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How To Sell Your Home In The Winter

When you decide to list before the snow melts here are our top tips for marketing your home to winter buyers.

                                                                    

                                                                            Curb Appeal Matters
When flowers aren’t in bloom and the ground is covered in brown grass and snow, it may feel like curb appeal is a
little bit of a lost cause. This, however, is not the case. Even in the winter, there are still ways to make sure your
buyers have the best possible first impression upon driving up to your house.

The most obvious exterior maintenance tips include shoveling and de-icing your driveway and approach. If buyers
have to trudge through the snow to get to your front door you are making it hard for them to warm up to your
home. They will also track mud and snow into the interior entryway of your home. Especially when homes are
vacant make sure to hire someone dependable to shovel driveways and sidewalks.

If snow hasn’t fallen yet, make sure to rake leaves and sticks out of flower beds and yard, and keep the approach free of mud and debris. Remove planters with dead plants from porches and walkways, and make sure exterior light fixtures and windows are clean and properly lit.

 

                                                                    “Coziness” Cannot Be Overstated
In a place like Michigan, the winters often (seemingly) last 9 months of the year, the comfort and “coziness” of
your home will play a big factor in its marketability.

One of the easiest and most important ways this can be done is to keep the house warm for showings. If you
don’t want to keep the furnace running all the time in a vacant house, you may consider upgrading to a smart
thermostat, like a Nest, which allows you to turn the heat up before a showing no matter where you are.

Coziness is as much about smells as it is appearance. Use wax burners to make your home smell festive and
seasonal. Consider baking before guests arrive and play soft music in the background, especially if your home
has a surround-sound feature that you’d like buyers to take note of.

If you are going for scents, don’t use anything overpowering. Many people have allergies to aerosols and strong
fruit/flowery scents are polarizing and sometimes a bit overpowering. Keep the scents seasonal and subtle and it
will add to the appealing ambiance you are trying to create in your home overall.

                                                                   Don’t Overlook Your Fireplace
If you have a fireplace, make sure it is in tip-top shape and truly in eye-catching condition. In many homes, a
fireplace is the central decorative feature in a family/great room. In a state like Michigan, it is often a feature
prospective buyers are looking for specifically when they are out home shopping. Keep the hearth clean, simple,
decorative and…of course, cozy!

Allow your fireplace to make the statement it was always meant to make as a centerpiece of your home by
arranging furniture around it and tastefully decorating the mantle. Maybe even have a fire lit during showings.

                                                                     Ample Light Is A Must!
During a long Michigan winter, lighting can be an important factor in marketing your home property to prospective
buyers. Upgrade bulbs to higher wattages and make sure they are uniform in color, wattage, and appearance in
each room. Add extra (matching) table lamps, and turn them on for showings to provide warm, subtle light in
family rooms and bedrooms, and make sure curtains are open and clean bringing in as much natural light as
possible.

 

If you live in the home you are selling, it will be easier to make sure that lights are on for showings, but if not
consider asking your realtor to go out to the house ahead of showings to turn lights on for you.

Source:https://www.piperpartners.com/blog/selling-home/how-to-sell-your-home-in-the-winter