A truism in real estate is that the best time to sell is during the spring and summer months.

You have more buyers, prices and valuations are higher, and your home simply looks better under the bright summer sun than during the drab winter gloom. But what if you really need to sell your home now?

Before you list your property in the real estate listings such as these in Ottawa, here are a few simple tricks you can try.

1. Make improvements to your fence.

If you have a fence, then it’s the first thing that people encounter as they walk to your home. It should give a good first impression, so you need to fix damages if there are any. You can also consider repainting it to make it look new.

Don’t forget to make sure that the latch works perfectly too. It should close easily enough without any sort of fussy process.

2. Prune your trees.

The trees near your home shouldn’t block the buyer’s view of your house. Instead, the trees should have silhouettes that frame the house to make it look much better. It’s best to prune your trees during their dormant periods when they don’t have leaves. This makes it easier for you to see the shape and structure of the tree.

Remove the damaged and diseased branches first. Then get rid of the branches that hang low enough to obscure your house and hang over walkways. Finally, thin the crown to improve the air circulation and the amount of light.

3. Plant snow flowers.

You can plant early narcissi and snowdrops in your garden, along with a few clumps at the edges of your walkways. These can add some color to your home amidst all that white snow.

You can also plant hardy hellebores that thrive during the winter months, such as the Ashwood Neon, the Walberton’s Rosemary or even the stinking hellebore (H. foetidus).

4. Attract more birds near your home.

Having plenty of birds around is great during the winter. The place seems alive, and you get plenty of colors. You can do this simply by putting up a bird feeder on your property. You can also plant shrubs in your garden that are known to attract birds. These include bayberry, snowberry, and burning bush.

5. Touch up the house number.

Your house number is important because you want your potential buyers to find your home more easily. Sadly, plenty of homes have rather illegible house numbers.

Even those that are noticeable can seem outdated or downright unattractive. You can improve its look in various ways so that it becomes appealing and also prominent.

6. Keep the house clean.

One problem during the winter is that plenty of people track in mud after walking around in the snow and sludge. Often doormats aren’t just up to the job of getting rid of all that gooey mess.

However, you can arrange for boots to be removed first before people enter the home. If that’s not possible, you can at least buy and set up an effective boot scraper that can help your doormat get rid of the mess.

7. Use your Christmas lights.

Put them up early, and leave them up until February if you have to. These lights can really make your home look better.

Use plenty of Christmas décor for more color as well.

8. Wash your windows.

You need to get rid of the grime in your windows, which prevents the sunlight from getting into your home.

Featured image- Hadley Hooper/ Boston Globe.