In the last article we discussed preparing and staging your home, today let’s discuss marketing it during fall and winter. To review, home sales have become considerably less seasonal as people have become more mobile in their professional lives and save summer for recreation and travel. But are the shopping habits different in fall and winter?

Cyber Selling 

One great tool becomes even greater in winter - the internet. While in summer people may go out driving to look at houses, in less desirable weather those same people will turn to the internet to shop for houses.

Sellers should ensure that photos capture the warmth of your home being too dark. Sunlight is a commodity in marketing houses in the fall and winter.

In homes with large rooms consider a virtual tour of the home. In homes with standard-sized or smaller rooms consider a slide show where single pictures around each room are bled together to give the impression the viewer is actually walking through.

Offer winter perks in your marketing

• In any season consumers love a freebie. What can you offer as a premium?
• A weekend at a nearby ski resort
• A month’s word of free heating
• Continuation of a snow removal contract
• A free cord of wood for a wood-stove

Use Creative Networking

• Send flyers to the major employers in your area
• Find out who the leading buyers’ agents are in your community and court them through phone, email, fax, and direct contract.
• Contact the off-campus housing at any local colleges or universities about posting a flyer there and maintain contact so that you stay at the top of their list of available homes.
• Contact agents who specialize in relocation and invite them to tour the house.

All these steps can be adjusted  to suit the unique needs of your home and using these steps as a foundation you can create a powerful and successful marketing plan for your winter sale.