Is winter a good time to house hunt?
Winter: ‘tis the season to be jolly. It may also be the ideal season for house hunting. If you’re in the market for a home, you may be wondering whether it’s a good idea to look for a home during the “coolest time of year.” Here are some things to consider when house hunting for a during winter.
Motivated sellers
If you’re selling a home, you probably don’t want to list it in the wintertime unless you have to. The spring housing market tends to be the ideal time for sellers to list their properties. Someone who’s listing their home during the winter is typically a “motivated seller.” What’s a motivated seller? It’s someone who wants to sell their home sooner rather than later. Common reasons include job loss, divorce and relocating for a job opportunity in another province. If someone is motivated to sell, they’re more likely to and willing to negotiate and give you a better deal on the property.
Less competition
Although you’ll typically have fewer properties to look at, one upside is that you’ll also have less competition from fellow buyers. In red-hot markets like Toronto and Vancouver where bidding wars are common, this can be a real blessing. For example, instead of a property receiving, say, 10 offers during the spring market, with fewer buyers in the winter, it may only get two or three offers. Open houses will be less busy as well. Not only does that improve your chances of successfully purchasing the property, you’re under less pressure to make a clean offer without conditions, allowing you to better protect yourself as a buyer. You can actually take some time to think about buying the home, instead of being under the pressure of a bidding war.
Seeing the home under harsher conditions
One advantage of winter time is that you’re seeing the home under harsher conditions. During the sunny days of summertime, you may not notice water leaking into the basement, but it’s hard to hide it in the wintertime when the snow starts melting.
Now wintertime can be both a blessing and a curse. It can be a blessing for the aforementioned reasons. It can be a curse because it makes it tougher for a full home inspection to take place. For example, if there’s snow outside, you won’t get a clear view of the condition the roof’s in. Wintertime can also mask bad odours, such as mildew.
Tougher to know thy neighbour
In real estate, it’s often said the three most important rules are location, location, location. While that may be true, there are other things to consider. Besides location, something else that matters is your neighbours. You’ll be spending a lot of time beside them, so you’ll want to make sure you get along. Unfortunately, the reality of it is that it’s tougher to know thy neighbour during the wintertime. Your neighbours are likely in the warmth of their homes. You won’t get a true feel for the neighbourhood until the summertime.