With the harsh, relentless winter and the cold, delayed spring of 2014, many of those who wanted to sell their cottages waited until the snow had melted and the ice had receded from the lakes before they listed with real estate brokerages. As would-be sellers waited until April 2014 to tap into the market and list their cottages, there was a delay in the building of listing volumes. Nonetheless, the inventory is exceptionally strong now.
It’s a buyer’s market
It’s a “phenomenal buyer’s market.” As there are lots of listings for waterfront properties in the Kawarthas, would-be cottage buyers have a lot of choices. And “there’s a great spread of prices,” adds McCormack – from just over $200,000 to $1 million and up. With the considerable inventory of cottage properties on the market, buyers can choose from a diverse range of recreational property styles –from quaint, turn-of-the century cottages that preserve a bit of bygone cottage life to all-the-bells-and-whistles lakeside homes. Aside from the diversity the market now offers in recreational properties and prices, buyers are ideally positioned to obtain optimal value. A strong supply or inventory of cottages gives them more leverage and flexibility to negotiate with sellers on price, cottage contents, and closing dates.
Buyers still get a good sense of the property in August
Purchasing a cottage is about purchasing a piece of property. Although the structure that sits on the property is important, it can usually be changed – unlike the landscape and the lake. Indeed, the quality of the waterfront property is paramount. That’s why mid- to late August is a good time of the year to buy a cottage. When buyers visit a property in late summer, they still walk away with a good sense of the appearance of the property and the lake in prime cottage season. In fact, one downside to buying property later in the year or in the winter is that buyers don’t always get a good “lay of the land” since their perception of the features and character of the property could be compromised by snow, ice, and fluctuating water levels.
Buyers still get to enjoy some exquisite weather as well as winter
If the cottage sale closes in September or October, buyers can enjoy the gentle autumn weather and outdoor activities on offer in the Kawarthas. Four season-cottages allow buyers to enjoy winter in the Kawarthas and outdoor pursuits like cross-country skiing, skating, snowshoeing, ice-fishing, and snowmobiling.
Buyers have a lot of time to plan cottage renovations for the coming season
Buyers who enter the cottage market now have lots of time to flip through the pages of magazines and plan improvements or renovations for the 2015 season. The extra time helps buyers to make plans, arrange permits, and book contractors. On the other hand, those who put off buying until the market stirs again in the spring have little time to renovate or make improvements for the fast-approaching cottage season.
