Listing in the Winter – Why should I list my house for sale in the winter months?
Salt Spring winters can be long, rainy and monochromatic. Winter is the time to cozy up by the fire with a good book and a cup of tea. Why would that be a good time to put a house up for sale? There are a few good reasons.
As we all know, an onslaught of homes come onto the market in the spring time. At this time, there is a mad rush of Sellers who compete for advertising space and Buyers’ time and attention. The presence of your home for sale in the winter months would be noteworthy, while during the April-June listings blitz, properties can get lost in the backdrop of comparable homes. Why would you want to be put in direct competition with other homes, time-wise, if perhaps your home has many similarities to others? It is advantageous to stand out and get on the market before the rush.
A common belief is that spring and summer are when the buyers start prowling around the island. It is true that there are many more people on island in the summer, some serious buyers but also a lot of what we call in the biz ‘looky-loos’. In the summer, you get an even mix of the two sections, but the winter is when you get more serious buyers. It would be a shame if your house got missed by the more serious buying section, just because you were waiting for spring to list it.
On Salt Spring, instead of open houses, we have Realtor tours. This takes place on Wednesdays and is open to all Realtors on island to participate. The tour is a way for Realtors to see and get educated on the new-to-market properties. Realtor Tours happen all throughout the year. Therefore, no matter the season you list your house, it will be seen by Realtors whose aim is to sell your home. It is a Realtor’s job to match homes to buyers, so with fewer houses on the tour, yours would remain a prominent property in their mind.
There are excellent reasons to list your property for sale in the winter season. If you’re thinking of selling your property, please give us a call to list your property or get a free Market Analysis done. Call Cade!