The frenzy of the summer real estate market has cooled by the seemingly very same breeze sweeping leaves off the trees across much of the country. But now may be a better time than ever for your buyer clients to do their house hunting.

According to RealtyTrac and realtor.com®, October is the best time to snag a deal on a house. RealtyTrac analyzed more than 32 million sales of single-family homes and condos between 2000 and 2015, finding that those who purchased in October paid 2.6 percent below the average estimated full market value for their property. Oct. 8, specifically, seems to offer the best deals for buyers with an average 10.8 percent discount.

If your buyers need more reason to start or continue their home search this fall, here are five additional reasons to shop for a home now from Lindsay Szwed, an agent with RE/MAX Suburban in the Chicago area.

1. Less focus on landscaping. While the spring and summer bring green grass and plant life, fall may actually allow buyers to concentrate on the condition of a home’s exterior better, Szwed says. “Viewing houses in the fall, you can spot exterior flaws and even landscaping problems, setting you up to deal with these issues before you buy the house.”

2. The pressure is off. Less competition from other buyers who are pressed by deadlines, such as the start of the school year, means a stress-free pace for your clients.

3. Agents have more time. Since you’re likely juggling fewer buyer clients, those who are home shopping will get more of your undivided attention, Szwed says.

4. Better deals. Those who are selling in the fall likely have personal deadlines they’d like to meet, such as relocating for a job. Sometimes, sellers are more willing to lower their asking price than they would be during the summer months, she notes.

5. Fewer bidding wars. By taking advantage of the seasonal hiatus by other buyers, there’s less chance that your clients will be outbid by someone else.

Low rental vacancies nationwide, coupled with continued strong demand for single-family rental properties, could prompt landlords to increase rents even more. But housing analysts caution that further rent hikes could overburden tenants, many of whom already are struggling to stay afloat financially as housing costs rise.

The nation’s largest landlords of single-family rentals, Invitation Homes and Tricon American Homes, say their occupancy rates have remained above 95 percent for the past three years. “Rent growth rates continue to be solid in most of the major markets across the country—in the middle to upper single digits,” Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions, told the National Real Estate Investor. The firm’s data show that rents for three-bedroom units have climbed by 7 percent in markets such as Los Angeles and by 5 percent in Philadelphia in the 12 months that ended in the first quarter of 2018.

But landlords must not raise rents too quickly, housing analysts caution. Nearly 30 million U.S. renter households—or roughly half—already spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Most financial experts define that as “cost-burdened.”

With tight inventory putting upward pressure on home prices over the last few years, some economists have been calling on single-family landlords to cash out on their equity and put their properties on the market to feed lower price points starving for more listings. But many of these landlords say they have no intention of a sell-off anytime soon. Invitation Homes, for example, owns about 80,000 homes in 17 major markets, and company officials told CNBC that they see plenty of profit in the rental business. “U.S. housing is one of the most liquid classes in the world, and it’s a very easy thing for us on the margin to be buying and selling with our portfolio today,” Dallas Tanner, chief investment officer for Invitation Homes, told CNBC.

The single-family rental market is very healthy right now, says John Pawlowski, an analyst at Green Street Advisors. “The demand versus supply balance, and the operating outlook for revenue growth over these coming years, is more favorable versus most property types,” Pawlowski says.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday voted to raise its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a point to the highest point in more than a decade, and the housing market is now bracing for impact.

The Fed lifted its rate to range between 2 percent and 2.25 percent. This is the third time in a year the Fed has raised its rate. The committee points to an upbeat economy that is “healthy and moving forward.”

“These rates remain low,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said at a news conference. “This gradual return to normal is helping to sustain this strong economy for the longer-run benefit of all Americans.”

While the Fed’s key rate is not directly tied to mortgage rates, it does often have an impact to home loan rates.

“The era of super-low mortgage rates is over and consumers will face higher interest rates over the next two years,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of REALTORS®. “Another rate hike by the Fed is almost certain before year’s end, along with three further rounds of increases in 2019. These interest rate increases are occurring for good reason: an improving economy. Therefore, home sales should hold steady as the opposing forces of higher rates and more jobs neutralize each other. Home price growth will surely slow, however, as higher interest rates limit the stretching of the homebuyers’ budget.”

The Fed strongly hinted at more hikes ahead. “The committee expects that further gradual increases in the target range for the federal funds rate will be consistent with sustained expansion of economic activity, strong labor market conditions, and inflation near the committee’s symmetric 2 percent objective over the medium term,” the Fed said in a statement. “Risks to the economic outlook appear roughly balanced.”

The number of policies purchased through the National Flood Insurance Program has dropped over the past decade, according to a report from the Urban Institute. The total is now just over 5 million. So as flood risks heighten, that leaves a lot of homeowners at risk.

Forty-three percent of homeowners wrongly assume damage from heavy rain flooding is covered under their standard insurance policy, according to the 2016 Consumer Insurance Survey, conducted by the Insurance Information Institute.

But in reality, special circumstances are required to get a standard insurance policy to kick in for such damage. For example, if hurricane-force winds caused roof damage that then leads to water damage within the home, insurance will most likely cover repairs. However, if a nearby river crests due to heavy rainfall and causes the flooding, a standard policy will likely not cover the damage. This recent article in MarketWatch notes that many other natural disasters are covered by homeowners’ insurance—wildfires, tornadoes, and hailstorms—yet not floods.

The NFIP has been struggling to pay off claims over the past few years and has faced several lapses or near-expirations as Congress assesses how to continue funding it. Private flood insurance only accounts for about 15 percent of all flood premiums nationwide, with the NFIP providing the remainder. The National Association of REALTORS® has renewed its call for a strengthened NFIP, along with a robust private market. The NFIP is currently authorized until Nov. 30.

“The National Association of REALTORS® remains focused on ensuring Congress and the White House enact long-term reauthorization and reforms to strengthen the program’s sustainability,” NAR President Elizabeth Mendenhall said in a statement. “Flooding is the most common disaster in the United States, one that affects Americans in communities both coastal and inland every year.”

The fall season is cooling down more than the temperature outside; it’s also putting a much-needed chill on hot housing markets, where home prices have become unaffordable to the average buyer. More than one in four home sellers dropped their asking price last month, according to a new report by real estate brokerage Redfin. With inventory starting to inch up, sellers are facing stiffer competition in the market and adjusting their price expectations, according to the report.

Nearly 27 percent of homes that were listed in the four weeks ending Sept. 16 saw a price drop, according to the report. Redfin defines a price drop as a reduction in the home’s value between 1 percent and 50 percent. The areas seeing some of the biggest price drops year over year are Las Vegas; San Jose, Calif.; Seattle; Atlanta.

“After years of strong price growth and intense competition for homes, buyers are taking advantage of the market’s easing pressure by being selective about which homes to make an offer on and how high to bid,” says Redfin Senior Economist Taylor Marr. “But there are some early signs of a softening market, and the increase in price drops may be another indicator that sellers are going to have trouble getting the prices—and the bidding wars—that they may have just months ago. Instead, many are finding their homes are sitting on the market without much interest until they start reducing their prices.”