In the past, springtime has always been thought of as the optimal season to sell your home. Over the past 15 years, the idea that the spring is the perfect season to sell your home has slowly been changing. Listing your home during other seasons is becoming just as popular as the spring.
Winter can certainly provide some benefits to sell your home.
One reason the selling season has extended to most of the year, is the internet. Buyers can sit in the warmth of their home and view your home on their smartphone, tablet or computer without ever stepping out into the cold.
They will only come out when they find a home that catches their attention.
Benefits of Selling In The Winter
Selling in the winter can actually provide a homeowner with some great benefits.
I always recommend my sellers don’t wait to April or May to sell but get their home on the market by mid-February to the beginning of March and beat the spring market and take advantage of the winter real estate market.
Less Competition
Seasons outside of spring can provide the real estate market with less inventory. And, with less inventory, that allows your home to stand out in the buyer’s eyes and catch their attention.
With spring, there is a lot of market “noise”. That noise includes overpriced homes on the market with sellers who are testing the market and may not be serious about selling at market value. Those sellers will often not sell unless they obtain an unrealistic price for their home.
The problem is, with more inventory, it creates a lot more work for buyers to sort through the homes on the market. It may just lump your home in with a slew of others and it can get lost.
Buyer’s Are Motivated
Just like seller’s testing the market in the springtime, there are plenty of buyers just kicking tires. The cold weather eliminates the buyers that aren’t serious about buying. The looky-loos that aren’t really in the market, don’t want any inconvenience.
If the home buyers are venturing out in winter season, they are serious home buyers. Don’t forget jobs change, families grow, financial situations change at all time of the year. The need or desire to buy a home is limited to spring time.
January Is The Biggest Corporate Location Month Of The Year
The two biggest corporate relocation months are January and February. Talk about motivated buyers. Corporate relocation buyers are extremely serious and extremely motivated.
Taking advantage of the winter months to sell your home also means tapping into some of the best buyers in the marketplace.
Winter Readiness
Winter will be the season that will be the toughest on a home. You have roofs shedding the constant flow of melting snow, furnaces that need to heat the house, windows that need to keep the cold drafts out, weather stripping around the doors, etc….
The winter real estate market is a great market to show off the winter readiness of your home and your home’s condition.
Winter Selling Tips
The time to sell your home is when it is ready. Don’t wait for spring, embrace the winter market. It is a perfect time to make your home stand out with less competition from other homes on the market.
Warm and Inviting
Let’s face it, almost a third of the year or more here in New England and other parts of the country is about cold weather. Most of these tips are designed to show that your house is warm and inviting.
Show the buyers your house is perfect for weathering those cold winter days and New England Northeasters!!
Don’t Forget The Basics
All the basics still apply to preparing your home for selling your house in the winter.
A deep clean, decluttering and depersonalization are still the first steps to preparing your home for the winter home selling season. Getting your home show ready for the winter starts with the basics and then add a few finishing touches to make it ready for those highly motivated winter buyers.
Light It Up
With winter comes much shorter days. And with shorter days comes less light. Here in Massachusetts, it is getting dark between 4-4:30pm. Of course, you will get some daytime showings.
But a majority of your weekday showing will be after work when it is dark.
First, make sure the approach to your home is well lit, so it is not a hazard.
Second, make sure each room has adequate lighting to show off the living space. Consider adding floor and table lamps if need be.
Use Timers
If you are leaving your home just for a showing, light it up!!
But if showings are occurring when you might not be home, consider using timers for outdoor lights and lights in your home when showings might occur after dark and you may not yet be home from work.
Create a warm and inviting experience. That first starts with walking into the home and having the agent and the buyer’s fumbling for light switched in the dark.
Clear The Ice and Snow
Make sure the access to your home is easy and safe. Pay extra attention to removing snow and ice, and there are no slipping hazards.
I have tried to show homes where I couldn’t even open the storm door, the snow was piled so high. Guess what, the showing didn’t occur. We didn’t have access. Make sure your home has safe access to all the areas of your home.
And, don’t forget to consider rear patios and decks. They can be vital areas of your home that buyers love to consider.
Keep It Warm
You may want to try saving money by turning your heat down when no one is home. But showings for your home can pop up at anytime. Sometimes you may get 12-24 hours notice. Other times you may only get a few hours.
I am going to say it again, keep your home inviting by make it feel warm and cozy. If buyers walk into a home that feels cold, they will start to questions whether there are problems heating the space or if the home is poorly insulated.
Let them focus on important things and not worry about things that probably aren’t even true.
Stage Your Entry
Winter requires more clothing to stay warm… boots, jackets, gloves and hats can get out of control. Make sure your entry points are organized and uncluttered and not overwhelmed by the families winter wear.
If you can’t be organized and don’t have enough storage for your winter wear, your potential home buyers are going to wonder how they can be organized.
If you are ready to list your home and don’t want to wait for the spring real estate market to heat up, embrace the winter market. It is a great time to access the serious buyers and have your house stand out from the crowd.
Other Real Estate Resources:
- Did you ever why real estate agents push “neutral colors”? Neutral colors allow a home buyer to mentally move their belongings in and see the space as their own. Neutral colors allow for the greatest amount of possibilities.
- Cleaning is an important step in preparing your home for sale. Learn what areas of your house you should pay close attention to when cleaning your home.
- Want to sell your home quick? Check out these expert staging tips, get your home sold in days and not months.
- A few weekends of preparing your home for sale can go a long way in getting your house sold quickly and for top dollar. Check out this home selling guide.
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