How To Get Top Dollar In the Cold - Edmonton Alberta
The spring and summer months in Alberta is when the real estate market drastically increases, as most homeowners get ready to list their homes and purchase new before the start of the following school year. During this short season, the most home sales and purchases are made, as there is the greatest flexibility to view listings with the good weather and the long days. However, selling your home in the winter may also present you with a perfect opportunity to list your home for sale. There are fewer houses on the market with less homes being similar to yours. From our experience as a Realtor in Edmonton and area, We'll provide a few tips to ensure buyers have positive and long lasting impressions when viewing your home in the winter months.
1) Emphasize Your Homes Warm And Cozy Features
During the winter months in Edmonton, weekday and weekend nights are usually spent huddled on the couch, watching the television and focusing on work related projects that are saved for the tempered indoors. As the colder weather moves in, buyers start re-focusing their attention to the distant unused corners of a home, the flooring, and areas with high levels of natural light, rather than focusing on the entire property in the spring and summer. Sellers should place lush and beautiful rugs on the ground, set an abundance of pillows on the beds and couches, and display scented candles throughout the house to give buyers the ability to feel a sense of warmth and coziness that the winter cold can bring. Adding simple elements to your home is very important during the colder and darker days, as the focal point of potential buyers will narrow in directly to the actual house, not so much the entire property.
2) Add Extra Light From Outside
While spring and summer in Edmonton provides no shortage of natural light, the winter months can sure leave many individuals with days on end with no contact of the warming sun. From the months of October until March, Edmonton may only averages 3 hours of natural light if fortunate, all being dependent on the clouds and the severity of the winter storms. If possible, home showings should be schedules during the day to emphasize the warmer features of your home, while turning on exterior lights can also help boost your curb appeal. Before showings, curtains should be pulled back and lamps should be turned on to lighten up the darker areas of your home. Lights in hallways should be strategically dimmed if possible to highlight areas of use in your house.
3) Don't Forget Curb Appeal
While having a nice curb appeal is more heavily focused on in the spring and summer months, many sellers tend to forget the concept "the first impression may be the only impression" as winter rolls in. With this said, at all time of the year, sellers better make sure their home is inviting and well kept. Shovelling your driveway, turning on exterior lights, and if time permissive, showing the presence of Christmas cheer with lights and other various decor items can sure add value to possible buyers. Doing this not only increases the potential of your home actually selling, but will make your property look like it's been "well taken care of". Like we said, don't forget your curb appeal when you list your house for sale in the winter.
4) Price Your Home Competitively
When pricing out a home in the winter or summer, it is never a good idea to list it high above the competitive market value. Most individuals who list their property at an overvalued price end up dropping it more than they should of if they priced their home right the first time. Ultimately, you never want your property to look or become stale to a potential buyer. A property sitting on the market for a longer period of time will look undesirable and of lower value; whether or not this is actually true. In the winter, some sellers even believe that they may need to list their homes slightly below a competitive price to increase the chances of selling. No one needs to do this. While the focal point of a home in the winter months moves to the actually house itself instead of the entire property, taking a little extra time to make your home feel inviting from the curb and warm on the inside will drastically increase the chances of a sale in the winter months, without lowering the price.
