House Showing in Poor Weather

Learn how house showing in the winter can present specific challenges to home sellers. Know which techniques can improve your chances of selling a home during winter elements like snow. Get crafty with your Texas tools during icy conditions.

House showing in the winter and early spring can prove challenging for some homeowners but, with the right strategies, you can turn your abode into a wonderland that can entice the coolest of buyers. Read the following tips to learn how to turn up the heat on potential buyers.

Warm Up Your Buyers to a Sale

Cold weather can turn a spotlight on heating problems in your DFW home, which can quickly put buyers’ interests on ice. Make your home warm and cozy by fine-tuning or updating your HVAC system or furnace. Check insulation, especially in your attic, to verify that it hasn’t degraded or shifted. For an easy and cost-efficient heating upgrade, weather strip your windows and doors to fix drafts that would otherwise blow away potential buyers’ excitement about your house.

Light Up Buyers’ Interests

Any hint of sunlight can be a welcome sight for potential buyers. Introduce as much natural light as possible by drawing back your curtains. Knock off debris or ice from your windows to welcome sunlight and provide an unobstructed view into your yard. This will give buyers a better overall impression of your home and can decrease the feeling of a confined quarters.

Clear a Path to a Successful Sale

If, during your house showing, your guests experience a treacherous struggle to arrive at your front door, their annoyance can turn them cool to the idea of buying. Make your home as harmless as a gingerbread house by shoveling walkways, driveways, and any other areas that buyers will traverse. Consider clearing the street in front of your home with road salt — or a safer alternative, if trees, drainage, systems, or water sources are near the front of your abode — to make finding the house easier.

Stop Snow in Its Tracks

If you combat Dallas’ infamous red clay with a metal scraper outside of your doorway, consider taking it out of seasonal retirement so that buyers can knock snow off their shoes before entering your home. This can help preserve the integrity of your floors and decrease the amount of cleaning up you have to do after each showing. Place a weather mat at your home’s entrance for an even easier way to fight snowflakes. While some sellers may prefer to ask potential buyers to take their shoes off before they enter, you may run the risk of inadvertently offending your guests and getting the cold shoulder when it’s time to make a deal.

Melt Away Buyers’ Reservations

Consider making some subtle spring-time additions to your decor to warm buyers up to the prospect of a swift purchase. This can subtly convey feelings of positivity and hope towards new beginnings. If, during your house showing, your potential buyers turn cool to the prospect of buying your home, reach for personal photos of the house during lighter and brighter seasons. Seeing the interior and exterior of your home during spring, summer, or even fall can help them envision themselves in your house around the year.

Image Source: Flickr/Stephen Harris

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S. Gonzales

Samantha Gonzales is a copywriter specializing in marketing, business, and educational publishing.