This morning I stared out the window at a landscape that looked like it was being curated by a particularly dramatic snow globe and thought, “How can it be this cold — and why does the sky keep promising encore performances?”

And yet, there I was at my desk, creating strategies of how to launch three homes in the middle of winter when half the world is under blankets pretending the outdoors doesn’t exist. After 40 winters of selling homes, I’ve learned something simple and very human: people don’t move in winter because of logic. They move because something feels like home before they ever walk through an open house.

So we create that feeling.

We began last fall by reaching out gently to the people who told us, “Maybe next spring.” Because we captured images of their homes in the warmth of fall — flowers still alive, lawns still soft — their listings can bloom online while everything else looks frozen in time. On realtor.ca, our homes don’t scream winter; they shine with warmth.

Then we turn inward, literally and emotionally.

We make the interior so inviting that Buyers don’t just see rooms — they see spaces they can live in.

• We stage so the home looks lived-in, not sterile; cozy, not catalog.
  
• We give Buyers a 3D walk-through so they can wander, imagine, linger.
  
• We share clear floor plans so they can picture where their table, their photos, their memories would go.
  

Yes, I notice the data. Yes, I see that many listings still look like they were photographed on a flip-phone. But that’s not what moves people. What moves them is feeling their way through a home before they call to view.

On the marketing side, we don’t blast noise into the void. We look for the real humans behind the clicks — the neighbourhoods where hearts are quietly considering change — and we speak to them directly. Not with pressure, but with presence.

Open houses matter because they are invitations, not transactions. Especially for families moving from Toronto, they are moments to wander through a space and feel something. When the only time they have are weekends. Right now, most agents skip them. We lean into them.

And yes, we build a circle of Buyers — not a “pool,” but a community of people dreaming about similar homes. When we launch a bungalow in January, we are already nurturing the hearts who may fall in love with one we are planning on marketing in February. One story can bloom into many.

Selling homes in winter isn’t about battling the cold. It’s about creating warmth.

A sign that says “please remove your shoes” doesn’t do that.
Care does. Intention does. Creativity does. Listening does.

We don’t sell houses.
We help people find where their heart wants to land.

If you are planning a move, I would love to be your tour guide. I can be reached at 905-743-5555 or lindsay@buyselllove.ca