Should I list my Leavenworth home in winter or fall?

As we head into fall in Leavenworth with winter not far away, we get clients asking all the time
” Should I list my Leavenworth home in winter? ”
Shoveling is hard work!
 

For some, they have just now decided that they want to move or perhaps they have found a house they would like to buy but need to sell a home first. Others have had their home on the market during the summer month and for one reason or another it hasn’t sold.
They want to know, should I pull my home off the market for the winter and re-list it in the Spring?
 
I think Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee home sellers are surprised when I suggest that winter isn’t a bad time to sell your home. The caveat is that buyers and their agents need to be able to safely get to and from the home to view it. This means that the driveway needs to be plowed and the walkways clear of snow.  Homeowners with steep or dangerous driveways are better off waiting for spring, but homes with easy access should list their homes for sale. Here’s my reasoning:

Leavenworth gets tons of winter visitors. Christmas lighting, ski season, snowmobilers, etc.
The snow is beautiful. It’s different from Seattle and buyers are looking for a 4 season getaway.
Other sellers have pulled their listings. Less competition increases your chances of selling.

Turns out that the tech savvy folks at Redfin actually looked at the data. They looked at 750,000 home sales and found that:

Homes listed in winter sell faster: 46 days in winter vs. 55 days in summer
Homes listed in winter are more likely to sell: 59.2% sell in winter vs. 53.1% sell in summer
Homes listed in winter sell closest to their original price: a 2.7% drop from the final price in winter vs. a 5.2% drop from the final price in summer, worth more than $7,000 on a $300,000 home

  Are you thinking about listing your house? Let us know if we can help you get it on the market right now instead of waiting until spring.