Spring and summer have always been the seasons to move but the truth is, fall is a great time to go house hunting. You get to see it before the snow falls so you’ll know how to winterize your new home. Let’s look at eight reasons why you should buy, move (and sell!) in the fall.
Less Competition
Historically, there are fewer buyers looking for a home during the fall, so there’s less competition. One reason for this is that people with kids want to be settled before school starts
Fewer Bidding Wars
Statistically speaking, when there aren’t as many people looking for a home, there will likely be fewer bidding wars. That means you might have some bargaining power and won’t have to pay too much over the asking price.
You can see costly winter Highly motivated sellers Problems
Spring and summer are beautiful, but they can hide problems in a home. Fall, on the other hand is just as stunning (all those leaves!) but can reveal issues like heat loss or icy streets.
Depending on where you live, there might be snow in the fall, so be on the lookout for leaky roofs, a damp basement (indication of a broken foundation) and ice buildup around the house (cracked pipes). It’s also a good time to see how the street is maintained. Is it ploughed and salted, or is it icy and slippery? All of this can help you decide if you want the house, as well as give you more information you can use to negotiate a better price
Highly Motivated Seller
to leverage their negotiating power fewer people are inclined to sell a home in the dead of winter or during the holidays, so fall sellers are highly motivated to close that sale as quickly as possible. Plus, the home might have been on the market for a long time, making sellers more motivated to close the deal. This is a great time for buyers to leverage their negotiating powers on price, extra items and closing terms.
You can get a sense of the neighbourhood
Back-to-school, Halloween, the holidays: all of these bring a neighbourhood to life. Summer is a great time to house hunt, but you don’t really get a feel for the neighborhood because people might be away on vacation or at their cottage, and kids might be at camp. In the fall, people are home so your prospective neighborhood will be buzzing with activity.