True: the real estate market is slow-as-molasses in December.

False: as a buyer, you can take the month of December off.

If you’re looking to get into the real estate market in the New Year, do NOT think that your search actually begins in 2014!

Do yourself a favour – and start your research NOW!  Especially if you’re looking for a freehold home…

At the end of August, and into early September, I would estimate I met about nine new clients who were interested in purchasing houses in the immediate future.

These buyers represented very different price points, and target locations, but all of them determined “this is our time,” and set out to find a house to purchase in the Fall real estate market.

I was able to sell homes to six of these home-buyers in the fall market (Sept/Oct/Nov), with three active buyers (or buyer couples) still looking to purchase as we move into January.

I’m usually quite straight-forward with new clients, and I tell them, “You might not end up purchasing this fall, no matter how much you want to, and how hard you try.”  That’s the truth in today’s Toronto market, and as I’m not a true “salesperson,” trying to push every client into an immediate purchase, I explain to my clients that finding their dream home may take considerable time, and may be completely out of their control.

Buyers are severely impacted by the low amount of inventory – a common affliction in Toronto’s real estate market, as well as their ability to “bid” for homes in multiple offer situations.

As a result, many buyers, who set out to find a home within a certain timeline, often end up on the outside looking in.  I have three sets of buyers who were very active in the fall market – all of whom made offers on properties, who didn’t purchase a home, and who will continue their searches in January.

So if you are a would-be buyer, looking to purchase in the spring market – which starts in January, please don’t think this means physically STARTING your search in January.

There is so much work to be done, and if you find yourself with a slow December, then please heed my advice.

Lay the groundwork for your eventual purchase now, and you will thank yourself later on.

Here is a short list of things you should be doing in the month of December to prepare yourself for “the purchase of a lifetime” as it begins in January:

1) Drive Around!

Pretend for a moment that you’re a family, in an RV, exploring the midwest United States, in the middle-of-summer, happy-go-lucky, enjoying the sunshine.

In reality, it’s you and your spouse, with Tim’s/Starbucks/Timothy’s/CoffeeTime in hand, in your beaten-up Honda that you’ve been meaning to replace (except you’re saving for a house…), driving around in neighbourhoods that you’re interested in, as you continually wipe the condensation from the inside of the windshield…

If you really want to hit the ground running with your property search in January, you need to visit ALL the areas you’d consider moving to, in December.

Drive back, and forth, back, and forth – through Rivedale.  Simpson – Langley – Victor – Riverdale – Withrow.  And on, and on, and on.

Drive up, and down, up and down – through Bloor West Village.  Armadale – Willard – Windermere – Durie – Beresford.

Put on some Katy Perry (or Rolling Stones, or Jack Johnson, or Iron Maiden – whatever you’re into), accept that you are officially driving 15 KM/H in a 40 KM/H zone, and start looking at the street-scape of these neighbourhoods that you’re considering moving to.

If you really won’t spend a few hours driving around in these areas, then why the hell are you considering spending $700,000 on a house?

2) Go “Frolic”

Yes, frolic.

I know, I know, I sound like I’m from the 1950’s.

Maybe later we can get a soda-pop, or head to the malt shop, do something swell or keen, and then head to the sock-hop in the school gymnasium…

But just as you are going to drive through the neighbourhoods you are targeting as a buyer, you also need to park the car, get out, and walk around.

Poke inside the stores on Bloor West, Bayview Avenue, Queen East and West, Danforth, Avenue Road, Yonge Street, Mount Pleasant, Dundas West, and all the other “main drags” that represent the commercial/retail that supports the neighbourhood you’re considering.

Go for brunch in Roncesvalles.

Go for dinner in King West.

Get a massage in Leslieville.

What – you don’t have time?  This isn’t a good investment?

So you’re ready to plunk down $1,000,000 on a 3-bed, 3-bath detached home, but you won’t spend two hours on a Sunday checking out the sidewalk-sale in the area you want to call “home?”

3) Find Your School

Do you have kids?

Yes?  No?

It doesn’t matter – all apply in this exercise…

I work with all types of buyers, from entry-level condo-dwellers looking to move out of Mom’s basement, to mansion-downsizers who are looking to cash out and get into something smaller.  But the number-one trend I’ve seen among my buyer-clients in the past two years is the increase in 25-to-35 year-olds who are getting into a home that will provide their children with a school to attend.

Whether you have children, are pregnant, or are thinking about starting a family – the school district a given house falls into is of the utmost importance.

I have written in the past, many times, about my lack of faith in the overall public school system in Ontario, and how I would love for my children to attend a public school, so good, that it practically provides the education of a private school.

Well, if you’re a prospective home-buyer, and you value the education your children will receive, it pays to do your research when it comes to school districts.

If you want to know what school district a house or a street falls into, click HERE.

Then, if you want to see the rankings for a given public school from the Fraser Institute, click HERE.

Secondary school rankings are HERE.

Bookmark these links.  I have had them on my “Favorites” for the last five years, and I use them every single day, without fail.

Unless you plan on home-schooling your children, they WILL go to school.  So shouldn’t you be completely versed on which schools feed into what neighbourhoods, and how those schools rank?

4) Pretend To Go To Work

Here’s a time-tested technique…

You are a 1-car-family, or even a zero-car-family, and you take the TTC to work.

You work at Yonge/Finch, for argument’s sake, and you’re considering living in…….Leaside!

So see what the TTC can do for you, and go out and head to work.

Go to a house that you think represents what you want to buy, and pretend you’re travelling to the office.

Walk to the bus-stop, or subway, get on, ride it, and time how long it takes you to get to your desk.

Then evaluate how frustrated you are, or how easy it was, or whether or not you could do this every day for ten years.

This isn’t a waste of time.  It’s called “being responsible.”  It’s also quite prudent.

5) Get A Handle On Pricing

Perhaps this point could have came first, but it’s easier said than done…

That 3-bed, 2-bath, semi-detached house, with or without parking, could cost you $550,000, or as much as $1,050,000, depending on a multitude of factors, starting with location.

Whether you get your sales date from Zoocasa (a website/brokerage that breaks every rule in organized real estate, likely heading towards massive litigation), or whether you get it from Realosophy (perhaps the biggest online real estate innovation since I’ve been in the business – and yes, that includes my own Toronto Realty Blog), or whether you are working with a Realtor who you trust, respect, and want to learn from – you need to get familiar with prices in the neighbourhoods you’re considering, as this is ultimately going to affect your purchase decision.

Once you start pounding the pavement, seeing open houses, and bidding on houses – you’ll get a crash course on pricing!

But it’s good to get an education in advance, and know what to expect.  You don’t want to be “that guy” who offers $605,000 on a $599K listing that ultimately sells for $712,000.

–

Having just baked, decorated, and consumed a more-than-healthy amount of Christmas shortbread cookies myself, I know what it’s like to “relax” in the month of December, and get into the mindset of mailing it in until the New Year.

But I urge you – if you’re thinking about getting active in the real estate market in 2014, especially if you’re looking at a freehold home, do your research in advance.

Otherwise you might still be looking in June, and that means you’ll probably still be looking in September…