House Hunting in the Winter: 6 Tricks to Find the Perfect Place

Winter has always been an excellent time to buy a home, from a market point of view. Officially, the winter is the “slow” season for real estate. What this means for buyers is that there is less competition and sellers are more willing to negotiate before closing. If you don’t mind the weather and can see the potential of a home in winter-shaded sunlight, winter can be your ideal house-hunting season – especially for buyers who don’t care for the frenzy of buying in the summer.

Of course, there are a few challenges for house-hunting this season, mainly concerning the weather. How do you know if a snow-covered home is beautiful under a layer of snow, or if the outdoor taps work when the temperature is below freezing? The good news is that with the right techniques, anyone can make the right home-buying decision in the gray light of winter that you’ll love just as much in the clear light of summer.

Touring Homes Without Travel

The single best way to house-hunt during the winter is to take virtual tours instead of attending open-house events. Why risk icy roads and hazardous weather when you can see the rich beauty of a home through a photo tour or even a 3D walkthrough? Virtual tours also allow you to quickly explore dozens of homes, not just two or three per day.

At first, virtual home touring can help you gain perspective on your favorite and least favorite features in local homes – helping you to better know your dream home when you see it on the market. When you’re close to making a final decision, virtual tours allow you to dive in-depth into the beauty and detail of each finalist home you consider.

Seeing the Home in a Different Season

A home covered in snow can be very charming, but it won’t look the same all year long. Naturally, you want to know what your home will look like after the melt and during the warmer seasons, too. There are a few tricks to find this out, understanding that you’ll be looking through a small time-warp to the homes in previous eras.

Earlier Home Listing Photos

If the photos of the home you want to buy were taken in any other season, you have a wonderful opportunity to compare the summer and winter faces of your home. Staging and curbside photos are often taken on a sunny, clear day and sometimes months before the home is ready to list. Visit the home in person and compare photos from a warmer season for a great aesthetic perspective.

The Google Maps Trick

Another nifty way to see the home in other circumstances is Google Street View. Enter the address into Google Maps and zoom down into street view. Look around until you get Google’s time-warped view of the front porch. Remember, these images can be up to 10 years old, so the porch may have changed, but it may not have.

Bring a Home Inspector Who Knows Winter Homes

The next challenge is the inspection. How do you know if the utilities and features are in good shape when there is snow in the way, or heavy rain falling? The answer is to trust the right professional. Find a home inspector who knows how to do their thing in the winter season. Inspectors experienced with winter repairs and home sales sometimes have the seasonal long-view on a home when they inspect.

Bring an inspector who knows how to assess things like taps, drains, and outdoor AC units even if they have to brush away some snow or wear boots to reach the utilities in question.

Buying to Renovate? Bring Your Contractor

Another great tip is to bring your contractor. Many, many homebuyers are actually planning to renovate right away. Maybe you know exactly the kitchen layout you want, or plan to expand the master suite into your personal retreat. With a building contractor touring homes by your side, they can give you excellent insight into the home’s potential to suit your ideal needs, no matter what the season is.

Schedule Tours for Clear Weather

You also don’t have to brave bad weather to take an in-person tour of a home you fell in love with online. Just check the weather. Pick a clear day when the sun is out for the least snow on the ground and ice on the roads. A few sunny days in a row is all you need for a reasonably dry and safe home tour with you and your agent, inspector, or contractor to help you assess every aspect of a candidate home’s value.

Work With Your Sellers

Last but not least, winter is the perfect time to communicate with your sellers. If you are serious about buying a home and want insights into what it’s like to live there, ask your sellers. Have a personal conversation and listen to their own experiences of living in the home – if they did. This is your chance to get a foothold on what to ask for in negotiations and even to make negotiating more pleasant as you build rapport with your seller.

In the winter, sellers are both more eager to buy and have more time to spend on things like prep and negotiations. So take your time to make the deal just right as you reach a leisurely close with fewer (maybe no) other buyers to get in the way of exploring, inspecting, and closing on your dream home winter buying process.

Ready to find your dream home during the most relaxed real estate season? With virtual touring and an eye on the weather, this can be the most wonderful time of the year to buy a house. Contact us today to explore local PA homes available to fall in love with this winter.