Canada - Best Time to Sell a Home In Ottawa

Ideally, I would put this in the omni board, but I suspect that (since this is a Canada-specific question), more people might respond to this question on this board, then that board.

I am moving into a new home in early Nov.

I have not put our current home on sale, yet.

My home will be ready for sale by the second weekend in August.

One real estate agent says, put it on sale asap (ie before the second weekend in August) - or else I may squander the opportunity of selling the house this year (he stated that ideally, it should be put on the market now, but our house is not ready to be put on the market now).

A second one says that put it is okay to put the house on the market during the second weekend of August.

A third one states that (in Ottawa, for homes selling for above the median price of single dwelling homes in this city) he would not recommend me to put the house on sale until Labour Day - it will not sell in August - as the market for resale homes now is quite slow - but the longer it is on the market unsold, the longer that is a negative factor for selling the house down the road - he stated it should not be put on the market before the Labour Day weekend - there is some spike in the real estate market in Sept and Oct. (but the market is not nearly as good as during the spring months).

What do you think?

I've bought and sold 20+ properties; 3 in the Ottawa area. I'd say list it now. I don't see how waiting ever helps, unless you need time for repairs/upgrades/staging, etc...

Cheers,

Another factor to consider is how unique and/or in demands your style of house is and how desirable the neighborhood is. If both are, the house could sell quickly. Otherwise if it's just another run-of-the-mill house in a mundane neighborhood, it could sit unless priced attractively.

If the house is expected to sell quickly with an open house involved, a long weekend is a bad time to hold it as potential buyers may be on vacation.