The Benefits of Buying a Home in the Winter

Winter is often considered to be a “slow season” for homebuying, but taking advantage of purchasing a home this year can bring you a lot of benefits (and save you some money too). If you’re contemplating house hunting this winter, here’s some reasons it’s a great idea.

• Less panic: with less competition in the marketplace (generally speaking) during the winter months, you will have a less stressful experience house hunting without getting yourself into bidding wars or competing with other potential buyers. Because these months tend to be slower for real estate lawyers or mortgage brokers as well, you will likely find you have more time with each of the professionals you’re working with. And overall, you’ll have more time to peruse the homes on your list and house hunt without added pressure.
• The opportunity to see how the home performs: homebuying in the warmer months doesn’t leave you with any opportunity to see how a home performs in wet or cold weather. Leaks or drafts can add up to thousands of dollars per year and you will only notice those things when you’re house hunting during the winter. However, those looking to buy a new construction home won’t have that issue anyways, and all homes come with new home warranty protection as well.
• Stress-free moving: when you avoid moving during peak season, you take advantage of lower rates for movers and truck rentals, and you will likely get your preferred date and time for moving day too.

A big benefit of purchasing a home this winter, is that you will save money on mortgage loan insurance (if you will purchasing with less than 20 per cent downpayment). Earlier this week, the two biggest mortgage loan insurers, Genworth and CMHC, both announced increases to their premiums that will come into effect March 17, 2017. What this means, is that if you are planning to purchase a home with less then 20 per cent down, your mortgage loan insurance will cost you a bit more each month. While the increases aren’t huge, it’s still additional money you could save if you choose to purchase before March. Keep in mind that mortgage applications started before the March 17th deadline will not be effected by these new rates, so there’s more motivation to buy a home right now.

If you’re thinking about buying a new home this winter, check out our selection of homes available in both Calgary and Airdrie, and be sure to check out our quick possession inventory too.