With Christmas week now in full swing many renters get ready for the ‘boxing day bounce’ and we’re here to give you some tips now to prepare for it.

Now if you haven’t heard of the ‘boxing day bounce’ this is the period between Christmas and New years where, while many of us are stuffing our faces with leftovers, doing a spot of shopping or simply watching love actually for the millionth time, many renters and buyers will be out seeking their new homes creating a stampede of traffic in the property market with all the major property portals reporting their largest number of page hits happening on boxing day.

So what causes the ‘Boxing day bounce’? Well over Christmas some of us have a house full with family cramped into all corners, grabbing the deck chairs from the garden for aunts and uncles to sit on and this can get people thinking… Maybe it’s time to expand or it would be nice to have a bigger dining room next year. Likewise many of us may have a quiet home this year and decide there's no need for all the extra space and it could be time to downsize. 

Here are 3 key tips to help you be boxing day bounce ready:‍

1. Know exactly what you’re looking for: Filter, filter, filter. This will be your best friend while searching for your new home. Start by creating a list of must haves and likes. Think about what’s essential to your household and what would be nice. For example, is a parking space a must while a second bathroom might be nice? Once you have your list use the filter on the search platforms to get rid of the properties you’re not interested in so you know exactly what you’re working with!‍

2. Sign up to properly alerts: Ever called about a property that has ‘Just been added’ and it’s already gone? Well, Some of us may just think signing up to property notifications is just a marketing email that’s junk but many agents send a new property over to the renter (if it suits their criteria) before it even goes live! Yep. who’d have known! Don’t platforms like our partners OnTheMarket are good to sign up to because they list lots of properties 24 hours before any of the other players in the market. ‍

3. Be Rent Ready: This might be the most important step to help you get ahead of the rest of the market! So you have your list, you’ve checked it twice and you’re signed up to property alerts. Why not take it one step further and get ahead of your competitors. Signing up to Canopy can allow you to get rent ready in a matter of minutes. Meaning you can view your rental affordability and be ready to go once you find that property because a huge number of agents all over the UK use Canopy for their referencing!