This is the time of year when internet searches are most likely to be active. People use the time when it's too cold to be outside to look at houses. Surprisingly, the uptick begins before, or right around, Christmas, and continues into the spring. If you combine that fact with the trend toward professional photography and staging, or even virtual staging, you can see that getting your house on the market earlier is a good idea.
We've written many times before about the fact that being in a strong academic market in Greater New Haven changes the selling season, since offers come out in the beginning of the year. It's always a struggle to find enough to show those early buyers, and those who put their houses on in February get more of that selection period to themselves. I was talking last week to an agent in Hanover, New Hampshire, and he agreed that the same trends occur there. So what you may be reading about national trends should be taken with a grain of salt in our region.
For buyers, it means that narrowing your search, and acting quickly when you find something you like, can be key in a successful purchase at this season. Be willing to overlook boots and winter detritus, snowy yard and streets, and imagining spring and summer also can be helpful. The sellers who are doing their best to keep houses show-ready during bad weather can use the latitude, and may work out well for both parties.
So, as I write this in the early morning darkness, you can be sure that others are curled up with their coffee, surfing the web for property! Let's give them more to look at, by listing sooner.
