WHY SHOULD YOU SELL YOUR HOME IN JANUARY??

Many of us are misguided by the myth, that only the handful of most desperate sellers would list their home in January. The good reasons are - cold weather which means less traffic at open houses, while people are still getting themselves situated after the chaos of the holidays, and homes have much less curb appeal without blooming flowers and growing grass.  BUT, we fail to look at the more positive side, where there are also a number of factors that significantly outweigh the disadvantages of putting your home on the market at the first of the year.  

Firstly, there exists a vast majority of "typical" sellers would still prefer to list their home in the late Spring or Summer months, when the sun is shining and the school year is over. During these summer months, it is much obvious that there will be a large number of comparable homes on the market in your neighborhood or school district, which will ultimately give more options to buyers. Thus, putting your home on the market in January enables you to take advantage of a supply-and-demand balance that's skewed in the opposite direction for much of the year.  

Secondly, Nowadays buyers have access to virtual resources for viewing a home and gathering information about it, that in many cases they develop a strong opinion about a home even before they see it in person. Undoubtedly, there are real estate photographers who can perform small miracles with lighting, angles and editing software, but for the most part, buyers have access to a plethora of information, photos and virtual tours of homes, that only few walk into a showing expecting something completely different than what they see.  This is helpful to sellers listing in January for a couple of reasons.  

·         It makes open houses less important, which is great because buyers become much less motivated to spend the day walking through the city from open house to open house when it's rainy and cold.  

·         It helps sellers rectify the issue of minimal winter curb appeal, as sellers can use listing photos that are taken in summer months - giving the buyer an idea of the homes seasonal potential.  

Third, the holiday season is the best time when people reflect on their life and establish goals for the New Year.  Home ownership is a common and reasonable goal for many, and one that is made more attainable by financial opportunities that are around during the holidays - bonuses, inheritances, gifts from family members, etc.  People also examine their finances during this time, and are more likely to consider the tax implications of home ownership, and the financial disadvantages of renting.

Take the advantage of season!!! Contact AJ Lamba Team today at get your home listed in the market, before the barrage of listings hit the market in April.

Keep Your Houseplants Happy During Winter.

Houseplants deal with winter the way we wish we could—they sleep right through it! That means they should not be fed until spring arrives, it'd be much like forcing a sandwich on someone who's sound asleep. Their metabolic processes are slowed down hence they cannot accommodate regular watering and fertilizing. With minimal daylight, dry air and cool temperatures – not perfect growing conditions, it’s the best time for houseplants to take rest.

In the meantime, if you want to do something nice for those hibernating houseplants, here are some ways to keep them happy in winter:

SUNSHINE

Put houseplants in the sunniest spot you have, move them to follow the sun if necessary. Most plants fails to thrive in a north-facing window because they need more sun. The best is a window facing east which will get sun from 7 am to 11 am and it's not harsh.

LESS WATER

Many plants need water once a week in winter. They will go dormant, especially if they're plants that grow outdoors in summer and they've come from that bright light into a home with lower lighting and lower temperatures.

MIST THEM

Outdoor plants experience fog, rain, and mist. Indoors? The air is dry from your heating system. Give them a little spritz from a mister every few days to keep houseplants happy.

HUMIDITY

Make a humidity tray for plants to add moisture to the air. In a low-sided tray, place a shallow layer of pebbles. Add water to the height of the pebbles. Set plant pots on pebbles and put the tray in a warm sunny spot. Or get a desktop humidifier to direct moist air toward plants. Most plants thrive with levels of from 50 to 60 percent humidity; in a house the humidity level can go below 35 percent.

TONICS

The most common disease that plagues houseplants is leaf spot—yellow or brown spots that develop on an outer leaf and move inward. If your plants are suffering, mix a tonic and spray it on their leaves: Dissolve 4 teaspoons baking soda in a gallon of water and add a few drops of Murphy's oil to make a suspension.

DUST THEM

Keep plants clean. When they get dusty, that causes plants not to breathe. It plugs their leaves, which have little pores called stomata. If you cover a leaf surface with dirt, it won't get the full effect of sunlight and photosynthesis will be slowed.

BATHE THEM

For smaller plants, give them a bath in a sink with a sprayer. Larger plants can go into the shower. Wipe leaves with a damp sponge. Then off their leaves so they don't drip all over the floor.

STOP FERTILIZING

Many plants go dormant in the winter. Don't fertilize—and don't give up on them. On arrival of spring, set dormant plants outdoors in warm sunshine and feed them a superfood such as sea kelp.

CRANK UP THE HEAT

Turn the heat up high during the day, then way down at night. The temperature variance feels familiar to plants because it mimics the conditions they would experience outdoors in the course of a 24-hour period.

GET RID OF BUGS

Make your own sticky traps to catch tiny black bugs—they're fungus gnats—that buzz in the air above houseplants. Other solutions are to bury a garlic clove in the soil, make an apple cider vinegar trap, or repot plants.

It’s a new year!! Time to give a fresh start to all unfinished chores. Don’t let the season be an excuse for the delayed real estate decisions. Market is STILL HOT with amazing deals. Contact AJ Lamba Team today at 905-502-9944 for any home buying/selling queries.