You’re not the only one celebrating the heat this summer: GTA realtors can’t believe how good sales have been.
If you’ve been thinking about going for it for the last few months and something has kept holding you back, you’ll be happy to know you still have a window of about a month or so left. I’m talking, of course, about selling your home.
When the July numbers rolled in, even the Toronto Real Estate Board’s members were surprised. We expected to see a healthy economy continue to drive a strong real estate market, but what we’ve seen has exceeded anyone’s expectations. July followed June by setting a record for the best July on record ever. As a result, this summer will go down as the best season ever. What’s more is the first seven months of 2007 are ahead of even 2005’s record-setting year by a full 13 per cent.
This has left a longer than normal window, at the end of the summer season, for those would-be home sellers to make their move. Normally, by the end of August and into September, anyone who puts their home up for sale is in danger of shortchanging themselves. With this record-setting season, however, now may be the perfect time to sell, so long as you and your family are ready.
It’s important to understand that just around this time of year, summer buyers can get a little antsy. School is around the corner and they may have already sold their home and now are feeling the pressures of the time crunch. This is not an enviable position to be in and one that can easily be avoided with the proper planning. But the harsh reality is, it does happen to some. The point for the home seller here is that selling at the end of the summer season can be just as good as selling at the beginning. In fact, it can even be better.
So, seller Sabrina decides to sell at the end of the summer season. With the proper marketing by her skilled realtor, she should secure a good price for her home. Where Sabrina stands to gain the most by selling at this particular time of year is on the home she buys. Assuming it takes her 30 days to sell her home, she will likely be buying some time in September or even October, when the market is more favourable to the buyer. Sabrina will be moving during the colder months, and she may be in a bit of a time crunch herself, but if she’s willing to take on these challenges, with the proper planning she will find herself on the “perfect cusp” of the real-estate market. Only at this time of year can Sabrina sell her home for summer value and buy her future home in a cooler autumn market.
This is not to say that now is necessarily the best time to sell. The point is that summer 2007 is unique — summer is stretching into mid-September, making it easier to cash in on both the summer and fall seasons. For those of you who have been looking to sell all summer, take that leap of faith. You should know that you may have actually done yourself a favour by waiting this long.
Like any other summer fling, patience can be a virtue. It helps when the summer has been as hot as this one, keeping the flame burning longer than normal. It stands to reason then, that normally by this time of year, today being this columnist’s birthday, summer feels almost lost. This year, however, it doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave us.
For advice on your real estate needs, or questions and/or comments feel free to e-mail Amit at amitp@rogers.com.
