Selling a House in Summer: Better than Spring?

You may or may not have heard that the so-called “Spring Market” is the best time to sell. Starting as early as January, Realtors start to contact home owners to sell them on the idea of selling their homes as soon as possible. For Sale signs pop up well in advance of the first flowers of spring. By March, there is always a great selection of homes to buy. So, should you add yours to the inventory? If you can’t get your house ready to sell until June or July, is it too late?

In fact, the best time to sell your house is very personal, because you’re not simply making an investment transaction. Your home is special and there are special considerations. The timing of your move will have many influences.

If you own a home and will be buying a new one, will it be a larger or a smaller home? Will it be an inter-generational home? Will you be moving into the same market, or out of town? Will children have to change schools? Are you moving because of a change in your employment or health? People have to move all the time for all kinds of reasons.

If you’re selling and not planning to buy another home, say you’re moving in with one of your children or into a retirement home, the timing of the sale of your house will have different influences.

The excitement of the spring market might not appeal to you. The greater number of homes on the market can mean tougher competition, fast decisions, and higher prices. And, higher selling prices mean higher buying prices, too.

A slower pace in the summer can be beneficial. You can wait for the right buyer to come along with the price you want. If the prices drop after spring, a slightly lower selling price can mean a lower buying price, and a lower mortgage.

Your house might look spectacular in the fall when the maple trees in your neighbourhood are in full colour. Or maybe it’s at its best in the winter, with a fire in the fireplace and a wreath on the door. Your not-so-perfect yard looks perfectly fine covered in snow. Maybe you can wait.

If you’re thinking about selling, talk to Harry, Your Friendly Realtor. Before you’re ready, before you start staging, have a patient and knowledgeable professional come over to look it over and to help you think it over. Each situation is unique. A good Realtor will understand and help, not judge or pressure you. Your home is important and your individual needs are important. Harry will make sure you understand what you're getting into and will make the whole process as stress-free as possible.

Stuck in the house? Declutter!

One of the biggest jobs that you have to do to prepare to sell your house is something that most of us aim to do anyway. It's on most lists of New Year's Resolutions. It's usually right up there with going to the gym.

Get organized.

Get rid of junk and put all the stuff you want to keep away neatly and smartly.

Declutter.

It's been a long winter, and we're having another cold and icy weekend. If you're stuck in the house, why not get some work done? If you're considering moving this spring, you'll need to get your house ready to show. People will be looking at how well it works, how well the space can be used. You'll have to declutter.

You might as well do it now. When the weather is good, you'll want to be ready to go out and play.

One reason that people move is that they need more space to put stuff: more rooms, bigger rooms, more storage, a nice garage, a good basement, a shed in the backyard, etc. When you're a young couple, the two of you will accumulate things, and then when the kids come, the amount of stuff you have seems to increase exponentially. You'll need a bigger, better house to hold your growing family and all your stuff.

Even when people are downsizing, they want to see that a smaller space will hold all the things they want to keep. The space has to work. It has to be efficient.

Look at your home through a stranger's eyes. You'll see that a lot of the things you have and love, objects you cherish, will appear to others as clutter. Art work, souvenirs, wedding gifts, your parents' antiques, collector's items, knick-knacks make your home feel like home, but take up space. The wall of family photos going up the stairway is really cool, but might just be a messy bunch of strangers' snapshots to a buyer. If you can't walk through a room easily, maybe there's too much furniture. It's hard to think of the things you like as clutter, but if you try to see your home from a buyer's perspective, you start to see the unnecessary extras. Get rid of all the clutter.

If you don't know where to start, there are lots of helpful lists on the internet.

Here's a link to a simple list of tasks.

Here's a link to a more detailed method of decluttering from Home Storage Solutions.  I like their visuals, so here's one to get you inspired. All it takes is some time, some boxes and garbage bags, and you'll have a decluttered home.

Good luck!

Don't Do the Spring Cleaning on Family Day

There are lots of opportunities for staying indoors and organizing and cleaning in the winter, especially this winter! Clean out the closets, the storage spaces, the garage. Spruce up the kitchen and bathrooms. Have the draperies and carpeting cleaned. It's a great time to prepare your house for sale. Spring is around the corner (really!) and the housing market is going to pick up and take off soon. A long weekend is perfect.

But, I hope you didn't spend the long weekend doing any spring cleaning. Family Day is for having fun with the family. I hope you went out ice fishing or skiing, skating or shopping.

Today is the day after Family Day and we have another foot of snow.

Today, you'll be able to stay in and clean out the hall closet, or take a look at the kitchen cupboards (maybe you could update the hardware, count the handles). This weekend, you can paint the laundry room and fix the leaky faucet.

When you're ready, give me a call and we'll get your house on the market and find something better for you to move into once the snow is all gone.

Call me now and I'll give you some tips on what you can do to get your house ready to sell without too much time and effort. 

January/February Good Time to Sell, Really

You'll notice that the For Sale signs have started going up and the Real Estate Agents are sending more flyers.

January is the beginning of the Spring Season, believe it or not :-)

If you're aiming to move in April or May, then you sell and buy now. The market is picking up, but it's not yet super-busy. That will start in March (June and July closings). So you have people's attention now, your Realtor's and the buyers who don't have too many choices yet.

So, this is a pretty good time to sell your house.

With all the snow and harsh weather, you might think that it will be hard to make your house look its best, but the darkness and cold mean that it won't be too hard to make your house look like a warm and cosy home. Spruce up your lighting, turn up the thermostat, bake some cookies and invite buyers in. Just make sure the driveway and walkways are clear.

There's lots of advice online for selling a house in the winter, like this one, Home Selling in Winter. And I, Your Friendly Realtor, can make some suggestions too.

Together, we can sell your home for a great price and get you into something better for the Spring.

Brrrr... It's so HOT

Yup! The lakes are frozen solid and ice-fishing is in full swing here in Ontario! Hockey talk is also going strong these days and many of us have skis, snow-shoes and skates ready for action :) In this wonderfully frigid wonderland that we live in, the real estate market is also really HOT these days!

You see, people who want to move by April, need to list their homes in mid to late January, giving themselves plenty of time to sell and then shop for their next place of residence.

So, keep your sticks on the ice and make sure you have warm undergarments and extra mitts for that day outdoors; but don't forget to contact your Friendly Realtor (ME!!!) to Talk Real Estate!