While summer is the prime season for selling a home, winter can also be a great option for homeowners since buyers have fewer choices. Using this strategy could help you sell faster and for more money. Since winter brings its own set of challenges, you want to be prepared for when buyers tour your house by following these tips.
Make Your Home Accessible
You have issues like snow and ice on sidewalks and snow piled up in the driveway to worry about in winter, which isn’t a problem in the summer. To combat this problem, make sure to shovel snow and put down ice melt before a showing or open house. The last thing you want when someone comes to see your home is for them to fall and get hurt.
Brighten Up the Entry and Landscaping
You don’t have as many options for beautiful landscaping in the winter, and your yard can turn ugly and brown. Don’t let that deter buyers when you can spruce it up with a few unique ideas. If you plan ahead, you can plant a few evergreen or winter plants, which will be a bright spot on a dull landscape and draw the eye in.
Another option is to go with fake plants. Remove dead flowers and plants from your planters and replace them with a few artificial plants. Don’t go cheap, but spend a few extra dollars for high-quality products that look natural. Select plants which would naturally grow during this time of year to make your setting look more realistic.
Maximize Your Mudroom
Winter is a time for coats, boots, hats and other outdoor gear. Showcase your home’s storage capacity with an attractive, spacious mudroom. Buy and install hangers, hooks and shelves to keep the space organized.
If you don’t have a mudroom, consider building one. Take a corner of the garage and turn it into storage space for your outdoor wear. You can purchase a shelving unit and small table or bench and install it right by the door into the house. It doesn’t have to be fancy but efficient, and it will make your home stand out from the other houses that don’t have one. Contact Indiana Residential for a quote on a project to find out the cost of adding valuable space.
Maintain Your Home
Winter is hard on a home. From roofing issues caused by excess snow to heating problems, it seems a home is much harder to care for in the winter. If you have your roof inspected by a local roofing company like Indiana Residential, you can make any repairs before potential buyers see the home.
Have your furnace inspected and any repairs made before you put the home on the market. A house that looks and functions well in the winter will enhance buyers’ confidence to put in an offer.
Indoor Play
With cold weather, now is the time to highlight your indoor spaces like a game room, media room or other areas for fun. If you don’t have these spaces, you may want to think about converting an unfinished attic or basement to enhance the value of your property. Indiana Residential offers numerous services to help in this large-scale project.
If you follow these five tips to make your home show well and impress buyers, you’ll have no problem selling it even in the off-season. In fact, you just might get a better price by having fewer competitors and be ahead of the game.
