Selling Your Home in Winter
Winter may not be the best time to sell your home, but don’t let that discourage you. Make the best out of the situation by looking around your home, exterior and interior, with fresh eyes. You can’t do much about the gray skies, bare trees and lack of color in the garden. The snow will fall, the rain will come, the wind will blow, all without your permission. So, concentrate on the things you can do to make your home more presentable and easier to access.
Entrance
Make your front door as accessible as possible and your home clear of muddy footprints. If prospective buyers can’t easily get to your front door, they may not even want to enter. Assess the climate situation that may plague the exterior and interior of your home.
- Clear leaves, in the fall, and snow, in the winter, from the walkway to your home’s entrance. If it’s a snowy day, you may have to repeat the process more than once. Interested buyers could appear without notice. Make sure the walk does not remain icy. Scrape it, if necessary.
- To avoid messy foot prints from being tracked throughout your home, place a rubber mat outside the front door and a throw rug inside. Small rugs can be replaced as they become soiled. Have an umbrella stand or container just outside on your porch.
Brighten Up
Outside winter climates can create a gloomy, dark interior. You need to find ways to brighten the inside of your home to give visitors a more joyful experience while looking it over.
- Every window in every room is an opportunity to bring in light. Open blinds, pull back drapes and shutters to let natural light pour into every room of the house.
- Make sure every light is turned on for visitors. Dark homes are not only gloomy, but they may suggest you have things to hide. Lit areas are an invitation to check out every aspect of your home.
Warm Things
Winter weather is cold and guests may come in with heavy coats, gloves and scarves. Make sure you have someplace, at the entrance, for them to leave these items. And, make sure they want to remove these garments by creating a warm environment.
- Turn up the heat. When buyers come to call, it’s no time to save on utility bills. Make sure your home’s inside is toasty warm. However, if you have a loud heating system, turn it down just before they arrive, so it won’t interrupt them by clicking on.
- If you have a fireplace, have it lit. Nothing says homey warmth like a fire in the hearth.
Mood
You can create a mood with just a bit of staging that will make buyers feel like hanging about longer than they would have.
- Flowers can be purchased any time of the year. Place vases full of fresh blooms, in warm tones, about the house.
- Place a breakfast tray in the bedroom and fill it with special coffee mugs, cloth napkins and a saucer filled with scones, biscuits or cookies. Place the local newspaper next to the tray.
- Do the bedroom tray baking just a bit before the arrival of buyers. It will fill the environment with a homey scent. Don’t use commercial scented sprays, as some people are allergic.
