If you are finding that you have to sell your house during the winter season, you may find that you are in for an unpleasant surprise. That’s why a lot of people choose to sell house as is when selling during the winter. Winter’s not the highest season for selling real estate. But selling a house during the winter is becoming a lot more common, as people are selling more homes throughout the year, even during the seasons when selling a home was very uncommon in the past. According to research, there were 23% fewer homes that were sold during the wintertime when compared with spring. Homes that were listed in the winter months remained on the market around 5 days longer than the annual aver.
Even though it can be very challenging to sell a house during the holidays, with a few expert tips, creative marketing and helpful strategies, it’s easy to find someone that will buy your house during the winter holiday season.
What It’s Like When You Don’t Sell House As Is
When we’re talking about winter, the time we’re talking about 12/1 to 2/28. This includes all of the major holidays during the winter, along with Martin Luther King, Jr, Valentine’s and Presidents days. This time period brings some really nasty weather, time with family, and holiday travel.
The recent years have seen a surge in home sales during the winter season and a decrease in how long a house is going to be for sale. However, this isn’t always because there are more people who are buying during the winter. The more likely explanation’s that there’s been a general increase in the overall housing market, so more people are buying throughout every season.
When you compare it to the whole year, a home that is sold during the winter months will stay up for sale a little longer. Nationwide, homes remained for sale during the winter around 92 days. Homes sold overall during the year took 76 days to sell.
| Season | Average Time to Sell |
|---|---|
| Whole Year 9/2018 to 8/2019 | 76 Days |
| Fall 2018 (September to November) | 77 Days |
| Winter 2018/2019 (December to February) | 92 Days |
| Spring 2019 (March to May) | 72 Days |
| Summer 2019 (June to August) | 69 Days |
Another way that you can look at the trends for winter sales is to look at how many homes were sold for each season. Winter does have the fewest home sales when compared with other seasons. However, this is probably because fewer houses are being sold then.
| Season | How Many Home Sales Closed |
|---|---|
| Whole Year 9/2018 to 8/2019 | 5,075,422 |
| Fall 2018 (September to November) | 1,263,823 |
| Winter 2018/2019 (December to February) | 992,383 |
| Spring 2019 (March to May) | 1,321,698 |
| Summer 2019 (June to August) | 1,497,518 |
Who is Buying Houses During Winter?
There are all kinds of people who are purchasing houses throughout the seasons. A lot of people think that the majority of home buyers have children who are school-aged so they are only shopping during the summer months. But that’s not true. According to research, over half of the home buyers don’t have any children under the age of 18 still at home. therefore, they aren’t limited by the school schedules.
Challenges Selling During the Winter if You Don’t Sell House As Is
Along with the benefits that you are going to find of selling a house during the winter, you’re also going to find that there are challenges to overcome. Below are some of the drawbacks of selling during the winter.
Lowball offers – Many buyers might think that you are selling your home during the winter because you’re desperate. So you should be ready to receive lower than normal offers for your house.
Limited Curb Appeal – During the dreary, dark winter months, you are going to find it more difficult to show off the exterior of your home, especially its landscaping.
Financing Might be Delayed – Because of bank holidays and vacation schedules, it often can take more time for a buyer to get their financing finalized in the wintertime.
You Probably Won’t Receive Multiple Offers – During the busy summer and spring months, you are likely going to get more than one offer for your house. This means that you are going to have people competing for the house. However, during the wintertime, this isn’t as likely to happen because the selling season is slower.
Flaws are Easier to Notice – If your home is dark, leaky, or drafty, these kinds of flaws are often more apparent during the colder months.
Tips for Selling a House During the Holidays
If you want to try selling your house the regular way instead of going the sell house as is route, you should be ready to spend a lot of money and time. Time and money that you may not have. There are a lot of holidays during the winter, so it’s a good idea to use that in your selling process. Here are some tips that you can use to help your house sell.
Spruce Up Your Online Listing
When you have bad weather, more of the house hunting will happen online. be sure that your house is shown in the best possible light by including a 3D tour and ensuring that your listing’s description is complete and engaging.
Hire a Professional Photographer
One of the most important parts of your house selling process is to invest in some high-quality photos of your house. Making your house’s interior seem lighter and brighter in the winter months is going to need the skills of a professional photographer. When you are choosing a picture of the exterior of your house, use a trick that is going to help you sell your home – choose a photo from warmer months,
Hire a Good Agent
When you are interviewing agents, be sure that you are asking how much experience they have in selling in a slow market or during the winter. Ask them how they’re going to market your house when there aren’t a lot of buyers.
Price it to Sell
A home that is well-priced can sell fast, regardless of its season. Use some homes that are comparable in size in your neighborhood that sold and have the agent help you with pricing the house so that the largest group of possible buyers are attracted.
How to Stage Your House During the Holiday Season if Not Selling House As Is
Another thing that you have to do if you don’t go the sell house as is route is that you are going to have to stage your house. Staging is something that is essential when you are selling your house. But you want to make sure that you are extra careful when staging during the holidays.
Keep Your Decorations Simple
When the holiday season comes around, the décor that is put up will make any house feel as if it’s home. however, when you are selling, you want to be careful about going too crazy. So you want to avoid a lot of decorations. You want to be tasteful. Maybe put a small tree in the corner and put some empty wrapped gifts underneath it. You can always use ‘dummy’ gifts and simply wrap empty boxes. But don’t do a lot. And stay away from a lot of strong scents, so that people with allergies don’t have problems.
Bake Some Cookies
Baking up some cookies prior to a house showing is one of those classic techniques in the real estate market. But this is going to work really well when you are selling your house at holiday time. Invite some of your potential buyers using the scent of cookies and allow them to explore your house munching on a sweet treat. You also want to stick with simple cookies – don’t put any nuts in them in case of allergies.
Keep it Cozy
The cold months are the right time to emphasize the cozy aspects of your home. turn on the fireplace, decorate using warm colors and put a couple of throw pillows ink the rooms around the house.
Put In Some Curb Appeal For the Winter
When you are selling your house during the winter, there’s another look for curb appeal. Offer umbrellas, shovel snow, provide doormats for people so that they are able to wipe wet feet, and illuminate the pathways.
Turn Your Lights On
There are limited daylight hours in the winter. So you want to maximize light in the house anytime you can. install some lightbulbs with higher wattage and turn other lights on, This is going to make the interior of your home look its best and create a welcoming warm glow that can be seen from your street.
Turn on the Heat
Winter is known for drafts, so you want to make sure that your heat is on. This will make any drafts a lot less noticeable. If your HVAC system hasn’t been maintained in a while, make sure that it’s done before you put your house up for sale. Servicing your furnace, replacing the weather stripping and adding some extra insulation can also make a big difference.
Clean Your Gutters
Broken or overflowing gutters can be among the first things that a buyer notices and can kill a possible sale. When fall is finished, make sure that you are cleaning out all of the leftover leaves.
As you can see, there is a lot that goes into selling your house during the holidays if you don’t decide to sell your house as is. But what if you don’t have the time to wait for someone to come and buy your house? What if you don’t want people coming into and out of your house during the holiday season? After all, it’s cold and flu season too! Plus, you have to worry about people tracking in snow and water into your house.
Want to sell your house fast? We can help you with this. If you want to do the sell house as is route, we are ready to send you a fair cash quote. Simply send us a chat message on our website and we’ll be glad to talk to you and give you a fair cash quote. You don’t even have to worry about doing anything to get your house ready for us. We are going to buy it as is. So, contact us today for a no-obligation quote.th
