Ask the Expert: Selling Your Home in Winter? Try These Tips!

A lot of people won't list their home for sale in winter by choice, but experienced New York Realtor Kyle Hiscock is here to tell us how it can be done. Follow his three essential tips, and hopefully your place will be sold by spring! (And even if you aren't selling, check out his list for winterizing your house; it's a good one.)

Selling a home during the winter months when it’s covered with snow is much different than selling a home when there are blue skies and sunshine. Selling a home while there’s snow on the ground is not for the faint of heart!

Successfully selling a home during the winter months takes additional preparation and patience.  If done properly, winter can actually be a very good time of year to sell, seeing as there are traditionally fewer homes for sale while the snow is flying.

Below are three of the best tips on how to sell a home during the winter.  As a Rochester real estate agent, I always suggest these tips to my sellers, and those who follow them end up having a pleasant winter home selling experience!

Exterior & Interior Winterization Is Important

If you live in an area that experiences snow, you’ve likely driven past a home in your city where there is snow on the ground and lawn furniture is still laying around. If this has happened to you, I’m almost positive that you said to yourself, what the heck is that homeowner doing?! One of the top tips to sell a home while it’s covered in snow is to know how to winterize your home!

It’s important to not only winterize the exterior of a home but also the interior. Below are some of the best tips on how to successfully protect your entire home in cold weather.

Exterior Winterization Tasks:

• Inspect roof
• Prevent ice dams
• Clean gutters
• Put away lawn furniture
• Put away lawn ornaments
• Clean chimney, if applicable
• Winterize air conditioning unit

Interior Winterization Tasks:

• Clean and inspect furnace or heating system
• Check for window and door drafts
• Replace batteries in thermostat, smoke detector, and carbon monoxide detectors
• Reverse ceiling fans

Remember, curb appeal is critical when selling a home, even in the winter, when it’s frequently forgotten. There are lots of great winter curb appeal tips that can make a huge difference when your house is on the market while it’s snowing outside!

Price Your Home Competitively

Whether a homeowner is selling a home during the fall, winter, spring, or summer, pricing a home properly is critical. During the winter, it is even more important to set a reasonable price, appropriate for the current market.

Since the number of ready, willing, and able buyers is lower during the colder months, it becomes even more important for a seller to price their home competitively in order to make sure buyers are finding it. Since there are fewer homes for sale, the chances a home is shown should increase.

If you’re selling a home during the winter and no one is looking at it, chances are it’s priced too high. Homeowners who attempt to sell their home during the winter and are unsuccessful will usually try and blame it on the time of year, however, it was likely due to being priced too high or poor marketing.

Celebrate Wintertime!

Selling a home during the winter gives homeowners the ability to “dress” their home up to celebrate the time of year. For example, the holiday season gives a seller a great opportunity to impress potential buyers with how great the home can look when decorated with holiday cheer!

Another great way to embrace the winter season is to make a home feel warm and cozy. Since it will be cold outside, there is nothing better than lighting a fire in the wood burning fireplace to improve the ambience of the home. 

Other great tips for embracing the wintertime when selling a home include burning seasonal scented candles such as pine, gingerbread, cinnamon, and French vanilla. 

Final Thoughts

Selling a home during the winter can be a great time for some homeowners. Some homeowners believe that houses are not sold during the winter months, which is completely false. It’s important to weigh the PROS and CONS of selling a home during the winter before deciding.

The above 3 tips are a great way to help improve the chances a homeowner successfully sells their home while there is snow flying.  If you choose to sell your home during the winter, good luck!

Kyle Hiscock is a top Webster NY real estate agent with Nothnagle Realtors. Kyle has helped hundreds of buyers and sellers move in, out, and around the Greater Rochester area since 2011! Kyle actively writes helpful content on his popular, Rochester’s Real Estate Blog. If you’re thinking of moving to Rochester NY, contact Kyle to assist with your relocation needs.

You can also find him on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, and LinkedIn.