Why experts say winter is the smartest selling season and how you can benefit
By Melissa Borgerding
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
As the cold weather bears down on the Philadelphia area, many homeowners will pull their houses off the market; others will hunker down until spring before setting the “For Sale” signs out on their front lawns—all due to the longstanding belief that you can’t sell your house in winter.
Not true, reports Realty Times, the leading real estate news site on the Internet. By using some creativity, you can do very well selling your house in the winter. And due to the lack of competition during the winter months, some professionals in the industry even look at winter as a seller’s market.
Cut the competition
Typically, spring sees more houses on the market and more choices for potential buyers than any other season, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Putting your house on the market in winter means you won’t have to compete with everybody else in the neighborhood. You may even increase the possibility of a faster sale.
Winter brings out the serious buyers, Realty Times reports. Often, those buyers are more motivated and will want to make a decision more quickly than the spring shoppers, who have a far greater selection of houses from which to choose.
Improve winter curb appeal
So how do you make your house as attractive as possible to those serious buyers? Some simple house presentation ideas can make your house as appealing in winter as it looks in warm weather.
“You can transform a barren landscape into a lasting first impression,” says Home and Garden Television master gardener Paul James. “You can punch things up a bit and enhance the appeal of your property. As a matter of fact, much of what you can do won’t take more than a weekend and won’t cost you a dime.”