Selling Your Home In Winter Versus Spring

When you’re ready to sell your current home and move on to your next dream home, you can decide when to sell based on what works best for you. But is there a best time of year to sell? I’ll break down the benefits you can find in each time of year. As always, if you have specific questions,  Austin Moyer Real Estate Team at Coldwell Banker is here to support your home selling journey from start to finish. 

The Benefits of Selling Your Home in Winter

1. Great timing for buying your home in the spring. If you’re able to sell in the winter, you may have better timing when you go to buy a new home. That’s because you can find more homes on the market in the spring boom. If you’re in a position where you can stay with a friend or family member in between homes, selling in the winter might be a great perk so that you can buy in the spring. 
2. Find More Well Qualified Buyers. You may be able to find more qualified home buyers in the winter, meaning buyers who are ready to make serious and transactionally simple offers. This is because maybe home buying grants become available in the spring. While you can appreciate all kinds of offers, those in the winter might be more qualified and closer to the type of offer you hope to accept. 
3. Lower Traffic Through Your Home – In the winter, there may be more qualified buyers, and also fewer casual viewers. This is beneficial because it will reduce the amount of foot traffic in your home. If you’re ready to sell, that likely means you’ve got your home in excellent condition and might not want an excess of muddy boots and strangers walking through your hallways. The winter can help you to filter out folks who aren’t looking at homes seriously. 
4. Perfect Time for Snowbirds to Sell. If you’ve flown south for the winter and you’re ready to sell your home up north, this is a perfect time. Why? Because if you’re not home, your realtor will have more flexibility to set up open houses and organize walk throughs. 

Benefits to Selling your Home in the Spring 

1. More buyers. Typically there are more home buyers on the market in the springtime. This means you have more offers coming in, which could drive up the price of your home. 
2. Springtime beauty. Your house might look its best in the spring! In the spring, your flower garden is blooming. You can open up the windows and show the fresh air flow and cross breeze in your home. It helps buyers picture themselves enjoying the home inside and out. As a bonus, we’re all often in a better mood in better weather. When someone feels happiness in your home, they can visualize themselves making happy memories there. 
3. Steady Mortgage Rates. Long term patterns in the market show that interest rates tend to be steady in the springtime, so you won’t have to feel buyer-anxiety about market volatility. Your realtor can help you to understand current mortgage rates and how that impacts the selling process. 
4. Schools are out of session – When school is out, you can direct potential buyers to check out the schools in your district (if schools are part of their buying decision). Very serious buyers might even have their kids with them at open houses. Kids love to “claim” their rooms when they walk through. Giving the whole family the opportunity to feel at home in your home could help you sell. 

No matter what time of year you sell, we’ll be here to help you take advantage of the benefits of any season. Reach out to help us determine the value of your home! Give me a call at 585-505-7012 or email me at austin@coldwellbankerwny.com I look forward to hearing from you!