About this time every year, the question is brought up by sellers throughout Northeast Indiana: “Do listings really sell in the Winter?” “Should we wait until spring to list?” “Should we take our home off the market until April?” All are good questions and we have some good answers for you.
1) While its true that fewer buyers are looking in the Winter months, the ones who are looking are usually serious buyers. Unlike Summer months when lookers often browse homes just for the opportunity to get ideas about decorating or perhaps to see if a perfect home is out there for them, in the Winter only serious buyers who need to buy are traipsing around in the snow and cold. If they are looking in frigged conditions, they want to buy and a seller doesn’t have to worry about some curious looker with no real intention to buy, wasting their time with a showing in Winter.
2) There is a lot less competition out there when you have your home listed in Winter. Since most sellers prefer to wait until Spring to list, usually inventory is way down during the Winter months. That means there is a far greater chance that a serious buyer will consider your home since they don’t have time to wait until Spring for inventory to pick up. If you really want to up your odds of selling, list when there is no competition rather than waiting until everyone else is listing their home.
3) Don’t worry that there are a lot less buyers out in the Winter. It only takes one to get your home sold. I have often seen a home sit with no showings in December and January and then early February rolls around and the seller finally gets a showing and the looker buys it! Again with less inventory to choose from, they buy when the need to move is there so even though the seller thought all seemed slow, all it took was that one buyer looking at the right time and Boom! The home was sold.
Of course there are reasons to take the home off the market for Winter and there are also valid reasons for waiting until the flowers are in bloom and leaves on the trees before listing in Spring but often, Winter selling works just fine for sellers so don’t lose heart just because the snow starts to fall. It may just be the perfect time to sell your home after all!
