PRO'S
1) Sellers Are Motivated to Sell

• Most realtors advise their sellers to wait until spring to list their homes for sale
• Because of this, it's likely that the seller of the home you're interested in really needs to sell now
• This can make negotiations a lot easier 
• It doesn't necessarily mean that you can come in and lowball everything
• You do have more leverage when the seller doesn't have multiple offers

• There are fewer buyers looking at homes in the winter
• It's less likely that you will have to compete in the same way you would in the summer months
• The pressure to view a home on the exact day that it comes on the market is much less intense
• Less competition may mean that you can take your time and not be rushed to make an offer right away

• Fewer buyers in the winter typically means slower times for real estate professionals
• During the heat of summer, realtors get slammed with showing requests
• If you're working with a realtor who is overbooked in the summer, it can be hard to receive the best service
• The winter months are much easier for realtors, so you're more likely to get more attention & one-on-one advising

• With more competition comes higher prices
• Bidding wars and multiple contracts are very common at the height of the market
• It's likely that you will pay a little less for a home in the winter that in the summer months 

• Many people that buy older homes plan to do some remodeling
• If you need to remodel before you move in, you'll have to engage a fast acting contractor
• Unfortunately, contractors can be very hard to find in the summer months
• You'll probably have an easier time doing this in the winter months when contractors' work is slow
• You may even get a better price on your remodeling in the winter

• With the number of home sales doubling from winter to summer, the real estate market can become crazy
• Buyers may decide to write contract-waiving inspection contingencies and appraisal clauses that they would never do without the added pressure
• When the market moves fast, buyers have to move faster
• This makes the whole process feel out of control and chaotic
• For some buyers, this is the number one reason they decide to wait until the winter to buy a home

• For lots of people, the number one con of buying a home in the winter is that it's really hard to inspect the exterior of the home 
• If there has been a snow storm, it's nearly impossible to determine the condition of the roof with the snow on it
• It's also impossible to check the air conditioning unit because inspectors can't run and test the outside units in cold weather

• There are half as many homes on the market in the winter as there are in the summer
• So, your chances of finding that unique custom home are less likely in the winter
• If you have very specific search criteria, you're twice as likely to find that unique property in the summer months, when the listing inventory doubles

• Let's face it - moving in the winter sucks!
• Having movers bring boxes in and out of your house while it's freezing outside is very difficult
• Snow will end up getting into everything and then melting inside the house
• The hassle of dealing with snow and moving is enough for some to wait until spring

• If you buy a house in November, for example, the landscaping will be barren for the winter months
• When spring comes around, you could have beautiful landscaping come to life or find out some of the trees are dead
• It's nearly impossible to tell what the landscaping around a home is going to look like in the summer when you're deep in the winter months

• After the fall daylight saving time change, cities start getting dark around 5 p.m..
• This makes it much more difficult to view homes in the evening
• In contrast, in the summer months, it will stay light until around 8:00 p.m..
• The lack of daylight can easily put a squeeze on your showing schedule in the winter

• For families with kids in school, changing schools mid-term can be very disrupting
• This is one of the main reasons there are so many more homes sold in the summer months when kids are out of school
• The school year schedule has a large impact on the local real estate market across Canada 
• This is a major factor in the increase in sales during the summer