Yahoo! Finance - John Csiszar | November 12, 2023
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Financial personality Dave Ramsey is well-known for his practical advice on all topics regarding personal finance, from building an emergency fund to paying cash for cars.
In an Oct. 27, 2023 blog on his Ramsey Solutions website, he offered tips about what readers need to know about buying or selling a home in winter, regardless of which side of the transaction they’re on.
**PLEASE NOTE: EDUCATE YOURSELF ON YOUR HOUSING MARKET -TYPICALLY, THE WARMER STATES REAL ESTATE MARKETS CAN BE A BUSY SEASON FOR SELLING & BUYING A PROPERTY. (MT)
Selling a Home in Winter
Selling a home in winter comes with its own challenges, but it also offers some added opportunities.
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Not as Much Competition
Most sellers don’t want to try to unload their homes in winter. Although sometimes they don’t have a choice in the matter, for the most part, sellers want to take advantage of spring and summer buyers, who are more plentiful and often offer higher bids. But as a seller, you can take advantage of this lowered supply and stand out from what little competition remains. If your home is one of the few on the market, then most every buyer that is in the market will see and review your listing. In other words, you’re highly likely to get at least some offers, even if they’re not at the price point you seek.
Can Play to the Season
While you shouldn’t oversaturate your home with too much seasonal decor, playing to the festive joy of wintertime can help put your buyers into the right frame of mind. While Ramsey suggests that having inflatable reindeer on your lawn in February won’t add to your home’s appeal, a warm fire and the smell of fresh-baked goods can amp up the cozy factor and perhaps help with your sale.
Most Buyers Are Serious
In wintertime, you’re less likely to get looky-loos that are checking out all of the open houses in the neighborhood. Rather, someone making the effort to check out your house in the dead of winter is more likely to be a serious buyer. This can cut out a lot of the wasted time and false hopes that come with the endless stream of so-called “interested buyers” that often walk the neighborhood in spring and summer.
Boost Curb Appeal
Remember, if you’re selling your home in winter, you’re already fighting a bit of an uphill battle in terms of fewer buyers and a house that may look less appealing. Do what you can to boost the curb appeal in the darkest months, perhaps with extra lighting that can highlight both the views of your home and its safety features. Remove ice and snow in areas where buyers may slip, such as staircases, decks and front porches, but leave enough to accentuate the homey charm that winter can bring to your house.
Buying a Home in Winter
Buying a home in winter may not sound all that appealing to you, but you can use that counter-trend thinking to your advantage.
Usually Won’t Have To Compete With as Many Buyers
If you feel like going out in cold weather or even snow to look at a house isn’t the most comfortable thing to do, you’re not alone. But that can work to your extreme advantage when you’re buying a home. Without as many buyers to compete with, any offer you make is likely to get a serious look. Depending on the disposition of the seller, you may also have more room to negotiate for a better price. When 10 buyers are offering over the asking amount, cutting a lowball deal is pretty unlikely. But if yours is the only hat in the ring, even a less generous offer may close the deal.
Can See the Home in Its Most Extreme Weather Conditions
On a beautiful, sunny day in the middle of summer, even an average house can look spectacular. But if you shop for a home in the dead of winter, when it’s cold and dark outside and perhaps even covered with snow, you can see what type of responsibility you might be taking on if you buy it. Winter can bring leaks and damage to a home, and it can reveal some of the difficulties of living in a home, such as poor insulation or icy walkways. These are factors that are all too easy to overlook during a summer inspection, perhaps giving an advantage to a winter purchase.
Less Demand Can Lead to Lower Prices
In addition to reducing competing offers, the lower demand that comes with wintertime can also soften prices. Housing prices rely on supply and demand, and in most cases, there is simply much more home-buying demand in spring and summer than in winter. Sellers and agents alike understand the seasonality of the homebuying cycle, and they are often willing to take what offers they can get during the colder months. In fact, according to National Association of Realtors data cited by Dave Ramsey on his website, the median sales price of homes from March to May 2023 was a whopping $20,000 higher than in the period from December 2022 to February 2023.
Will Still Want To Follow Basic Financial Steps
Ramsey emphasizes that no matter what season you’re buying a home, you still need to stick to your basic financial principles. For Ramsey, this includes getting your emergency fund squared away first, and then putting up a sizable down payment, if you can’t afford to buy a home with cash outright. Most important of all, always remember to keep within your home-buying budget, no matter how appealing a house may look to you.
Please call if you have any questions about how the market is performing. Would you like to know the value of your home? Would you like to know what is happening in and around your neighborhood?
Do you need help deciding whether this is the right time for you to sell or to buy? If you are not currently working with a real estate professional, I would be happy to help. Melanie
