EPISODE #100: Buy/Sell Now Or Wait Until Spring?

EPISODE 100: Buy/Sell Now Or Wait Till Spring?
Today is a momentous occasion. The Mcinnes Marketing Minute has reached its 100th episode!!

In truth, it would not be possible without everyone sending your questions in and your feedback. So shout out to YOU, our subscribers. To thank you, we are even offering a FREE pair of AirPods to a lucky reader, viewer or listener.

All you need to do is go to our YouTube video, this link here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f83owlpSgqs, like the video and comment on whether you feel buying/selling is better now, or in the Spring. Don’t worry, we don’t need a full explanation, just your two cents. We’d also really appreciate you subscribing to our channel ;) but it isn’t mandatory!

Moving on to our topic of the week. This conversation is now coming up more and more seeing the market has shown clear improvements for a respectable period of time now.

“Do we list/buy now, or should we wait until the Spring time?”

The reality is the answer can vary for different people. But most people on the Listing side are asking this with the thought process of the market being on the rise, i.e. waiting till Spring will mean prices have gone up even further, and there is more activity in Spring. So on paper, more money and a higher chance of selling. This is one way to look at it, but let’s dive deeper and see what is really the case.

If you own a home with a realistic market value of $1,000,000. Assuming the market continues upwards in the same trend it has been these last few months, with an average rise of 0.6% a month, assuming you list in March, you will be looking at a realistic market value of $1,012,000. So far not bad. However, consider how much busier it gets in the Spring market. Again, taking last year's figures, you would be competing with an increase of newly listed homes coming to market, a 22.87% increase to be exact. This works out as an additional 325 newly listed properties in one month alone, and that’s not including property already listed. These figures are also based on just Vancouver, not Greater Vancouver. Finally, on top of that, we are using last year’s figures which was a buyers market, so we imagine that figure to increase in 2020 substantially.

That’s not to say you are going to fail in the Spring market. More so, we want you to see what the risk of waiting is. If you are happy with those risk and need a certain dollar value for your home, then by all means wait until the Spring. Don’t forget that previous sales are what dictate price, so if you are hoping for the price increase purely on the ‘market rising’, and not with the back up of sold comparables, you could be in for an uphill battle.

Personal circumstance and risk tolerance sometimes dictate when you should list your property, and that will change based on each individual/family. When you break it down, a lot of the time people don’t realise the level of risk they are undertaking, comparative to the level of the reward.On the buying side, this conversation is different. If you are in a position to buy now and the property that matches your criteria is available, you should be writing offers today. Buyers have a tendency to watch the market a bit before they actually plot their move. The problem with this is, you are seeing the market at current conditions, not what it will be in 2 or 3 months time when you come to buy. This was not as much of an issue last year when we were in a buyers market and prices were steadily reducing. But today, the situation is different, with prices now rising.

If you are seeing property in your price range and believe it to be what you want and fairly priced, the market has shown it will sell and it will sell fast. What do you think happens when that’s the case and another owner decides to put their property up for sale? They see their comparable sold quickly and they up the price. Especially for you entry level buyers. An increase of 0.6% a month between now and April can be enough to take your desired property completely out of your price range by the time you are ‘ready’ to purchase.

Now again, you may be saving a deposit or personal life circumstances dictate you have to wait, rather than making a move now (Pun 100% intended.) If this is the case then you have to obey your own circumstance. Just make sure when it’s time, you are not afraid to pull the trigger. Don’t get caught ‘studying the market’.

With that final sentence brings a close to episode 100! A truly unreal thing to be saying, well writing, aloud.

Thank you to everyone again and don’t forget to like the video at the above link, make your comment, and be in with a chance to win a FREE pair of Airpods!

Until next week,

Jay Mcinnes
T: 604.771.4606
jay@mcinnesmarketing.com

Ben Robinson
T: 604.353.8523
ben@mcinnesmarketing.com