Selling in Winter: What You Need to Know

Last Updated on 09/04/2022 by hortonteam

So you’ve taken on the daunting task of selling in winter. Feeling a bit frozen? Not to worry. Believe it or not, selling in winter can actually be one of the best times to put your home on the market. Read some of the benefits below to make sure you don’t enter the next season with a stale home that’s still on the market.

Less Competition

You’ve probably heard before that the best time of the year to sell a home is during spring or summer when the kids are out of school. While this is mostly a subjective statement, it is true that the majority of home sellers list their homes during those seasons. In turn, you can bet that there will be significantly less homes on the market during the winter months. Lower amounts of inventory mean that the buyers who need to buy now (this is the case for most winter buyers) will have less homes to choose from, improving the odds of them choosing yours. It’s also important to realize that there won’t be a shortage of buyers. With the prevalence of internet searches, your home will definitely not go unseen, even if there’s a foot of snow on the ground! You may also think that buyers won’t be searching during the winter, but instead will be spending time with their families or staying inside where it’s warm. While this can be true to an extent, it’s also true that many people have time off work during this period of the year, and even those stuck inside because of the cold will be able to continue their search, so your home will definitely be getting some hits. When you combine that with the lowered amount of competition, your house selling prospects begin looking much better!

More Serious Buyers

As referenced above, the majority of prospective home buyers searching during the winter months will be more serious and may need to buy as soon as possible. Why? This is common for a few important reasons. The first one is that the winter months fall along the first quarter of the year. Whether a buyer is looking for a new home due to a job-related relocation or just because they want to make a new change in the new year, it’s safe to say that their interest in your home will be much stronger than the interest of some summer “buyers” who are more or less just looking for fun, or at least with less intensity. In the same thread of thought, you would be correct in assuming that no one wants to move during the winter or holiday season — it’s usually full of cold, nasty conditions, and most people hope to stay inside. With that in mind, you can trust that most searchers are doing so out of necessity, therefore increasing your odds of selling in winter.

More Serious Agents

If you’ve chosen to work with an agent to help you sell in winter, you’re probably already ahead of the game. It’s often the case that selling in winter with an agent can not only land you a quick buyer, but you’ll also receive top-notch service. The reason behind this deals with the seasonality of the real estate industry and the fact that most homeowners list their homes in the spring or summer. During the winter months, many agents won’t have very much going on, so they’ll be chomping at the bit to get your home sold or find a buyer for it. You can expect  to receive a lot of attention to your home, and if you’ve chosen an expert team of agents, superb marketing efforts won’t be short behind. Along the same lines, you’ll probably find that your bottom dollar looks a bit bigger after the sale. As mentioned before, buyers during this time of the year won’t be nearly as likely to lollygag around, meaning there will usually be less back-and-forth negotiating when selling in winter. When you combine that with a team of agents eager to close their next deal, your odds of selling spike dramatically.

Regardless of what you’ve heard in the past, there’s really no secret horror to selling in winter. You may not enjoy dealing with the selling process and buyers while traipsing around in the snow, but with a little effort and the right conditions, selling during the winter months can be a breeze. Just don’t forget to relax with a hot cup of cocoa after you’re done!