MARKETING CORNER

7 reasons why Winter IS a good time to sell homes!

Not only are these great reminders for your seasonal business mindset, but they can also be helpful in advising potential listing clients over the next 3 months.

Source: Real Estate Marketing Magazine  By Nadine Larder

I’ve been reading many articles, opinions, videos and blog posts lately about why it’s a great idea to list a home for sale in the winter.  My reticular activator must really be active right now, because I feel like I see more homes for sale in my own neighborhood now than I do in the summer and spring months.  My neighborhood has really low turn over, because of a high ranking elementary school, it’s shocking to see so many for sale, but I am really having a complete paradigm shift about why selling in the winter makes great sense.

• In the winter, inventory is lower by an average of 20% and so is competition.
• In the winter time, people who are searching for a home are serious buyers.  How many “tire kickers” do you know who are willing to get out there and search for a home in the cold, rain, wind or snow?
• In the summer is when the majority of real estate sales happen, how can a home really stand out amongst all the others…don’t they all start to look the same when in the same area.
• Homes don’t sell for as close to listing price in the summer, recent reports show that homes sell for more in the winter when there is less on the market.
• In the winter time, the amount of traffic going through a client’s home is much less because there are less people in the market looking.  Less inconvenience for families trying to keep the home “perfect” in case of unexpected visitors.
• Homes are usually pretty “festive” and feel “warm” during the winter.  Good for creating a warm feeling in the staging.
• In the winter, with inventories being lower, there is a slight shift in who’s in the drivers seat when it comes to contract negotiations, especially with the changing markets.  There will likely be less concessions on the part of the seller in the winter.

This is a snippit from an article done by Redfin…it’s very interesting and numbers don’t lie.

Spring listings sell a bit faster, but winter has 20 percent fewer listings added than the spring. Redfin reports winter listings were more likely to sell (59.2 percent) than summer listings (53.1 percent) and that homes listed in the winter sell closest to their original price with only a 2.7 percent average drop from the final price in winter versus a 5.2 percent drop in the summer.