Selling in Autumn, Winter, Spring
August 8, 2011 10:08 AM Subscribe
[Youarenotmyrealtor-filter] Just how important is the 'seasonal affect' of price in real estate? If I sell in the winter as opposed to the spring, how much am I sacrificing in terms of price, in very general terms?
I have owned a older house since 2006. I've wanted to sell it for almost a year and have been working on completing old reno projects as time and money would allow. I really stepped it up a bit starting last year and took on some debt doing so, but it's looking like I'm still not going to be able to sell in the summer. I still have flooring and trim to install and paint, and some other cosmetic jobs to finish before I can sell, and with a full-time job and other commitments, I know I won't finish them before early September at least and I cannot afford to hire someone else to do it. Since I bought it, the tax assessment valuation has gone up from $150K to $350K at the peak of the boom and has been at $290K for the past 2 years. The renos I am nearly completion of added a bathroom and bedroom that wasn't there when I bought it.
I live in Edmonton, Alberta, so the property will mostly likely be covered in snow by mid-November, which would obscure nice things, like roses and lilies that grow in the front yard, but also not so nice things like the persistent quackgrass overtaking the backyard and vegetable gardens despite my best efforts to eradicate it. The 8 or so cherry and apple trees, and 8 raspberry bushes will still be visible, but of course, less pretty.
I am loathe to spend any longer in my house than I have to: it's a nice house, but I'm finding yardwork, snow-shovelling and other home responsibilities are increasingly getting in the way of things I'd rather be doing and as someone living alone, it's easily twice as much space as I need. I also want to free up capital to pay for a return to school in Autumn 2012. Should I hurry to get it on the market ASAP (which could nevertheless be as late as October) and get the hell out as I want to do? Or will waiting until next spring net me so much greater returns that I should wait, even though it means taking longer to pay off line of credit debt and shovelling snow for another winter?
I have owned a older house since 2006. I've wanted to sell it for almost a year and have been working on completing old reno projects as time and money would allow. I really stepped it up a bit starting last year and took on some debt doing so, but it's looking like I'm still not going to be able to sell in the summer. I still have flooring and trim to install and paint, and some other cosmetic jobs to finish before I can sell, and with a full-time job and other commitments, I know I won't finish them before early September at least and I cannot afford to hire someone else to do it. Since I bought it, the tax assessment valuation has gone up from $150K to $350K at the peak of the boom and has been at $290K for the past 2 years. The renos I am nearly completion of added a bathroom and bedroom that wasn't there when I bought it.
I live in Edmonton, Alberta, so the property will mostly likely be covered in snow by mid-November, which would obscure nice things, like roses and lilies that grow in the front yard, but also not so nice things like the persistent quackgrass overtaking the backyard and vegetable gardens despite my best efforts to eradicate it. The 8 or so cherry and apple trees, and 8 raspberry bushes will still be visible, but of course, less pretty.
I am loathe to spend any longer in my house than I have to: it's a nice house, but I'm finding yardwork, snow-shovelling and other home responsibilities are increasingly getting in the way of things I'd rather be doing and as someone living alone, it's easily twice as much space as I need. I also want to free up capital to pay for a return to school in Autumn 2012. Should I hurry to get it on the market ASAP (which could nevertheless be as late as October) and get the hell out as I want to do? Or will waiting until next spring net me so much greater returns that I should wait, even though it means taking longer to pay off line of credit debt and shovelling snow for another winter?
Apologies for not directly addressing your question, but -- one oft-seen bit of advice for potential winter sellers is to take some listing-worthy pictures of the house in the summer.
posted by kmennie at 10:23 AM on August 8, 2011
posted by kmennie at 10:23 AM on August 8, 2011
Second kmennie, take some pics of the garden areas now.
posted by Yorrick at 10:42 AM on August 8, 2011
posted by Yorrick at 10:42 AM on August 8, 2011
Not sure if this is remotely relevant since I live in Texas....just by happenstance, I had to list the two houses I have sold right before Thanksgiving. Both sold in early January for nearly full price. YMMV if potential buyers aren't out and about in the deep winter in Canada, but I would imagine that it could not be worse traffic than the holidays when I sold.
I like kmennie's idea of summer pictures given that the landscaping will be hidden/dormant in the winter.
posted by murrey at 10:47 AM on August 8, 2011
I like kmennie's idea of summer pictures given that the landscaping will be hidden/dormant in the winter.
posted by murrey at 10:47 AM on August 8, 2011
I can't speak directly to the numbers question, but IAARHB (I Am A Recent HomeBuyer), and I would point out that the main issue for buying in winter isn't so much about being able to see the pretty flowers, but being able to inspect the roof, which can't happen if it's covered in snow.
Home inspectors also look at the outside of the house for various things (eg foundation cracks) which may or may not be visible to them depending on how much snow is on the ground.
So if I'm a potential buyer of your older home, I'd probably assume I'm going to need to repair/replace the roof, for example, and would decrease my offer by something close to that amount. I have no idea what the going rate for that kind of work might be in Edmonton.
posted by somanyamys at 10:49 AM on August 8, 2011
Home inspectors also look at the outside of the house for various things (eg foundation cracks) which may or may not be visible to them depending on how much snow is on the ground.
So if I'm a potential buyer of your older home, I'd probably assume I'm going to need to repair/replace the roof, for example, and would decrease my offer by something close to that amount. I have no idea what the going rate for that kind of work might be in Edmonton.
posted by somanyamys at 10:49 AM on August 8, 2011
You'll probably see less traffic in the winter than in the spring, so fewer potential buyers is where the issue may lie. That may or may not have an impact on the price.
posted by dabug at 11:14 AM on August 8, 2011
posted by dabug at 11:14 AM on August 8, 2011
For a comparison in actual canadian prices, check out the comparisons for Toronto by month and year here. Please note, this is only for houses in the GTA.
The charts will show some very clear pricing indicators based on month. Bought my house in January somewhat due to these factors.
posted by evadery at 12:53 PM on August 8, 2011
The charts will show some very clear pricing indicators based on month. Bought my house in January somewhat due to these factors.
posted by evadery at 12:53 PM on August 8, 2011
I'm a real estate agent in a snowy area, and I am going to wait until spring to put my house on the market. People just don't buy as much in the winter. If your house doesn't sell in the winter, it's going to be stale on the market in spring and attract bargain hunters.
Maybe you can give it a trial run and then if it doesn't sell right away take it off the market for a few months so it comes up as a new listing (if that is how it works in your area).
posted by Melsky at 6:44 AM on August 9, 2011
Maybe you can give it a trial run and then if it doesn't sell right away take it off the market for a few months so it comes up as a new listing (if that is how it works in your area).
posted by Melsky at 6:44 AM on August 9, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks everyone for the responses. I've decided that if I can't get it ready by Oct 31, I'll wait until March.
posted by Kurichina at 2:36 PM on September 12, 2011
posted by Kurichina at 2:36 PM on September 12, 2011
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posted by Kurichina at 10:16 AM on August 8, 2011