Winter is often considered a slow season in real estate, but it doesn’t have to be.
In fact, the final quarter of the year presents unique opportunities to stand out in a less crowded market. With the right strategies, you can leverage the winter months to sell homes and finish the year on top.
Embrace Winter Staging
While the weather may be colder, it’s an opportunity to create a warm, inviting atmosphere that appeals to buyers.
Highlight cozy features like fireplaces, updated heating systems, and energy-efficient windows. Use holiday decor sparingly to add charm and show how the home can be a welcoming space during the festive season.
Staging with warm tones, soft lighting, and plush textures can help buyers envision the property as a comfortable retreat in the colder months.
Click Here to See various Holiday postcard series!
Leverage Virtual Tours
With shorter daylight hours and unpredictable weather, virtual tours become a valuable tool in winter.
Offering high-quality, immersive virtual tours allows potential buyers to view homes from the comfort of their own space, minimizing the challenges of scheduling in-person visits.
This is especially useful for out-of-town buyers or those with tight year-end schedules.
Capitalize on Motivated Buyers and Sellers
Year-end often brings urgency. Sellers may want to close deals before the new year for tax reasons, while buyers may be motivated to move quickly during the holiday season.
As an agent, you can highlight the benefits of closing deals in Q4 and position yourself as the expert in guiding them through this time-sensitive process.
With the right approach, winter can become a season of success, offering plenty of opportunities to keep your listings moving.
PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.
1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine
Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct, response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts and engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you. Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here
2.The Free 6-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan
The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 6-Month Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here
3. The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Review
The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Review allows you to enter your business goals for the remainder of the year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closings, and so on are needed to reach your goals. – Click Here
Remember last year, even possibly the year before, when the most burning question on the minds of real estate consumers was whether or not there would be a burst housing market bubble?
At that time, the media and economists detailed the reasons why the market then was nothing like that of 2008.
So what are these economists saying now?
Recently, Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, stated, “The recovery has not taken place, but the housing recession is over.”
During the NAR Forecast Summit on August 2nd, Lawrence presented slides to support this claim, including one demonstrating inflation’s steady decline in recent months.
He elaborated, “Homebuilders are beginning to see some recovery happening. They are back to pre-covid activity. Furthermore, their stock prices are rising, and they are making profits”.
Yun emphasized, “Ask any home buyers across the country what their biggest frustration is; it’s lack of choices and lack of inventory.” What a great quote to share with potential home sellers.
The Local Real Estate Market Stats Series is shown above. To learn more, Click Here.
Whether we’re in another correction or are heading toward a stabilized market remains to be seen. Knowing the economic signs that help signal the direction the market is headed can be empowering information to share with your market.
The number of home sales is but one metric
One of the early signs of a potential housing market correction is a significant decline in home sales. When the demand for housing weakens, and buyers hesitate to enter the market, especially across multiple regions, it suggests a broader trend signaling an impending market correction.
What do foreclosure rates tell us
A consistent decline in home prices, coupled with other factors, can signal a housing market correction. As you know, a prolonged period of declining home prices can erode homeowner equity, increase foreclosure rates, and dampen consumer confidence.
Thankfully, “After steadily declining for seven months in a row, housing prices have increased for the second straight month,” according to Ruben Caginalp at BankRate.com, citing the latest Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index.
According to NAR, the median existing-home sale recently hit $410,200, which is the second-highest price ever recorded.
Attom Data Solutions reported “… a total of 95,712 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings during the first quarter of 2023, up 6 percent from the previous quarter,” according to their most recent Foreclosure Activity Report.
While those numbers pique our interest, they remain well below what we experienced during the 2008 housing market crash.
Pay attention to jobs numbers
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its jobs report once a month. You can find the calendar online at BLS.gov. It’s important to keep an eye on what’s happening with employment.
The overall health of the economy is intertwined with the housing market. During an economic downturn, job losses and rising unemployment rates can significantly impact the housing sector.
The stability and performance of the housing market have a profound impact on professionals who work in the industry, consumers, and the overall economy.
Given its significance, the question of whether there will be a housing market correction this year demands continued observance so you can counsel your market and keep any overinflated fears at bay.
PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.
1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine
Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts and engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you. Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here
2.The Free 6-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan
The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 6-Month Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here
3. The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Review
The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Review allows you to enter your business goals for the remainder of the year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals. – Click Here
4. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook
Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here
The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Review allows you to enter your business goals for the remainder of the year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closings, and so on are needed to reach your goals. – Click Here
