I know we’ve all heard a bad joke before and can all probably remember a cringe worthy moment when a friend or family member fumbled a punchline at the dinner table and the audience falls silent in confusion.
Perhaps they recover with a witty “tough crowd” comment, but the awkwardness hangs in the air regardless until someone laughs off the dud. And I know that none of us are immune to telling a bad joke, but the worst offense in humour isn’t telling a bad joke.. it’s butchering what would normally be a funny joke.
Do you like funny jokes with a dose of real estate reality? Did you know we have a podcast? Listen to the Last Honest Realtor right here or wherever you get your podcasts!
Have you ever heard the same joke told by different people in different situation with drastically different results? There’s an art to delivering a joke right and the key all lies in timing.. The cadence of the build up and the timing of the punch line are crucial to the success of humour.
The Truth About Timing the Real Estate Market
And just like a good joke, the success of selling your home for top dollar also relies heavily on timing. That’s not to say that timing is everything here; much like a bad joke, timing isn’t going to fix a bad listing, but if you take a great listing and get the timing wrong, you might end up with that same cringe worthy feeling I just mentioned around the dinner table.
Do you have more questions about selling your home? Here are a few more blogs you might find interesting:
- What’s Negotiable When Selling Your Home in Toronto
- Do You Need an Open House to Sell Your Home?
- Why Hiring Your Friend to Sell Your Home Might Be a Bad Idea
So when is the best time to list your property? The uninitiated who might already be aware of the seasonality of the real estate market will default to the idea that they should be listing anytime in the Spring season as this is the busiest time in our industry. And if you take a look at any number of sales statistics, it’s an easy trend to spot. Just look at new listings in Toronto over the last four years and it’s pretty easy to see how supply ebbs and flows through Q1 to Q4 of any year.
And of course you can see a corresponding jump in average price during the second quarter of each year too, so you can see why many sellers see it as an easy decision to get to market for April/May.
But this would be an oversimplification as the average data doesn’t capture what’s happening in each specific neighbourhood where supply and demand can fluctuate well over or under the aggregate at any given time.
The Truth is that You Have to Be Flexible
There’s been more then a few listings we’ve prepared for a specific date in our work back schedule, only to rush ahead or delay to make sure there isn’t another competing listing on the market to split the buyer pool. Although the macro economic trend is a good indicator, the listings that get out a head of the rest generally attract more interest and ultimately more offers. The market in any given neighbourhood can be fickle and even during what should be a hot market by statistics standards can see good listings sit or sell for under their full potential. Keeping a pulse of the local market and having a little flexibility around when exactly you come to market can make a big difference. Too many times, I’ve seen other agents wait until the “prime spring” to list, only to find their listing lost in a wave of supply.
The real estate market moves fast and things can get confusing. Here are some more blogs to help clear things up:
- Should I Get a Pre-Listing Inspection?
- Can You Fire Your Realtor if it’s Not Working Out
- Is Seasonality Over in Real Estate?
Now of course there are other factors involved in timing and your hand may be forced depending on your personal schedule or the closing of your next purchase, but as the old saying goes, failing to prepare, is preparing to fail.
When ever you’re thinking of selling and regardless of the market cycle, you should start getting your listing prepped well in advance, ideally even before you make your next purchase. Always make sure you build in some flexibility and contingency time between your moves and start talking to your agent and mortgage broker as soon as possible.
A lot of the heavy lifting surronding necessary repairs, renovations, packing, and cleaning should be done well in advance so that you can have all of your marketing and promotional material on hand and ready to go in order to take advantage of the perfect timing and further maximize the selling price of your property!
Still have questions about selling your home? Reach out at any time by calling 416.642.2660 or emailing admin@torontorealtygroup.com. We’re always happy to chat!
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