In a roasted chestnut shell? Plenty!
Year after year, there’s a palpable post-Santa-Claus-parade lull for home sellers in Toronto.
Sure you may curse the Christmas music already playing in the grocery store, the office party invitation that has you bored just rsvp-ing, the pre-lit trees already on sale at the Bay.
But like it or not, the holiday message is seeping into our brains. People are beginning the annual wind down and are shifting their thoughts from work and tasks to other things like food, friends and family … and food.
Still, there are plenty of reasons why a few great homes appear on the market in December. Death, divorce and diapers can happen in the winter requiring quick real estate resolve. Job relocations do too. This is why, if you find an un-strategic seller in December with a house to suit your needs, you are as lucky as a home buyer can possibly be.
Despite the obvious downside of slim pickings, frozen lock boxes and parking in snow banks there are oh oh oh so many benefits to Christmas house shopping. Here are a few:
LESS REALLY IS MORE
The same home’s selling price typically varies throughout the course of a year. This fluctuation, as erratic as it seems, actually occurs very predictably. You will pay more for the same house in the spring than you will in the winter simply because more people are looking to buy in the spring than in the winter.
YOUR COMPETITIVE STREAK
While other buyers gather around the Christmas tree in their ugly sweaters with plans to reignite their home search in the new year, you can be out there buying the house they didn’t even notice hit the market. How do you say: goodbye bid war?
A SHIFT TO GREATER BALANCE
A seller who’s looking to move a piece of real estate during the holidays is a seller who needs to sell, because nobody in their right mind would pick that as the best time to list their property. In an otherwise entirely imbalanced market, the December buyer just bought themselves a little balance of power too.
A HEALTHY DOSE OF REALISM
With a shovelled snowbank as a best attempt at curb appeal, you can more easily focus on the permanent features of the home you’re viewing without pretty flowers and blooming shrubs. Seeing your future home under the stress of winter is good honest research that will serve you well.