When it comes to selling your house, there is no right or wrong time to put it on the market, however there are certain times of the year that will likely yield better results depending on your home and your circumstances. Spring is considered the peak in the Canadian real estate market in most cases and there are several reasons why you should consider aiming to have your home ready for market when the temperatures start to warm up.
While spring is definitely considered the best season to sell your home, May has been identified as the prime month to put your place on the market. Homes tend to show better in the warmer months when the blossoms are out, gardens have come back to life and are usually in full bloom and the trees are full of leaves. These contribute to make property more appealing than in the stark, bleak months of winter.
Families tend to prefer to buy and move in the spring and summer months so that children can get settled in before they start at a new school and moving is much easier when there’s no snow to be traipsed through the house. Buyers also tend to be in higher spirits when the temperatures and the market start warming up after a long, cold winter.
So while spring is the best time for most homeowners to consider selling, it also means there’s a lot of inventory on the market and that means increased competition for you. You’ll want to make sure you home is cleaned up, spruced up and ready to show at its best.
When spring isn’t the best option.
While Spring is the most popular season for most to sell, it isn’t always the best season for certain sellers. For example, if your home is going for a higher than average price in your neighbourhood, you can expect summer to be a slow month. The buyers with that kind of money are less likely to be looking for a home and more likely to be in cottage country or on vacation. In this case, early to mid fall is a better time to consider selling although keeping up your curbside appeal can be more of a challenge this time of year.
Another reason to consider holding off selling until fall or winter is the state or style of your home. If your home has an unusual layout or floor plan or needs a lot of work, consider putting it on the market in the winter when there’s less competition.
There’s a reason most people are more interested in buying in spring – they’re thawing out of the winter freeze and they’ve likely got money from their tax return to incent them to buy. So if you’re thinking ahead of selling, consider the best time of year for you based on your home and make sure that when the season hits, you’re ready to sell.