Spring is often the busiest time of year for real estate. Warmer weather, lengthening daylight hours, and approaching summer vacations lead to higher traffic. However, we have 4 reasons advocating why listing your home at the tail end of winter (the slower season) is a great way to get ahead of the curve.

Usually, seasonal trends in real estate go as follows: spring through mid-summer, real estate traffic increases, followed by a dip at the end of summer through the beginning of fall as school starts. There is another increase in traffic after labor day through Halloween as school year routines come back. From November through February, there is a dip as people hunker down for the holiday season and the rest of winter.

While the COVID-19-induced real estate boom caused a surge in buyer traffic and home values around the country, seasonality nearly disappeared from summer 2020 through summer 2021. However, we have seen the normal winter seasonal dip at the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022. This means we are poised to see the usual spring ramp-up of buyer and seller traffic.

This is why listing now is a power play. Here are 4 reasons why.

Winter shoppers are dedicated buyers ready to make offers

Why would you shop for a home in the winter? The days are short and cold, and moving in the cold is less fun than moving normally. The primary reason is that there is less competition from other buyers. Year-end bonuses and overtime payouts can also help boost buyers’ spending power. While there are also fewer listings, the buyers looking at them are not browsing. They are intent on finding a home ASAP. If you get an offer from a buyer in the winter months, it is a serious offer.

If you list in spring, so will everybody else.

This includes new construction homes. Getting your home on the market in front of this wave helps your listing stand out to the most proactive buyers. If you wait until March or April to list, your listing will be swimming in the same crowded pool as everybody else. New construction homes are a hot commodity since supply chain issues and labor shortages have and continue to hamstring the entire industry. When a brand new home comes to market where everything is under warranty in a new subdivision, buyers scramble to place bids. On top of that, existing homes in established subdivisions are also in high demand due to being move-in ready.

Prices will not go lower. 

Savvy investors follow the adage “buy low, sell high”, and a home is a massive investment. Home values won’t go down—especially in the Boise area, where home values are predicted to continue increasing by double digits in 2022—so selling now and parlaying the gains you have already realized from your own home’s value increase into your new home will help you ride the wave of further value increases. You just sit back, make payments on your housing upgrade, and ride the equity wave higher and higher. In addition, with mortgage rates all but guaranteed to go up multiple times in the coming year, locking in at historic rates now will save you tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.

Maybe it is time to make a change

After the last two years, you may have realized that your home may not be entirely conducive to full-time or part-time working and/or schooling from home. Maybe you need an extra bedroom for a home office, an extra bay in the garage for a home gym or to work your hobbies, or a larger lot so you can enjoy playing and relaxing in the amazing Idaho weather. If you need to make an upgrade to accommodate your daily and familial needs, give Build Idaho a call and our team of local expert agents can get you started.