So you are ready to sell your house, but you look out the window and see several feet of snow on the ground. Should you bother putting your house on the market in the winter, or should you wait until spring? Is there a better season in which to sell your home? The answers to these questions depend on a few basic factors.
Wow—It’s Cold Out There!
If you live in a cold winter state, such as Illinois, it can be wise to wait until spring to sell, because fewer buyers will be venturing out to look at homes. There are however advantages to selling during the winter. For one thing, there will be less competition for buyers. Just remember that any time of the year can be a good time to sell your home if you are motivated to do so sooner than later.
Around The Holidays—Less Than Ideal
People are usually too busy from Thanksgiving through Christmas to spend much time house hunting, and in January they are often recovering financially from holiday over-spending. Most experts will recommend that you avoid listing your home until after the worst of the holiday slump in the market is over and people are looking to buy again. This is true no matter what the climate!
Particulars Of Your Home
If your home is near a high school, you might want to consider selling in the summer when things nearby are a bit quieter. The noise and traffic of the school year might put some buyers off. If your home is near a lot of fun winter activities, this might actually be a selling point that will be highlighted better in the winter months. Looking for these details of your area and capitalizing on them will help you to get your home sold.
The season kind of matters when it comes to home buying, and spring is usually a good time to list. Your REALTOR® can help you to determine what season makes the most sense for listing in your particular case, providing you with market information in your area and helping you pinpoint the particulars of your home that make it appealing in a specific season.