Sometimes we hear so much about the Spring and Fall real estate markets that we start to believe there are only two seasons!

We just heard a rumor that properties actually sell year round. Word on the street is that winter real estate market is an alright time to buy, too. Here’s why:

1. Bucking the trend is cool when it’s cold out.

People have a lot going on in the winter: holidays, office parties, family fun days, hibernating. Looking for a house? Well, that can wait until things die down. Since fewer people are out looking at houses, a lot of sellers wait until the spring when a warm day will get lots of people out to an open house. In the winter there are still properties on the market and less competition can lead to a more leisurely shopping experience. You can be as cool as a cucumber. A cucumber wearing a scarf and mitts.

2. What’s on the market isn’t there to test it.

The combination of the aforementioned winter busy-ness, slush-covered boots and selling your house is a lot to juggle if you are just “testing the market.” Who’s selling in the winter? People who need to – maybe they just bought their next home or got transferred to another office. They don’t want to clean up salt stains from the front hall any longer than they have too and therefore they tend to be more reasonable with price.

3. We aren’t as busy

We can admit it, things slow down outside of the Spring and Fall markets. And just as we aren’t as busy, neither are the lawyers, mortgage specialists and movers that you need to work for you to make the sale happen. We aren’t doing 3 or 4 sets of showings every day in the winter and we can miss an episode of Ricki Lake. Promise.

4. That house is as ugly as it’s going to look

Curb appeal is important. Just last week we wrote a blog post about what sellers can do now to make sure their house is looking tip-top when the Spring market comes. In the Winter it’s hard to distract from how a house truly looks when the leaves have fallen and there’s little snow to cover up the dead grass (or so much snow the strange off-white shade of the siding really stands out…). You won’t be distracted by the blooming cherry tree or the patio furniture staged for a romantic dinner el fresco. You know when it’s closing time at a bar and they turn on the “ugly lights”? Winter is closing time for houses.

5. Picking up on flaws is easier with those “ugly lights” on.

Winter is the scariest time of the year for homeowners. The furnace or hot water tank might give up, pipes could burst, windows and doors may lose the battle against draughts. Your home inspector can pick up on clues (like serious icicles) and give you advice on how to combat these concerns head on. It’ll be less “it might be draughty,” and more “feel that winter breeze coming from the window?”

We could go on with good reasons to try home-buying in the winter, but we’ll save those for the car ride between showings. Ricki Lake is on.