Study Shows This Clever House-Hunting Strategy Will Save You Serious Money

Thinking about buying a house? A new study by RealtyTrac analyzed more than 32 million sales since the year 2000 to find that buyers get the best deals in October.

The average sales price during October is 2.6 percent below the average estimated full market value. The best day of the entire year is Oct. 8, when buyers can pay a whopping 10.8 percent below. That translates to some serious savings. By contrast, the worst month for a buyer to close on a home is April, as the study found that buyers pay an average of 1.2 percent above estimated market value. The worst day of the year for buyers to close, however, is Jan. 19, when buyers pay a 9.6 percent premium above market — yikes!

If closing on a house this month is unrealistic, don't panic; Nov. 26 is the second-best day of the year to buy a house, followed by Jan. 31. More broadly speaking, the months of February, July, December, and January were also found to be good for buyers. And if you want to go deep into the weeds, the best days of the week to close are Monday and Friday. Happy house hunting!