Winter is coming. While it’s a great tag line for Game of Thrones it’s also an inevitable reality for us in Colorado. With winter comes the second selling season for real estate and with snow in the air it’s right around the corner. I wanted to lay out expectations for both buyers and sellers as we move into the colder snowy months of real estate.
Winter real estate comes with ups and downs just like any other season. The first big expectation for buyers to have is an extreme lack of inventory. We’ve already experienced a lack of inventory over the last two years but when winter comes nearly fifty percent of the homes will come off the market. These sellers will gear up for relisting their home come spring.
The winter real estate market also comes with snow. We’re Coloradans and what we are used to is snow however it does have impact on winter sales. When snow is expected you’ll find less listing will appear on the market that week. You’d think that is a given but when it’s snowing on and off for two weeks you’ll find little to no activity.
The advantage to winter real estate happens to be snow. Any Coloradan will tell you that nothing looks more beautiful than fresh snow. This can also be said for properties after it has snowed. Winter can give a home a different light you might not see in the summer and for manybuyers it can absolutely be the driving factor for making a decision on whether they move forward with an offer or pass.
With snow you’ll also run into wet shoes. Sellers need to be aware that if you’re going to put your home on the market in winter expect the front door to be wet and not dry. It’s also important to expect some water to be tracked through the home as well. You can minimize this by supplying booties but don’t expect every buyer that comes in the door to take off their shoes or put on the booties.
When looking at the winter real estate market it’s important to remember that those that are trudging through snow to find their perfect house are serious buyers. Sellers that are willing to let people walk their home in the dead of winter are absolutely serious sellers that need to move. Some of the best homes are for sale in the winter and some of the best buyers for these homes will be looking in the winter.
As buyers, if you can recognize that your options will be limited in winter but still want to pursuehome buying you’ll find winter is perfect for you. As sellers, if you can recognize that the buyers will probably attempt to use the winter months and lack of buyers to their advantage when making offers you might find winter is a perfect time to market your home. Let us, The Colorado Dream House Team, help you buy and sell during this year’s winter selling season.
Marc Bayes is a Broker Associate with the Colorado Dream House Team, Keller Williams Realty DTC. Contact Marc at 303-619-3052, marc@coloradodreamhouse.com,codreamhouse.com or coloradodreamhouse.com
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