What’s that knocking sound in the dead of night? Is it Santa? 

No, it’s opportunity. 

Because, while nothing is stirring all through the house, there are deals out there to be made right up to Christmas. 

In fact, the weeks between now and 25 December might just be your best buying window of the entire year.  This period quietly delivers three things’ investors love: motivated vendors, extra stock to choose from, and dramatically reduced competition. And when you’re hunting for a positively geared asset that pays its own bills and then pays you extra on top, those three factors matter. 

Here’s why this pre-Christmas period is a sweet spot for the B Invested crowd. 

Rate expectations… managed 

This year, with three RBA rate cuts in the bank and expectations for several more, vendors had the luxury of waiting for borrowing conditions to keep improving and an ever-increasing buyer pool to fuel property price rises through intense competition. 

But as rate cut hopes dwindled and eventually were all but put to bed, many sellers have accepted reality and decided to list anyway. 

More supply on the market means more opportunity to buy below market value. Meanwhile rental vacancies stay ridiculously tight, which means cashflow from the get-go if you’re switched on. 

Vendor confidence has taken a hit and we are now hurtling toward the holiday period. No one wants a listing languishing through Christmas and into January when buyers vanish to the coast and agents shut up shop. Who wants a stressful holiday? Or worse, starting a selling campaign over in January? No one, which is why, from mid-November, vendor motivation climbs sharply and the deals are there to be done. 

And a deal means “almost” positively geared assets become “definitely” positively geared. 

The material effect 

If a vendor shaves $10-$20,000 off their price expectations to get a clean pre-Christmas deal, that discount can turn a borderline yield into a firmly positive return. 

And when you take compound interest into account, every dollar saved by negotiation is essentially worth $2. Double your savings, double your cash flow. 

Plans on hold 

Ever been to an open home in mid-late December? It’s like a ghost town compared to the month prior. 

Buyers who have been on the Saturday slog for months on end will often call it a day for the year by the time their work Christmas party rolls around. 

They’ve checked out, their weekends are spent shopping, partying and planning logistics for visiting relatives over the holiday break.
They are certainly not as switched on as they used to be when looking for listings and doing due diligence. 

That means you’re not battling 15 other buyers for the same property. You’re not getting blindsided by emotional bidders at auction. And you’re not being pushed to stretch your numbers to win a deal. 

Rare window 

How often in Australia does a buyers’ market materialise? Almost never. Especially over the last dozen years. 

It’s time to get ahead of the game and be prepared. Get your finances in order so you’re ready to move on a deal as soon as it lands. 

Know your yield goals, understand your purchase limits and be decisive. The coming weeks could deliver magnified returns in the form of a property with years’ worth of equity built into the deal. 

When everyone else is buying gifts, treat yourself by investing in future wealth, ahead of Christmas, but at a Boxing Day price.