Traditional wisdom commonly says that the best time to buy a house is in the warmer summer months. If you look at the sales figures, you will see the same story. It is factually true that most people tend to buy houses in the warmer months, and over the years this has been taken to mean that the best months to buy a home are indeed the summer months. Like so many things in life and society, this logic is not necessarily rooted in truth. This post is going to take a look at some of the reasons why buying a house in the winter can lead to many advantages as a buyer, then consider some of the disadvantages of holiday home shopping, and ultimately it will answer the question of whether or not buying a home in winter is a good idea when compared to the summer.
Reasons To Buy a House in the Winter
There are several reasons to buy a home in the winter, or at least to go shopping for one. The market itself looks very different in the winter when compared to the summer, meaning that the prices, supply and demand, and the people who get the job done in the first place are all operating in different ways and in different capacities. On top of that, the weather itself can play a role in your homebuying experience, from the tours to the availability of moving companies and more. Here is a quick list of the biggest advantages to buy a home in the winter.
1. You Get to See the House at its Worst
Everybody loves going on tours of prospective new homes. During the tour, you get to imagine yourself living in the home, fantasize about decorating schemes, and bask in the rays of natural sunlight shining in through the window. It sounds like such a dreamy experience, and it often is! The summer is when a house tends to look its best, and this is partially why so many houses get sold. Everyone wants to buy a gorgeous house on a day that is sunny and 65 degrees!
The problem is that the house might not be so dreamy and ideal all year long. Some houses are stunningly lit with a gorgeous yard in the summer, but have horrible insulation problems and a slippery, steep concrete driveway in the winter. While touring a house in the winter might undersell its beauty in some ways, it unmasks any potential hidden disadvantages that the summer can hide. If the house is good enough for you in the bleak midwinter, odds are it only gets better as the year goes on and the months get warmer.
2. You Have Much Less Bidding Competition
While the amount of houses up for auction may be less than it is in the summer, the amount of people looking to buy is usually even less than that. As everyone tries to get their new home in the warm months before the winter sets it, there are very few people in the market that can outbid you. Additionally, many current homeowners will not want to wait all the way until the summer to sell, meaning they might be more inclined to accept a lower offer. Even if you are not able to lowball them, at least you will not need to worry too much about being outbid!
This advantage does come with its drawback, of course, which is the decreased supply of homes on the market. As we just mentioned, most houses get sold over the summer. On top of that, many people will actually delist their homes during the holidays because they do not want to worry about hosting tours and open houses around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. With fewer homes up for sale, the odds of you finding your dream house do decrease. Still, it doesn’t hurt to look, and if you stumble upon one that you love you may be in a better bargaining position that you would be in the summer!
3. You May Pay Less Overall
While having less competition means that you are less likely to be outbid, buying in the winter can also lead to lower prices across the board. Yes, sellers are more likely to accept a lower offer in the winter than they are in the summer, but there is also a chance that their asking price in the winter is going to be lower than their asking price in the summer. This is due to a more urgent need to sell.
While you can’t expect home prices to be lower in the winter, you may indeed stumble across it. As most people list their homes in the spring and sell them over the summer, often sellers whose homes are still on the market in December are simply excited to get any offers at all. While this does not mean that their prices will necessarily drop or that they will certainly accept a lower offer, it does mean that there is a higher chance that this happens. On top of that, buying your home before the end of the year can reward you with several tax breaks and credits that are offered to homeowners just in time for tax season.
4. You May Be Able to Close Faster
Paperwork is every potential homebuyer’s (and seller’s, for that matter) nightmare. Waiting for mortgage lenders and land transfer agencies to work through the stack of papers on their desk until they get down to yours can take days or weeks, and every day that it takes them to process the paperwork is another day that you could have been moving into your new home. In the peak of July, your papers might be below those of a hundred other new homebuyers, needing little more than a stamp and a signature.
Buying a home in the winter offers you the chance to close much faster, as there are probably a lot fewer papers in those piles. As mortgage lenders and land transfer agencies have shorter stacks to work through, there is a much better chance that your papers will be processed in a timely manner. The less time you spend waiting, the sooner you can begin enjoying your new home.
5. You Have a Wider Selection of Realtors and Moving Companies
There are only so many moving companies and realtors in the world, and the supply of both of them goes down drastically in the summer. As the year goes on and they become less busy, there is a better chance you will have your pick of the best realtors and moving companies in your area. Picking the right realtor can really make or break your home buying experience and being able to have your pick of the lot is a great advantage that summer buyers simply do not have. The same can be said about moving companies, as you want to be sure that the people you are trusting to move all of your possessions truly care about your things and protect them as if they are their own.
