Tips for Buying a Home in a Winter

I’ve blogged about how to sell your home in a winter, so now it makes sense to look at things from the other side: buying a home in the winter.

Generally speaking (and this winter is no exception so far), buyers tend to hibernate a bit and wait for the spring before they shift their house hunting into a higher gear. Everything from weather to taking care of those holiday season credit card bills (ouch) contribute to this trend.

However, if you’re in the market for a new or next home, then this doesn’t mean that you should necessarily follow suit. On the contrary, because there are fewer buyers out there for you to compete with -- especially when it comes down to making an offer -- you stand a very good chance of getting an incredible deal. 

Indeed, some winter sellers are looking for a quick sale. Perhaps they need to relocate for a job, or maybe they’ve found another great home, and need to unload their existing home before they start carrying two mortgages. 

Also, some homes on the market during winter aren’t new listings. They were listed in the summer or fall, but the asking price was just too high. Now, however, those same sellers are often more motivated to “do a deal” rather than face another year of fielding offers, holding Open Houses, and wondering if they’ll be living at that address, or somewhere else, in a matter of months.

And there’s still yet another reason to be a winter buyer, and this one is very “local.” Edmonton winters are – say it with me – C O L D and S N O W Y. Not that I’m complaining – shovelling is great exercise!

My point is, is that it makes sense for you to check out a house in the midst of a cold and snowy Edmonton winter, so that you can see how it holds up. You can inspect the plumbing and heating systems, you can see how well (or poorly) the snow is cleared in the area, and you can even see how close the home is to winter fun spots like rinks, ski hills, and of course, the nearest Tim Horton’s to pick up an extra large hot beverage!

So as you can see, buying a home in winter can give you some strategic advantages and opportunities. And when you consider that you could stand to save thousands (or maybe tens of thousands) of dollars, plus find a great “winter-ready” home, it sure does make putting the extra effort to go house hunting seem worth it.

(Besides, summer’s just around the corner, and we’ll all have plenty of time to complain about the heat!)

If you’re ready to create your customized home buying plan, and you want to exploit these unique “winter buying advantages,” call me today at 780-709-0811. You’ll be surprised at the options available to you – and the extra large hot chocolate of coffee is on me!

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