Redfin Says Winter is The Best Season to Sell, But Who Wants to Have Wet Boots Tromp Through a Freshly Staged Home?

OK, visualize a brutal Chicago winter. Snow, slush, and gray everywhere, no parking so you have to hike to and from the El everywhere. Boots and coats and a monochromatic landscape that has been known to drive some people up the wall.

Now, imagine you’re selling your home. Would you want tons of people tromping through your house with goodness-knows-what frozen to their soles? Imagine the salt stains on your rugs! And you’ll need to showcase all of the architectural details, so your thermal drapes on your windows will have to be flung open. And can you imagine being displaced several times a week for showings?

In a word: Yuck!

But imagine you’re a buyer and you’re viewing a home during a cold and snowy day, and you walk into a listing behind an agent who immediately turns on the gas fireplace in this cozy beauty:

In another word: SOLD!

According to research from online brokerage Redfin, winter is the best season to sell a home. Sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it?

 Redfin analyzed homes listed from March 22, 2011, through March 21, 2013, and found that those listed in winter have a 9 percentage point greater likelihood of selling, sell a week faster, and sell for 1.2 percentage points more relative to list price than homes listed in any other season.

What the what? Now, “winter” according to Redfin, is Dec. 21 through March 21. By March, we’re usually back up in the 70s here in North Texas, and our market tends to get really active at that time, which is usually when Peeps hit the shelves, according to Re/MAX About Dallas Realtor Ken Lampton.

But according to Redfin, it’s not the season that really matters, it’s how motivated the buyer is. So while more people list in Spring and Summer, buyers tend to be more motivated in the winter.

“There are plenty of people who need to buy a home in the winter, whether it’s because of a job relocation or major family change, like a new baby. These buyers want to get into a home quickly, and are sometimes willing to pay top dollar,” said Paul Stone, a Redfin real estate agent in Denver.

Of course, part of it has to do with the perception of the economy, too:

An anticipated rise in mortgage rates is another reason why it may be advantageous to list your home this winter. According to Redfin economist Ellen Haberle, “The Federal Reserve has signaled that it plans to start reining in its stimulus program ‘in the coming months,’ which will push mortgage rates up. For many buyers, this expected policy change is motivation to strap on their boots and find the right home before rates increase, regardless of the cold weather.”

What do you think?