Winter is not peak home selling season by any means, but homes do sell in the wintertime, nonetheless. Someone is always looking for a home, and just because it isn’t the most optimal time of the year to sell in terms of the number of buyers who are out-and-about house hunting, that doesn’t meant that you can’t sell your home at all.
This is partly to do with the changing times. Spring and summer are historically the best times of the year to sell or buy a home, but since people are more mobile now than ever before, any season can be a good time to list your home for sale. Waiting to spring, after all, means that there are more listings available, so there’s more competition for you to deal with. Still, most would-be sellers and buyers who live or are looking to buy in colder areas of the country put an end to their efforts between November and the last of February!
Regardless of the temperature outside, however, people are always getting divorced, relocating for their job, or just deciding to purchase for other reasons. And although there may not be as many people shopping for homes in the winter time or as many homes to shop for, the folks that are out there buying and selling are serious about doing so. They have an urgency to sell or buy, or they would not be looking this time of year.
Can sellers attract buyers to come in and have a look, when there’s very little natural light, the flower beds are dead, and there’s ice outside on the walkway? Sure they can. These tips will make your property look attractive to wintertime buyers:
- A realistic price. Some buyers are only buying in the winter because they know it’s the best time to snag a good price. List your home at a price that is realistic to start with. You don’t need to play around with the buyers this time of year, since they really are interested in buying. You won’t need to worry with negotiating that much, so you can price your home for what you really want for it. By pricing the home at what it’s really worth to begin with, you will get more people looking at the house and increase the chances that it will sell before springtime.
- Use pictures of the home taken during sunnier days in the spring or summer when advertising. Most folks can imagine the home better this way, even if the lawn and landscaping are not thriving at the moment.
- Showcase your fireplace if you have one. Now is the best time to build a fire to showcase the warmth and beauty of the fireplace, which can be a huge selling point in the winter.
- Combat poor natural lighting by adding more lighting inside. Clean the windows to allow what lighting is available outside to permeate the room better. Hang light colored window treatments or sheers. Replace your 40-watt bulbs with 75-watt bulbs (be sure the fixture allows for this wattage, first).
- Work with your Realtor to devise more strategies to move your home quickly. Chances are good that your realtor will be glad to work with a seller that is motivated to sell, and will have a few tricks up his or her sleeve to get the home sold as fast as possible.
This guest blog was provided by Allison Klein who specializes in helping sellers with their Fort Collins real estate listings. If you’re interested in learning more about Allison please check out her Loveland real estate and Windsor real estate pages.
