The prevailing axiom of selling in winter is that the property market sneezes when the weather freezes. Although there are typically less stock and fewer buyers, you can actually use these factors to your advantage.
Less competition
Because people still subscribe to the notion that it is better to wait until spring to sell your house, this results in fewer properties available for sale during winter. The decrease in stock means that there are fewer vendors to compete with, culminating in less competition and a rise in demand.
Motivated buyers
Buyer management is a major part of the selling process. One of the aspects of buyer management is finding a genuine buyer who will remain solid until the end of the settlement. In winter, separating hot and motivated buyers from the cold ones becomes easier – because let’s be frank, who wants to be out and about on gray rainy days if you’re just looking around?
Best time to upgrade or downsize
If you are looking to upgrade or downsize from your current home, a sale in winter can boost your chances of scoring your ideal property when more stock come onto the market in spring.
Tips on selling in winter
Warmth and cosiness
One of the underrated pleasures of winter is that moment when you take shelter in a warm and cosy home after being out in the cold. To evoke this ambience for your home, crank up the heating or light up the fireplace, throw some comfy blankets on the couch, and maybe even put a rug on the tiled floors. Guaranteed, your buyers will want to snuggle up real quickly!
Deal with maintenance issues
They say that first impressions are everything. So if you don’t want your buyers to immediately run for the hills, you need to take care of any known (and unknown) maintenance issues at your property. You would not want to have water dripping from the ceiling during home opens.
Lighting is everything
Unlike bright summer days, the days in winter are generally dark and gray. So, you might have to bid adieu to getting the best natural light. In order to counter this, turn on all of your lamps and lighting fixtures so your home can bask in its rightful glow.
Time to spruce up the windows
Clean windows prevent streaks of mud from appearing after the usually heavy winter rain. Having clean windows also guarantees that you will be able to extract the most out of the normally faint sunlight, which will create the impression of having a more spacious home.
Preserve the cleanliness of your home
To avoid water trickling down from people’s coats and traces of mud on your carpets, you would want to arrange for there to be a coat rack, umbrella stand, and a welcome mat outside. This will give the impression to visitors that the property is well cared for.
Timing for home opens
Before planning for your home opens, it is best to read the forecast and choose a time that will have the brightest sun so you can enhance the interior lighting of your place. On another note, you must also prepare for unexpected home opens because some buyers have a more limited free time during winter compared to other seasons.
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