What’s the best season to purchase a new home? What’s the best season to sell? The market can sometimes deliver benefits that could never be achieved by planning—a potential homebuyer could be out for a Sunday stroll. Serendipity aside, here are some general tips and guidelines for wintertime home shopping.
Pros for Winter Home Shopping
Serious, savvy homebuyers should take advantage of the winter months because competition is low and sellers are motivated. In fact, many sellers want to get an end-of-the-year deal closed for tax purposes. The more favorable supply-demand balance can also lower prices. In January and February, homes cost 8.45 percent less on average than in June through August, according to NerdWallet research conducted using Realtor.com data from 2014 and 2015.
A lower price eases your home purchase in many ways. It lowers your down payment, any closing costs that are calculated as a percentage of the home's sale price and your mortgage payments. There's also less of a seller's agent commission bundled into the sales price.
Wintertime Cons for House Hunting
There are cons to house hunting in winter, too. There’s a good chance the home’s curb appeal is going to be sallow, making it difficult to evaluate the home’s landscaping and gardens, including the condition of the lawns. At the same time, it may be difficult to schedule a home inspection with the constant threat of bad weather. A home inspection is a must, however, if you're planning to make an offer, so be sure to get one scheduled no matter what the weather.
While there’s less competition among potential buyers in the winter, the laws of supply and demand are always at work in real estate, and the inventory of homes for sale is typically less in the winter than the spring or summer.
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