If you live in a cold, snowy location, you face a unique set of challenges, especially if you decide to list your home for sale over the winter months. The following improvement tips will help you make your home feel cozy, attractive, and welcoming, even when the temperatures drop. Here are a few ways to sell your home in winter.
Sell Your Home in Winter by Keeping Walkways Clear
Keep the driveway and walkways completely free of snow. Snow-covered pathways are dangerous to navigate and create a safety hazard for potential buyers.
A potential buyer will want a home with easy and comfortable access every season of the year. If a snowplow piles snow onto your walkways or if the wind blows a drift across the driveway, clear it right away.
Brighten the Living Spaces
While there are fewer hours of daylight in the winter, you don’t want your home to appear dark and gloomy. Before people arrive to view your home, raise the window blinds and open drapes. Replace burned-out light bulbs with new, warm LED bulbs. These provide more light and are helpful in dimly lit living areas. Make sure the rooms of your home are well-lit to make the spaces feel inviting, cozy, and cheerful.
Warm Up the House
It’s important for your home to feel warm and cozy when potential buyers come to visit. Turn up the thermostat a couple of degrees when you are having a showing. This will offset the temperature loss that will happen when people are coming into and out of your home all day.
When it’s cold outside, a warm home is welcoming and visitors are more likely to appreciate the living spaces. If you have a wood stove or fireplace, build a small fire so buyers can see that it’s functional. As an extra bonus, a warm fire adds to the coziness of your home.
Create a Welcoming Space to Sell Your Home in Winter
Winter days can be dark, grey, and dreary. Make your home bright and welcoming so it stands out from other listings. Use color to improve the mood of darker spaces. Place a richly colored, fluffy blanket and decorative pillows on the couch. Choose a seasonal flower arrangement to decorate the kitchen table.
A bright soft rug will add color to the bedroom. Hang art in the hallway, kitchen, and bathrooms. You can also boost the feel of the bathroom with decorative towels and washcloths.
Clean the Home Thoroughly
A sparkling clean home makes a good impression any time of the year. Give your home a thorough dusting, including tops of bookcases, light fixtures, and ceiling fan blades. Deep clean all of the carpets and rugs.
Check the caulking in the bathrooms; if it looks dingy, moldy, or worn, bleach it or apply new caulk. Polish the hardware in the kitchen and bathrooms. Wash and wax floors and be sure that all the trash and recycling is removed from the house.
Clean the windows inside and out to allow more sunlight into your home. Dirty windows affect the mood indoors. Keeping them clean will boost curb appeal and brighten the inside of the house.
While it’s not the peak time for buyers, you can still successfully sell your home during the winter months. Follow these tips for quick and easy home improvements and you’ll make the house feel warm, welcoming, and appealing to buyers who come to visit.
Monadnock Home Inspections offers inspection services, including pre-listing inspections, in Southern New Hampshire. If you’re selling a home, contact us to request an appointment.