Timing is everything when it comes to real estate, whether you're buying or selling.
"It's hard to time the real estate market," real estate broke Kevin Clancy said. "It's like trying to time the stock market. Really, when you need to buy or sell it needs to be what personally works with your goals. And that's why you need a good real estate consultant to really look at what you want to accomplish and what the time frame is going to be and how you maximize your return and sell your house in the quickest amount of time or find you that perfect home to buy."
Buying tends to take longer, in order to find that one that's right for you.
"Generally with most buyers it's a three to six month process looking because people can't look full time," Clancy said. "You know, they're doing it on nights and weekends around their jobs. They'll generally look at seven or eight homes in that time frame until they find the one they want."
Once you find the place for you, how long before you move in depends on where you live.
"From the time you go to contract to the time you close will vary around the country," Clancy said. "In attorneys states and states requiring title insurance and whatnot, sometimes it runs 60 days. Other states you can close as quickly as 10 or 14 days."
While there may never be a perfect time to buy, right now may be a very good opportunity with many conditions in your favor.
"Coming into the fall is a good time," Clancy said. "Generally you see a little bit of an increase in inventory in September, October. Rates are still super, super low. So it's a good time to buy right now. Average time frame someone is going to be in their homes is seven to eight years. That seems to be shortening a little bit as we tend to move around a little bit more with society."
If you're in the beginning of your buying process, it's best to get a pre-approval letter from a lender so you know what range of homes you can look into. The timing for that could be as little as ten minutes. Securing the actual money, when the time comes, can be done within 30 to 45 days depending on the type of loan.