Winter offers some
unique opportunities for sellers, so ignore your instincts to let your home
hibernate.
It’s one of real
estate’s most enduring mantras: If you want to list your house, you should sit
out the winter season and let it hit the market in the spring instead. But like
so many things in life, finding the best time to sell a house or list that Boston,
MA real estate is more complicated.
“The general school of
thought — and it most often proves to be correct — is that
listing your home in the spring market will reap the biggest benefit,” says
salesperson Brad Malow of Douglas Elliman in New
York, NY. “But late winter may actually be a prime time for coming to market as
well.”
Here are seven reasons
why you shouldn’t wait until the ground has thawed to hammer in that For Sale
sign.
1. Less inventory =
more attention
Because everyone thinks
they shouldn’t list their property under threat of snow and ice, there are very
few homes to buy at the start of a new year. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t
still potential buyers on the prowl. And if your house is the only game in
town, you’re likely to have a lot more interest than in spring when the market
is saturated.
“If there’s a shortage
of desirable inventory, which often means a plethora of buyers waiting on the
sidelines, a seller may experience multiple-offer situations whenever they
choose to list,” says Malow. With fewer options, traditionally nit-picky home
shoppers are more likely to forgo their “must-have” list and give your place a
more open-minded look.
2. First-quarter job
relocations
Companies tend to
place and/or relocate their workers during the first quarter of the new year.
This means that every winter, there is an assured populace that’s looking for a
new home, quickly. And good news for your asking price: This group often has
some credited moving expenses to burn through. If you live close to a large
corporation, ask your real estate agent how to target the new employees coming
to town.
3. A locked-in real
estate agent
Your real estate agent
is relatively idle during the frosty months, a drag from their perspective but
a boon from yours. And fewer clients means greater motivation to move the
properties they represent. They also have more time and energy to focus on your
cause, whether it’s finessing your online listing or talking you off the ledge when the
selling process becomes challenging or stressful.
4. No landscaping, no
problem
Listing your place in
the spring or summer means keeping up with the landscaping (curb appeal!),
which can be arduous. You’ll need to invest some time and money into new
plantings and possibly a little sod, or at the very least, some potted plants
and lawn maintenance. And if your landscaping is actually a selling point, the
pruning responsibilities are even greater. You’ll need to trim the hedges, tend
the flowers, and otherwise make sure your curbfront property and backyard are
up to snuff at every possible moment.
In wintertime, though,
the living is easy. If there’s snow, you shovel — that’s pretty much it.
No after-work and weekend hours toiling to maintain your outdoor space, and no
stresses about its supposed inadequacies.
5. A lighter
footprint, literally
Overall, there are
quite likely fewer buyers on the prowl during the winter months — more focused
and more motivated, yes, but undeniably fewer. Consider this a blessing. Fewer
showings means fewer people stomping through your home, tracking dirt and mud
all over your carpets as they open your medicine cabinets and peek into your
closets.
It also means fewer
open houses, which can take hours of preparation and don’t always pay off. If
you do have a winter open house, you’ll also probably
have more motivated visitors — there are very few window-shoppers during the
cold-weather months, so you’re not going to see your neighbor’s son’s friend meandering
over to report back on your recent kitchen reno.
6. A faster home sale
It’s counterintuitive
but true: Homes actually sell more quickly in the winter months, even in
cold-weather cities like Chicago, IL. There’s no general consensus on exactly why
this is true, although low inventory is quite likely a big part of it. Also? In
winter, most people just don’t want to slog through showing after showing.
Instead, they want the buying process to be over and done with, and so they’re
more willing to pull the trigger.
7. A higher listing
price
Another surprise:
Statistics show that homes actually sell at a slightly higher price in winter.
This owes to several less mysterious factors. For starters, your real estate
agent is going to be more adamant about pricing the property just right out of
fear the home will languish on the market until spring. (If a property price
reflects both the current market and the surrounding neighborhood, that home is
more likely to go under agreement at a favorable price.) Motivated buyers might
also submit a price that’s too good to refuse. Finally, a fear of rising
mortgage rates — rates tend to go up in the spring — might cause a buyer to be
more willing to pay a higher price upfront. Whatever the reason, it’s a happy
discovery for many people who finalize a home sale when the weather outside is
frightful.
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The Latimore Team
Donald & LaToya Latimore
Residential Listing & Home Buyer Specialists
800-836-3202 ext. 6001
Email: HomeSales@LatimoreTeam.com
Keller Williams, Realty, Columbia NE
140 Wildewood Park Dr. Columbia, SC 29223
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