Winter Property Market - is it really a damp squib?

In areas of France which profit from Winter sports, this season is the most productive time for property sales.

However, the majority of France doesn’t have a snowy climate and lifestyle selling points often revolve around a blue sky, sunshine, outdoor life.

The onset of Winter creates an inclination to hibernate in front of the log fire, ignoring the grey skies and drop in temperature outdoors. It also gives many home sellers the prevailing preconception that the Winter is not a good time to sell.

While it is true to say that there are fewer property hunters during the Winter period, sellers frequently make the mistake of withdrawing from the market altogether, intending to put their property back on sale once Winter is over, thinking they have little, or no chance of selling until Spring is upon us.

This could leave you missing a golden opportunity chance to sell.

Here are some reasons to consider leaving your property on the market during Winter :-

1) Reduced Competition

If you buck the trend and remain on the market at a fair and attractive market price, you put yourself ahead of other sellers who choose not to do so. Your chances of selling remain a reality – not on the market, not selling!

2) Buyers are Serious

We have all come across, or at least heard about, the minority of viewers who have no real intention of buying, but are maybe living a pipe dream, or filling in a rainy day during their Summer holiday by property viewing – time wasters. Well during the Winter months you can almost guarantee that anyone planning a trip to view is a serious buyer. Any estate agent will tell you that viewers planning trips to view between Christmas and New Year, for example, will almost certainly offer on a property.

3) Consider the Wider Market

Property isn’t just sold to international buyers looking for a holiday home, or a permanent retirement home in a new country. Many French nationals (and non-French nationals) find themselves in a position where the need to move during the Winter months; change of job, need to change schools, parents needing care, illness, or retirement, just to name a few. If your property isn’t available to them during their period of “need to move”, you may have missed a good selling opportunity.

4) Forward Thinkers

Did you know that one of the highest hit rates for online property searches occurs on New Year’s Eve? Aside from that night in particular, many potential buyers surf the net during Winter months, researching suitable areas for property searches and making provisional lists of properties of interest, in preparation for planning their viewing schedule early Spring. Indeed, some even make a spur of the moment decision to bring forward their viewings, if they see a property sparking their interest and matching their search criteria. It could be yours!

5) The ‘See it Out of Season’ Strategy

Savvy buyers making a considered investment realise that a property viewed in peak Summer months may not offer the same lifestyle choices during the grey Winter months.

A bustling coastal holiday village may turn out to be closed and uninviting, even feel isolated, in Winter if the vast majority of property holders are second home owners, using their property for Summer vacations. Perhaps not the best place to buy a permanent residence.

Equally, buyers looking for a certain lifestyle need to satisfy themselves that their social lives won’t dry up simply because the sun isn’t shining.

Such buyers may well take the time to visit their chosen areas over a year, to check out suitability in all seasons. A property satisfying their needs during Winter can often be the one they decide to offer on.

6) Price Perception

Everyone likes to feel they have bought with value for money and buyer perception is that they can certainly achieve this by buying a property out of peak season. In reality, any serious buyer will pay a reasonable market rate on a suitable property, regardless of season, but if you are in the position of offering your property for sale at market rate in the winter, leaving yourself some flexibility on price for negotiation, yours could be the one perceived as their value for money choice.

Summary:

Indeed, there are many reasons why you should seriously consider leaving your property on the market during the Winter period and if you do, provided you still take positive steps to present it looking as appealing as possible, despite grey skies and dull rainy days, you will certainly increase your chances of selling.

Make the most of every opportunity to attract a buyer – winter outdoor planting, clever indoor lighting, a roaring log fire, scent of fresh coffee brewing, eliminating soggy pet smells and emphasising the positives of your property and the local area, despite the inclement weather, can all help attract an acceptable offer, to get you on the move to the next chapter of your life.