Amid the pandemic, real estate professionals across the country are already dealing with a plethora of obstacles to navigate. With the colder months ahead, many sellers may think the smartest move is to wait until spring to list their home, which introduces new challenges to agents.
Spend time this weekend plotting your pitch to sellers who may be reconsidering putting their home on the market during the colder months. Here are some convincing aspects of the winter market you should consider:
Serious Buyers
During the winter season, it’s true that many buyers will suspend their home search until it gets warmer. This isn’t all bad news. The flip side of the coin is that most of the buyers that continue their home search through the winter are inherently more serious. These folks are highly motivated and if they show interest in your home, there’s a much better chance of closing.
Less Competition
Seeing fewer For Sale signs when you drive down the road is good news for sellers that decide to keep their home on the market. There is way less competition for sellers during the winter months, so although there are less buyers, any sellers that decide to stick it out will face far fewer properties to compete with.
Faster Transactions
This is a direct result of the two prior points. With less competition and a higher percentage of serious buyers in the market for a new home, sellers’ chances of experiencing a quick transaction dramatically increase. With fewer transactions, mortgage lenders have fewer loans to process, attorneys have fewer closings to handle and home inspectors have fewer inspections to do.
Agents, what are some other arguments you’re going to make to potential sellers?
Jameson Doris is RISMedia’s social media/blog editor. Email him your real estate news ideas to jdoris@rismedia.com.
