Buying a house in Saskatoon in winter: what to check

The short answer

When buying a house in Saskatoon in winter, check which way the front faces, whether the driveway and front steps are in shade at midday, and where snow and melt water collect. The neighbourhood matters too: in LandMood's model, 12 of 51 established Saskatoon neighbourhoods get 2 hours or more of direct sun on December 21 along their residential streets, while five older central ones get under half an hour (typical year, 2016–2025).

To see a specific home rather than a whole neighbourhood, place it on the free map: it shows that home's front yard, back yard and driveway month by month.

Why a winter viewing tells you more

From November to February the sun at noon is only about 14° above the horizon in Saskatoon, so a house throws a shadow about four times its own height toward the north. In a sample of 150 Saskatoon homes in LandMood's model, the median north-facing front yard got no direct sun on December 21 and the median south-facing front yard 1.8 hours. That difference is easy to see in January and invisible in July.

A north-facing home is not a bad buy; its back yard is more likely to get the winter sun. It just means the driveway and front steps are the shady part of the lot, and that is worth knowing before you shovel them for five months. North-facing vs south-facing houses explains the trade-off.

Pick the neighbourhood, then the street

Winter sun differs between Saskatoon neighbourhoods. Newer suburbs such as Hampton Village, Stonebridge, Evergreen and Willowgrove are near the top of our ranking; older central neighbourhoods such as Nutana, City Park and Caswell Hill, with mature trees and closely spaced homes, are near the bottom. Neither list says where to live; it says what winter looks like there. See all 51 in the Saskatoon winter sun ranking, and each one's own page for its snow and spring melt.

Within any neighbourhood, two homes on the same street can differ more than two neighbourhoods do. Even in most of the sunniest neighbourhoods, roughly a quarter to a third of the ground along residential streets gets under half an hour of sun on December 21.

What to check at the viewing

• Which way the front of the house faces, and which side the driveway is on.
• Whether the driveway, walk and front steps are in shade around midday.
• Where snow has been piled, and whether it is blocking a window well, a vent or a downspout.
• Where melt water has stood or refrozen: icy patches at the bottom of the driveway or by the steps.
• Where the downspouts empty, and whether the ground slopes away from the house.
• Trees and two-storey houses on the south side of the lot: they decide how much winter sun the yard gets.

The full room-by-room list is in the winter house-hunting checklist.

Snow, spring melt and ice

Snow follows the sun. In our model, the Saskatoon neighbourhoods with the least December sun are near the top for deep snow still on the ground in March. On a single lot it works the same way: snow on a shaded driveway or north-side path tends to last longer than on the sunny side.

In spring, melt water runs to the low spots. Ask where water stands after the thaw and look at the yard's slope. Where melt water crosses a shaded driveway or walk in the afternoon, it can refreeze overnight. If a home is near the river, also look at the city's flood maps.

Questions to ask the sellers

• Which part of the driveway and walk ices up first, and does it need salt or chipping through the winter?
• Where does water collect in spring, and has it ever come into the basement?
• Have the downspouts or the grading around the house been changed?

Check the home itself

The neighbourhood numbers describe streets, not a house. Before you make an offer, put the home on the free map, look at its front and back yard through the winter months, and compare it with the other homes on your list.