Calgary Real Estate Blog

People have often speculated on when exactly the best time to buy a house might be – what combination of a bountiful market and a scarcity of buyers will lead to the best deal on a great home. Charts and graphs have been studied, deep thinkers have thought deep thoughts.

Well, there’s definitely a right answer, but it’s hardly scientific.

The best time to buy a home is when you’re ready to buy a home.

Okay, maybe that’s a little anticlimactic, and a touch glib, but the truth is a buyer’s preparedness is the most important factor in making a successful purchase. If you’re thinking of selling and moving up to something larger, bear in mind that the high tide raises all boats: waiting for your property to go up in value is also waiting for your future home to get more expensive too. Maybe there can be an advantage to be found on this front when it comes to downsizing, but generally if we’re in a market that’s raising prices, it’s because there are an increased number of buyers at all levels, and so everything becomes more valuable.

Low interest rates are sometimes cited as a driving factor for more sales, but for the majority of us the purchase of a home requires a long term mortgage that will weather potentially massive fluctuations due to the health of our economy; the early 1980s saw rates as high as 22 percent, which dropped to around eight percent by the mid ‘90s. So, sure, today’s low rates can certainly make entry into the market easier, but they shouldn’t be the only reason to buy a home right now.

No, there’s no external factor that should shove a potential homebuyer who’s sitting on the fence into the market. Instead, look inward and examine your family’s financial position, anticipate upcoming expenditures and cash flow boosts, come up with a list of reasons to move and another of reasons to stay put, and have candid conversations with your family. Then, when you’re ready, get pre-qualified on a mortgage, spruce up your present dwelling, call a great Realtor, and, most of all, have fun shopping for that dream house. Good luck!

The New Year is off to a great start in the real estate market, with the Calgary Real Estate Board predicting strong growth in both prices and the number of newly-built homes. While that’s a familiar-sounding tune these days, we’re coming off a year that saw more than 12 percent growth in the number of sales made with prices rising by six percent; to see sales increase by what’s predicted to be a little under four percent from last year is a really impressive sign of a healthy, robust market.

With interest rates now predicted to remain low for the foreseeable future (as opposed to the ‘there’re going up next month!’ prognostications we’ve been hearing for the last few years), this is an good time to build your ideal property or find a great resale home to move up into. A couple weeks ago I posted about some things you can do around your home to get it in saleable condition; I recommend having another read of that, and make a game plan if you want to enter the market in the spring. A few touch-ups can really affect your bottom line, which in turn will help you get that new home you want.

Want a personal, no-obligation evaluation of what we could sell your home for today, and what you could do to sell it for more? Contact me!