HGTV’s, Scott McGillivary notes that selling a home in the Fall and Winter seasons is a completely different ball-game. While not at all a selling-impossibility, there are some things as an agent to advise your sellers, which could increase the potential for a winter home-sale-closure.

Here are a few tips for the winter market shared from a real-estate article by the US-News from back in October of 2016:

Photos from the Spring

Photos from the Spring will not only allow potentially interested buyers to know what the home looks like in other seasons, but also that the home does look different in other seasons!

Curb Appeal Still Matters 

Arguably, curb appeal always matters; tending to the yard is valuable work for the sake of the sale. Even in the cooler/winter months keeping the yard clear of leaves and sticks keeps a synergy of orderliness and seriousness to the sale.

Minimize Indoor Maintenance Mishaps

Ensuring the heating appliances are up-to-date on all maintenance prior to showings and any open-houses is a major necessity when marketing a house in the cooler months.

The More Light, The Better

There is less daylight during this time of the year and trying to sell a dark house is not an ideal marketing strategy for an eager seller. This could mean additional lighting in the home, or landscape lighting for the exterior of the home, or both. Ensuring the lights in the home are all working is also going to be a great plan for making showings a smooth event.

There Will Be Less Showings

Yes, there probably will not be as many showings as there may be in the Spring or Summer months, but buyers may be more motivated – are they always? No, but the likelihood that they may be more serious could be higher in the cooler months, given that the market may have less options available for sale.

Marketing May Need a Further Reach

McGillivary also stated that companies more often re-locate employees in the Fall – he encourages readers to reach out to relocation specialists or major employers in the area. It is much less likely that the Indianapolis market is the place for a winter-get-away. It certainly is not an impossibility.

Flexibility Helps

Closing could take longer with the busyness of the winter bustle. It does slow down after the New Year, but once a closing begins, rushing the buyer through it may not be an ideal strategy to the closure of a sale.

Don’t Expect A Price Explosion

Unless you are feeling desperate on behalf of your seller, low-ball offers are really not worth taking if all of the effort of keeping the house on the market is to hold the value of the home. While the offers may be below asking-price, low-ball offers are not said to be worth taking according to Boyenga, who leads a team of Real Estate agents in the San Francisco market.

…

Too Much Seasonal Decor Can be a Turnoff

Everyone loves the Fall and Winter months for the opportunity to decorate and make our homes an extension of their excitement for celebrating the holidays. Overdoing it may be a detriment to the attractiveness and marketability of the home – the pumpkins? Yes. The spider-webs and Halloween streamers in the trees? No. Christmas tree in the living room window? Yes. Santa and the reindeer on the roof? No.

Highlight Seasonal Pulses 

Stokes, a real estate agent in the DC area indicates that lighting a fireplace during a showing can add to the sense of cozy and inviting. Here is where we would like to chime in as your Brick + Ember Outfitters – ensuring your homeowners, who intend to sell, have addressed the cozy fireplace prior to the showings and open-houses may be advantageous to you as the agent. Capitalize on the fireplace and use it for the selling-point it can really be for the home. Moreover, marketing the safety and functionality of that chimney and fireplace increases the selling equity, and peace of mind of the potential buyers. You are not going to have a selling point with a home that back-drafts and has a smokey smell coming from that fireplace/chimney.

There IS a Point Where You May Want to Advise Holding Off

After the New Year may be the time to put the home back on the market. While it may not be idea, waiting a bit for the busied Holiday season may be the best option, and you will save time on the recorded time on the market, which always raises odd questions.

While Brick + Ember Outfitters may be most specific to the chimney or masonry work of the home you are looking to sell, we certainly may be able assist in the marketability and appeal of that home. The winter market may not necessarily be a waste, but marketing mishaps may mean more time on the market.

At Brick + Ember Outfitters, we are inspired by the value of increasing equity, restoring beauty and growing peace of mind for our homeowners. Selling a home in the Fall or Winter months? Give us a call and ensure the safety and functionality of the chimney and fireplace, and then use it for those open houses, and showings, and market the readiness for those potential buyers to enjoy this feature of their home-to-be!

CATEGORIES

RECENT POSTS