If you are wondering if having a realtor is really necessary, you might want to read this post. Using a realtor may seem like it costs you money that you could otherwise save, but it is indisputable that having a good realtor heavily outweighs any cost it takes to attain their services. Their knowledge alone can often save you much more than you pay them in the end, and their assistance throughout the process takes unquantifiable amounts of stress and work off of your hands.
Disadvantages of Buying a Home in the Winter
While there are plenty of advantages to buying a home in the winter, there are still a few drawbacks that you ought to consider before going holiday house hunting. They are not all applicable to everyone, and they might not even be something to consider at all depending on where you are looking to buy a home. These tips are highly dependent on the assumption that the place you are looking to buy a home in experiences true winters. If it does not, then you have much less to worry about. Here is a quick look at some of the most important disadvantages of buying a house in the winter.
1. You May Have Bad Move in Weather
While the weather on the day of your move in is not overly important in the grand scheme of things, it can certainly pose some struggles – especially for people who are less equipped or physically able to deal with it. If you are moving to an area that sees a lot of snow in the winter, you may need to move into your new home amid bad road conditions, meaning countless potentially dangerous trips between homes. On top of that, if the sidewalks or driveway are not particular friendly, you may risk slipping as you carry boxes and furniture out of your old house and into your new one. The one perk to this, though, is that at least you will know what the house is like in the winter and what you can expect in future years living there!
Even if snow isn’t a major concern, moving to a new home in the cold may just be less pleasant overall, and may be a deterrent for you. It doesn’t need to be, but it is certainly something to consider. If you are moving somewhere that has very mild winters or does not experience much snow or ice, this point is clearly much less relevant to you.
2. You May Have a Smaller Selection of Homes to Choose From
This point was touched on above, but it deserves its own consideration when it comes to disadvantages to buying a home in the winter. Houses are expensive – probably the most expensive items you will ever purchase – and you want to make sure that the one you buy is truly the one that you want. It is not very easy to undo, after all! If you go house shopping in the winter, the odds of your dream home being on the market are substantially lower.
If you are flexible with home options or have less of a vision of a dream home, then this point may not be very relevant to you. However, if you are the type of person that has always imagined your dream home and are hoping to find it now, be sure to remind yourself that there are bound to be more homes on the market in the summer, and if you can’t find the perfect one now, you might not want to settle on one until the summer.
3. You Might Have a Harder Time Selling Your Own House
It is important to consider that not everyone is in the same position, and not every one of these advantages or disadvantages will apply to everyone equally. Not everyone is selling their current home when they are shopping for a new one. Not everyone has a current home in the first place! If you are a first-time homebuyer, this tip is less relevant to you. If you are trying to sell your current home to move into a new one, though, listen up.
Just as the sellers of the homes you are looking at are likely to accept lower offers because of the decreased demand, you are entering that same market as a seller. While you are likely to get a great deal on a home that you are looking to buy, you are also likely to be lowballed on the house that you are trying to sell. Most people are not in a financial position that enables them to buy a new home without the confidence that their current home will sell soon, and trying to complete the whole homebuying and selling process in the same month in the winter is not likely to lead to the most favorable outcome.
Thank you for reading our post answering the question “is buying a home in the winter a good idea?” As you can now see, there is no clear cut answer to this question. There are some very clear advantages to buying a home in the winter, but there are also a handful of drawbacks that need to be considered. The right decision is the one that makes the most sense for you after you weigh the advantages and disadvantages. No two situations are the same! The most important thing is just that you evaluate your own situation and make sure that you are doing what is best for yourself or your family. Unless you are in a hurry, there is usually no harm to waiting until the summer to start looking for a new home. If you are in a hurry, you have nothing to worry about. You will have a great homebuying experience, and despite any disadvantages on this list, you are still going to be just fine.
If you visit Myrtle Beach or any other place in South Carolina and fall in love, we’re here to help. We at The Boyd Team are committed to helping you find the right property for your needs and dreams. Any question that you have about moving to the area and finding your dream home by the beach is our pleasure to answer. Feel free to send us an email at eddie@boydteam.com or text or call us at (843) 222-8566, and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Being true natives of the Grand Strand and Horry County and with over 25 years of experience in the local real estate market, whether buying or selling, we can help you make your dreams a reality.
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Written by Greg
