’.
The big question is: If you want to sell your own home when the end of the world comes, will you be ready for the day after?
