Merry Christmas or March Break

by Darrin DeRoches November 24 - 30, 2011

The time of year and weather can really affect the sale of your home. Last night we received an offer on a home that we had listed for the last three weeks. The average home takes closer to 60 to 90 days to sell so we should be happy with our offer and time frame. We have to wait and see if the deal closes and if we tie up the house for a week. Based on all the conditions we may actually be in a tough spot, if the deal does not close. What is a week? At this time of the year, a week can actually feel like months – let me explain.     The first week of November we put up a property and we had a lot of showings with all positive feedback. We even had one agent call to express interest and to keep them informed if an offer came in. The second week the showings kept coming and the feedback was still positive. The third came and the phone stopped ringing. The sellers were concerned that something was wrong. Are we overpriced? Can we make some improvements? What is going on? I reassured them this was normal for the time of the year, the price is right and the house looks great. So why no calls? The time change. Once the clocks moved back people were adjusting to the days becoming shorter and darker. We were still getting a ton of hits on the MLS and our Virtual Tour – but no calls. I received a second call later in the third week where they made some suggestions to the listing and we updated and made some minor changes. The beginning of the fourth hits and the phones start ringing.     Did the changes on the listing make the difference? Nope. The weather is holding, everyone has adjusted to the time change and the phones are ringing. I had four calls on another listing that did not have a call in a month. I also showed a commercial property to a Toronto Architect who said “I flagged the property a month ago and was so busy and when I look at the listing today I was relieved it was still available.”     Timing and good weather are the major factors to how the market is acting right now and the weather will be bringing a deep freeze soon. So why am I worried to tie up a property for a week right now? If the house does not sell this week, the market will basically hibernate until the third week of January. So if the deal does not close, we have a week or two of activity until next year. Then the market will pick up and if you are lucky enough to get a sale in January the closing will likely be in March. So either we sell now and have a Merry Christmas or hold tight and hope for a March Break getaway.  Here’s to hoping for a Merry Christmas! V Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at mail@uniquerealty.ca.