Buying a home at this time of year offers benefits, such as lower pricing and less competition for the property you love. But buying during the holidays also poses some unique scheduling challenges that can derail even the best-planned closing. If you're buying a home at this time of year, a few key strategies can simplify the closing process and ensure you're able to successfully move into your new home.

Set Longer Deadlines

One of the keys to a successful closing during the holiday season is to set longer deadlines for key parts of the closing process. Because people are out of the office more often at this time of year, it may take you longer to schedule the inspection, get your mortgage documents approved - or for the seller to fix things before the closing. Set longer deadlines so you don't blow up your deal by failing to meet your timeline on a key item.

Keep the Lines of Communication Open

Keep the lines of communication open with everyone on your team; from your attorney to the seller to the realtor - anyone involved in the closing process. Make sure you know when people will be out of the office, and you may have to do some extra coordinating to make everything happen at this time of year. At the same time, though, don't be pushy or annoying, as that can cause people to drag their heels, further delaying the process.

Beware of Scheduling Too Close to a Holiday

Avoid scheduling key items too close to a holiday. Don't schedule your closing for Christmas Eve, for example, or your financing contingency for the day before Thanksgiving. Things come up, so you should always give yourself a few days between any important deadline and a holiday, in order to give yourself and the other parties some wiggle-room to resolve issues and still meet these deadlines before the holidays take people out of the office.