Don't hibernate!

Fri 17 October 2014

A lot of people lose faith in selling their property come the winter months, I however take a different view.

It is the time of year when I start to hear things like, “shall we take the property off the market until spring?” or, “I suppose it will be quiet for a few months now?”, The list of questions goes on! Whilst there is of course some truth in the market quietening over the winter months it is by no means time to hibernate!

Realistically someone looking at purchasing a property at this time of year can still complete on the transaction and be in before Christmas.

The number of people viewing houses during the winter months is certainly less than in the summer however those who make the effort to travel to Mid Wales and view your home on a cold winter’s day must be pretty serious about buying something!

We’ve all heard the stories of people heading out on a day trip on a Summer’s afternoon to view some houses that they have no intention of buying just for a bit of a jolly. These folks thankfully do seem to go into hibernation in the winter and so you are faced with fewer time wasters. There is of course also less competition in the winter. Traditionally people look to put their property on the market in the spring. The trouble is of course, everyone has the same idea and so the market invariably becomes flooded with new instructions and you are faced with huge competition and buyers can view any number of properties, take their pick and even play one off against another to bag a bargain! Why put yourself through that? By marketing your property in winter there are fewer properties coming on to the market and therefore more chance of your property catching the eye of those discerning winter buyers!

A couple of years ago I negotiated a sale on Christmas Eve. I thought that this was quite an achievement however I was to be out done by a colleague the following year who actually tied up a sale on Christmas morning, what dedication! You wouldn’t get that sort of service from any old agent! But it just goes to show that even in the depths of winter the market can still be productive!

Tom Carter - tom@mccartneys.co.uk