Anyone list their house right after Christmas?

[Clever]

We are planning on selling and buying in 2018, right now we are doing some prep work on our property and if we wanted to, we can be ready to list as early as next month, however we are in no rush. Just wanted to hear other member’s experiences or thoughts with selling/ listing their property in January.

[ExtraSlow]

Your realtor should have insight into seasonal sales volume around the holidays and the effects on your anticipated price. If they don't you should fire them.

[colsankey]

Springs usually when people look at moving. Dead of winter and right after the holidays, much less so.

[Clever]

No realtor yet, we’ll be meeting with some after Christmas. And I figured if anyone looking now is going to be a serious buyer. Also, at spring time there will be more listings, more options to choose from.

[ExtraSlow]

I have heard beyond.ca has several realtors with excellent reputations. You should check those review threads.

[JordanLotoski]

Hey

I usually start taking on new listings no earlier then mid January. ..Let me know if you need some help

[Swank]

When I sold a few years back I had zero bites when I listed in December, then plenty (and sold in a few days) when I relisted in March.

[tirebob]

I listed my house in September and had tons of interest and viewings weekly and 2 conditional offers over the month that fell through due to financing both times. Two days after the final offer fell through it snowed like crazy and viewings dropped of to nothing overnight. Been like that for two months now. I lowered the price a couple weeks ago by 10K from 389k to 379K hoping to maybe instigate a sale rather than carry the house for another 4 months before spring and have had 3 viewing since but so far nothing has panned out.

If you are living there and can wait until spring that is going to be an easier sell IMHO but if you are like us and your house is empty but you are carrying mortgage and insurance costs, I would rather sell a bit cheaper and have it gone than carry 4 to 5 months of costs.

[Clever]

I appreciate the feedback Swank and Tirebob, and Jordan once we are ready, I’ll be in touch.

[Buster]

ya, I dont like dealing with realtors as a rule, but Jordan is the exception.

[Skrilla]

We bought our current place in December and did well. But one of our friends bought a place in January, and didn't think about all the snow. When it melted the yard was trash underneath, grass was all dead and turned to dirt from years of neglect. Not sure if that turns people off this time of year, but being able to see everything you are getting is a plus. And the snow can hide things nicely.

[never]

We listed our place after xmas 2008 at the realtor's recommendation. Their reasoning was inventory was low and some people would be shopping over the holidays. But it was slow until mid-Jan when it picked up and then sold early Feb 2009. So we definitely could have waited until mid-Jan and not worry about showings over the holidays.

[gwill]

I moved into a new house a few years back a few days before Christmas.

[Xtrema]

March is when interest starts and units start to move.

This year is special tho, due to new mortgage approval rule. Do know how that really impact buyers. I see tons rushing to get into the market right before the dead line, so those buyers are artificially move up to 2017.

I see no issue for houses over $600K tho. New rule only affect borderline buyers who may fail to get a mortgage under the new rule and rarely those buyers move up into those upper prices.

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We listed our place after xmas 2008 at the realtor's recommendation. Their reasoning was inventory was low and some people would be shopping over the holidays. But it was slow until mid-Jan when it picked up and then sold early Feb 2009. So we definitely could have waited until mid-Jan and not worry about showings over the holidays.

Only low ballers shows up in Christmas looking for desperation sales.

[Darkane]

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Only low ballers shows up in Christmas looking for desperation sales.

You say that like it’s bad? This is real estate the goal IS to lowball and buy cheap.

And then you know sell high.

[speedog]

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You say that like it’s bad? This is real estate the goal IS to lowball and buy cheap.

And then you know sell high.

So we're doing it wrong because we've been in our current home for over 21 years?

[Xtrema]

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You say that like it’s bad? This is real estate the goal IS to lowball and buy cheap.

And then you know sell high.

Bad for seller. Great for flippers.

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So we're doing it wrong because we've been in our current home for over 21 years?

Depends if you like the hassle to move. I have quite a few friends who did a few dump old, build new move during the boom. Went from a $330K house an into $1M+ house with 0 or minimum change in mortgage size.

Here I'm just enjoying only double equity without moving. Of course timing is everything. While you shouldn't bank on home equity as part of your retirement plan, having primary home equity increase by $1/2M tax free is pretty great. It's what Vancouver and Toronto home owners (pre boom) are feeling now.

[masoncgy]

It really depends on the market, I put my house up on Tuesday and accepted an offer on Thursday, but here on the Island there's no inventory right now and prices are still up.

[Darkane]

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So we're doing it wrong because we've been in our current home for over 21 years?

Nope. you've found your forever home. Most people haven’t.