5 Reasons Why Buying a Home in Winter is Smart
For many years now, the Edmonton real estate markets have been highly competitive, often this creates a battle ground for first time buyers and seasoned veterans alike. Everyone is vying for the best money can buy in any every range.
This is why we’ve gathered the 5 biggest advantages for buying a home in Edmonton in the winter. Typically, Real Estate sales are slower in December and January when compared to the rest of the year. This slow-down in sales could be a great opportunity for you.
1. Less competition: It’s very noticeable that there are simply less buyers and therefore less competition from other buyers. Who really wants go house hunting in -20° weather? Since the driving conditions are dangerous and the weather is anything but delightful, there are less people willing to brave the elements which means, a lot less competition for the homes on the market.
2. Prices soften: REALTOR®.com and national REALTOR® association's statistics show that the winter generally sees the lowest prices of the year with a spike in asking prices come spring. If you wait until spring to make an offer on the house you’re interested in, you’ll find the price will increase simply due to more buyers vying for it.
3. More REALTOR® time: Since there are fewer buyers out there, your REALTOR® may have more time available for you in the winter. This means they can dedicate more attention to your home search wants and needs. REALTOR®’s also know there are less buyers looking for homes so they tend to work a harder with sellers to have them accept an offer than they would in a very active market.
4. Fewer homes are getting into bidding wars: Edmonton’s real estate market has had many properties that went thousands of dollars over asking price with sometimes as many as a dozen potential buyers all fighting for the same home. This is a great situation for Sellers, and they couldn’t have been happier, but buyers are the ones who pay the price. There aren’t many buyers who enjoy being caught in a bidding war. Avoid this completely by doing your purchasing in the winter months, when bidding wars are very rare.
5. Winter drab: Without doubt, homes look a whole lot better in the spring and summers months than they do during the grey of winter, all buried in snow and lacking any real curb appeal. Generally people’s laziness in the winter, means they put off doing the required home maintenance due to the frigid conditions outside. This means homes may be overcrowded and cluttered with things that could have been stored in the garage, in a storage unit or sold at a garage sale if the weather were more pleasant. It’s much more difficult to prepare a home to show well in the winter, which results in a lower price offer being accepted from a winter buyer.
If you want a better price for a home, then put on your hats, gloves and boots and head out house hunting in the dead of winter. You’ll get the same home you would have purchase in spring, but possibly at a lower price.
Discussion
I actually have been thinking of getting a home in the next month or two. I've been wary about choices, however. It's good to know that there are good reasons to actually get a home in winter!
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