Listing your home during the winter months.

Is putting your home on the market during the winter months a bad idea?

Absolutely Not.  You need to look at it this way.  The buyers that are out there, in winter are your truly motivated buyers.  These buyers need to buy a house.  If they are out there in the snow, in the bad weather, looking at properties, that is motivation and these are the best buyers a seller could ever ask for.  Also, the majority of sellers either pull their homes off the market during the winter months, or, wait until spring to list their homes.  What does this mean for Mr. and Mrs. Seller during the winter months?  Less inventory.  Those motivated buyers now have less to choose from, and since you were smart and decided to either list or keep your home on the market during the winter months, you are now reaping the benefits of showing your property to these buyers. 

Spring and summer are a popular time for buyers to jump into the market, and yes, there will be more buyers out there looking during these times, however, every seller out there that waited till spring or summer to list, is now placing their home on, or back on the market.  This means for Mr. and Mrs. Seller, much, much more competition.  Now, instead of a small handful of properties for buyers to choose from, they now have an abundance of inventory to choose from making your newly listed property just another number in the mix.  Basically, if you can tough it out during the winter months, it could be very well worth it in the end.  But remember; keep that walk shoveled and the property de-iced.  You don’t want a law suit on your hands.   

Statistics:

In Camden County, NJ…  January 2010 there were $4,673 properties on the market. 

In Camden County, NJ…  June 2011 there were $5,484 properties on the market.   

May not seem like a big difference, but in this market, as a seller, you need all the leg up you can get.