If the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location, then the fourth, fifth and sixth most important things are timing, timing and timing.

Some timing issues are fairly obvious. For example, don’t try to time the market perfectly because  that’s pretty much impossible. Also, if you have a choice, don’t list your home on Christmas eve or in mid-July because there aren’t a lot of buyers in the market at those times. And don’t count on buying a home at those times either because the pickings will be slim.

But we’re not talking about the obvious timing issues here because, well, they’re obvious so why waste good blog space? Let’s talk about some subtle timing issues which are sometimes detectable if you closely a niche real estate market (i.e. a micro-market) very closely.

Example: Our clients recently sold their home for approximately $780,000. Eight months earlier, a similarly sized home on their street sold for $770,000. That home had some things our clients’ home did not, namely a renovated kitchen and bathrooms, a dug out basement and a parking space. It should have sold for significantly more than our clients’ home, but it didn’t. Why not ? (Besides our clients’  choice of agents.) Timing. The other home was listed towards the end of a hot mini-cycle that lasted a month or two. Most of the highly motivated buyers had already bought and those that remained were probably tired of bidding wars. As it turned out, our clients listed their home at the beginning of another hot mini-cycle. Buyers were plentiful and hungry. The buyers for their home had already lost out on a couple of other homes and were prepared to pay a high price to make sure they got this one.

Another example: Our clients wanted to buy a new home. They made an offer whenever they saw a home they liked, but it seemed like  there was always another buyer who was prepared to pay more. Eventually, a home came on the market that was better than all the homes they had previously seen. They made an offer, thinking that they probably wouldn’t stand a chance, but as fate would have it, there were no other offers so they were able to buy the home for list price (which was approximately 10% less than the prices paid for the other homes). All because they were in the right place at the right time. Had they thrown in the towel like some other buyers, they never would have got this deal.

So what’s to be learned?  First, if you’re selling, keep your fingers crossed that there will be buyers waiting to pounce on your home because they’ve already lost out on other homes. Second, if  you’re buying, remember that your time will come and, with any luck, it will come when all other buyers have either already bought or don’t feel like making the effort. And third, that there are always little windows of time that present special buying and selling opportunities.  Taking advantage of these opportunities requires 3 things:

1. Intimate knowledge of a specific micro-market;

2. A feel for the market that only comes with years of experience; and

3. A little luck because it’s impossible to time the market perfectly (on purpose).

The ability to recognize these windows of opportunity is one of the major benefits a great agent brings to the table and I’m not saying this by way of personal promotion because there are many markets in which I don’t specialize.

So pay close attention to location, but keep your eye on the clock to make sure you get your timing right.