How to Know When It Is the Right Time to Sell or Buy a Home
Buying a home or selling your house are both big life-changing decisions that shouldn’t be taken lightly. There are many factors to consider aside from the economic and financial ones. With the semi-predictable changes in real estate forecasts and the economy, there is no truly 100% guaranteed way to determine the exact best time to sell a house or buy a home. The reality is, homeowners and homebuyers can only make informed decisions based on available data and hope for the best. If you’re thinking of buying a home or selling your house, be sure to consider the following factors to determine the best time to do so.
There is No Season for Buying or Selling a Home
Most home selling guides will tell you that the best season to sell a home is spring because a lot of people want to move to a new home at the early part of the year and before the start of each new school year. This isn’t the case for a lot of locations these days. In some places, the December holidays are a great time to sell a house. Note that as long as you have a good location and asking for a reasonable price, the season of the year won’t matter in selling a home. Listing during the off-peak months may even get your house sold faster!
Pricing Isn’t Everything
As much as some people would like to think that the lower the price, the easier it will be to sell a home, this isn’t always the case. Oftentimes, people buy and sell houses for personal reasons that have nothing to do with finances. Children moving out, getting a new job, marriage, divorce, wanting to be close to loved ones, long commute, bad neighbours, and more are also cited as reasons for buying and selling a home.
No Two Markets Are Alike
There used to be a national real estate market that is easy to predict but these days, each city and locale is its own market. Just because home prices are rising in one neighbourhood doesn’t mean that the same applies to the neighbourhood next to it. This is why it is best to consult with local real estate agents and realtors when buying or selling a home to stay informed about the shifts in the local real estate market.
Interest Rates Vary
Not everyone can buy a home in cash so they have to apply for a mortgage. In applying for a mortgage, long-term interest rates are always a factor. Although we currently live in a time of low mortgage rates in Canada, note that the interest rate was at 3X to 4X the current rate just a few decades ago.
If you’re keen about buying or selling a home in the near future, it pays to be prepared with adequate research especially in a neighbourhood like Toronto. If you want to buy or sell a home fast but unsure about the commission fees for real estate agents in Toronto, be sure to take a look at feeDuck. Feeduck Canada is a website that connects home sellers with low commission realtors and real estate agents in Toronto and other Canadian locales.