Today marks the 71st (ish) anniversary of Black Friday, the official post-thankful-day of greed where much of the American public pummels their way into store fronts at barbaric hours, sans any grooming efforts and donning nothing but pajama bottoms and puffy coats in order to save 20 bucks on a proverbial toaster.

Back in the day, my sister and I would participate in this annual grabfest — albeit in somewhat of a disturbed fashion. We would assume the appropriate attire, make our way to a previously determined Walmart or Target store, wait in line in the numbingly cold night air for an indeterminable amount of time and finally push our way through to the entrance once the store opened. We would then follow the crowds to the center aisles, grab whatever we could get our hands on and then stand in line. This is where the fun began. By the time we got out, it was nearly noon, we had embarked upon many delightful conversations with strangers from all walks of life, made several new friends and accumulated some merchandise at a discounted rate, most of which we would end up returning. Eventually our kids would join us for these particular reindeer games. A good time and some darn fun was had by all.

Today, I would hurl myself against a brick wall several times and then buy everything online rather than participate. With the advent of online shopping, along with merchants instituting some much needed rules, the retail experience has been sucked dry for me. The real estate experience, however, has not lost its allure.

As the holiday season commences, homebuyers looking for a Black Friday deal would be served better by looking on Thursday instead. Statistically, Thursday is the day of the week when sellers are most likely to reduce price. This is likely due to their Realtor’s advice. Since buyers are most active on weekends, if a home has had little traction in the first three weeks it has been listed, in this particular market, the best time to reduce the price would be right before the potential influx of new activity for the weekend. This is also the time when most open houses are held and both sellers as well as their Realtors want more traffic. Posting a price reduction is the best way to get such traction.

Keep in mind, this will not be a 30%- to 40%-off sale like you may see with crockpots and sheets; this is a house. Even a drop of 2% to 3% off list price would translate to significant savings of thousands of dollars — then you could pay full price for all the crockpots you want.

For years, I have told my clients that this is one of the best times to buy. Buyers are serious. They have to be to brave the snow, ice and cold temperatures that tend to permeate in the northern part of our state at this time of year. Especially for something other than a Black Friday bargain. The share of listings with price cuts are significantly higher this year than last as well. Rest assured, however, we are still experiencing a housing shortage in this state. Buyers are more apprehensive about rising interest rates right now, which has slowed the competition down. But once the new reality of the rates settles in, they will likely start coming out in droves and competition will fire right up again. All that is needed is one tiny spark. And make no mistake, there will be a spark; and once that fire ignites, it will spread like, well, wildfire.

Even if a particular home is not having the proverbial Black Friday sale, many sellers are still willing to negotiate. Rather than waiting for a price reduction, it doesn’t hurt to take the initiative and make a fair offer, even if it is not list price. Negotiations are happening in this market. Sellers are more willing to look at contingencies, negotiate reasonable repair requests or even help buyers with some closing costs. Since a home is one of the largest financial investments most people will make in a lifetime, it is a great opportunity to land the right home and avoid expensive mistakes. Every day is Black Friday right now in the real estate market, and inventory is good.

Jen Fischer is an associate broker and Realtor. She can be reached at 801-645-2134 or jen@jen-fischer.com.

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