British poet Edith Sitwell once wrote, “Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” But is it the time for a home sale? While statistically, spring and early summer are the best times to sell your house for the highest price and speed, you may not have the luxury of waiting. If you need to sell off-season, this guide reveals eight mistakes to avoid when selling a home in winter.
Winter can attract serious shoppers who are motivated, focused, and ready to move when they find the right home. However, they’ll likely have more options and more bargaining power because buyers face less competition, and comparable homes (called comps) typically have lower price tags in the winter. If you base your list price on outdated summer comps, you could end up scaring away qualified buyers. An experienced real estate agent can provide you with a comparative market analysis (CMA) so you can see fresh, hyper-local data, including recent winter sales. This report will help you understand what buyers in your area are truly willing to pay right now.1. Pricing your home without accounting for seasonal conditions
