Sleepy November

by Darrin DeRoches November 11 - 17, 2010

Sleepy November is finally here and the market has begun to slow down.  The numbers for the year look promising, but the last two months of the year seem to be in for a slowdown.  The residential market usually begins to slow, but there’s always a blip in the commercial market. At the end of the year, there’s always growth in commercial sales, which creates a bit of upswing in the market, since companies need to “use it or lose it” within their portfolios.  So as winter approaches, what should you be doing in the real estate world?     Interestingly, it seems a lot of agents are jumping ship from one company to another.  It also seems that some companies are lowering their splits with agents and this may be the cause for all the movement.  So if all these agents are starting to make moves for the end of the year, so should you. If you are even considering selling your home, you should take advantage of the season to do all those last minute fix–ups before the weather changes.  You will be thanking me when the snow comes early and you are outside trying to spruce things up.  Think of the little things you can do now:  clean the windows; tidy up the yard; and check all the outdoor caulking.  These little fixes will pay big dividends in January when the market heats up again. By then, it will be freezing outside, but your clean and caulked windows will be letting the light shine in and keeping out any cold breezes.     The market always tends to pick up in January and being prepared now will make it easier to catch the upswing.  The market moves up and then down pretty fast in January so being ready may make the difference between a sale and stale listing.  Plus once the yard is tidy and the windows are clean, take a lot of pictures.  Most homes look better in pictures without snow covering the roof and yard.  These pictures can help you stand out in the dead of winter.  Take a ton of pictures so your broker can use them in a virtual tour; having hundreds of pictures is not uncommon. If you really believe you may sell in the new year, it would be a great time to contact a broker to have them walk through and do outdoor pictures, make suggestions on fix ups, and be prepared for the listing in the future.  If they are not willing to come and do the prep work then call another broker.     The market moves fast and the weather can change in a day, so a little thinking ahead will go a long way. 50 days till Christmas – get ready.  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.