Last Deal of 2025: What It Takes to Close During the Holidays

For many real estate professionals, the last weeks of the year are a kind of no man’s land between the late summer crowds and the always hopping spring market. But for some, it’s still prime time for real estate, with its own unique sense of urgency.

For Tubac, Ariz., agent Haley Robling is the driving force behind year-end transactions. Robling sells “in a town that is mostly retirees. Families come to visit during the holidays, and the sons and daughters love our little town and go exploring while they are here in November,” she said.

Then they will be “ready to buy when they come back for Christmas in December. I have a lot of requests to display during the holidays because people are in town visiting for a short time.”

Timing is what makes an EOY transaction different

Robling sees longer timelines and a slower pace for year-end purchases and sales, especially around the transaction process itself.

“Buyers are often traveling to visit family, inspectors are taking time off and it can take up to 10 business days to process certain tests, such as water quality tests. Therefore, inspections that would normally take 10 days during the rest of the year often stretch to 14 to 21 days during the closing days of November and December,” she said.

One way sellers can get to the closing table before New Year’s, while still enjoying their holidays, is through post-possession occupancy, which Robling says is more common this time of year.

Rick Warner of Petaluma, California-based We Group, also sees a slower escrow process at the end of the year. “People are working less and taking more time off,” says Warner. “Underwriters and appraisers move more slowly. When making loans, independent originators who can go to multiple banks, or bankers who only work with mortgages, tend to move fastest,” while others take much longer.

Case study: Warner’s last listing of 2025

What turned out to be The We Group’s last mention of the year began in mid-October, near the end of the sales season for Sonoma County. The house has been completely renovated and is part of an older, established neighborhood.

Warner’s first goal was to fix the prices. To ensure that the listing was on target for the market, he had three top colleagues provide price advice. There was a difference of $100,000 between the highest number, $1.495 million, and the lowest, $1.395 million. Warner’s suggested price was also within that range.

After consulting with his customers, they told Warner they wanted to price at the lower end of the range. They expected multiple offers with an expected eight-day window for marketing the property. Inspections had already been conducted to reduce the time required for escrow and to encourage a cleaner offer, possibly one without contingencies.

“They did everything right: the timing right, the price right,” Warner said. However, there was only moderate interest. The only agent who had consistently communicated interest on behalf of its buyers, Warner informed Warner that they were not making an offer just five minutes before the initial bid deadline.

A surprising reboot of Thanksgiving week

Just before Thanksgiving, three or four weeks after they first hit the market, Warner and his customers started looking at next steps. They decided to leave the house on the market through Black Friday, then remove it and relist it after the Super Bowl.

“Within minutes, an agent called and asked if the ad was available,” Warner said. He told her the house was staged and empty and gave her the demonstration instructions. The buyers expressed their interest in writing an offer.

Then another agent opened the disclosure package online. Warner called to check in and they eventually put together an offer.

As we worked with the sellers to compare offers, a third agent called. “Her buyers had just flown in from out of town,” Warner said. “They had looked at the house online.”

Warner informed the agent that there were two other offers on the table and that they needed to take action that day. “They loved the house,” he said. “We gave them the reveal package and they made us a super clean offer of $50,000 over asking price. Twenty-four hours earlier we had no offers.”

The lucky buyers moved up their closing date to December 22 so they could be in their new home before the holidays.

Takeaways for agents

Here are five of the best tips from these end-of-year experts to get through December successfully:

1. Flexibility is key for Robling. There are “no deal killers,” she said, “aAs long as both buyers and sellers are willing to be flexible. I have some sellers who don’t move during the holidays, so buyers sometimes have to get comfortable with a 60+ day closing.”
2. Be prepared for it logistical challenges which you wouldn’t normally experience the rest of the year, Robling said. “Buyers and sellers are traveling, children are out of school, and sellers may be fully booked or only available on certain days. Even something like coordinating mobile notary services can become difficult when people are spread across states during the holidays.”
3. Warner is also a performance coach, so he shared his best advice year-end transactions. “I like early February for listings because buyers are ready and you get a little head start on the spring market,” he said. “But you can’t have that business in February if you don’t communicate with your database.”
4. To maintain responsibility and consistency During the latter part of the year, keep in mind that you don’t need to sign any contracts to work on your business. “Communicate with people, reach out and send some love their way,” he advises. “That’s the way to share seasonal friendship and recognition and stay top of mind without it all being about you.”
5. Finally, Resist the temptation to shut everything downWarner said. “You may close fewer deals, but relationships are created, cultivated and built during the holidays.”

Email Christy Murdock