When the snow starts to cover the ground around the holiday season, the real estate market takes on a different form. In the summer, buyers are active, and you may see interest from many different types of buyers. In the winter, the remaining buyers have a different perspective. Once the summer rush slows down and cold weather sets in, the people left searching for a house are serious. Buyers that are willing to stick it out through the cold, wet, snowy days are ready to buy a home ASAP. Sellers must be prepared and ready to move quickly if they plan to sell their homes in the winter. Below are some helpful hints to make your home stand out to buyers during the winter season. 

Mix-Up Your Marketing

The winter weeds out the less motivated buyers, so people who show interest in the winter are serious about buying a home. This means that your marketing strategy should cater more toward those who still remain. 

Refresh Your Posts with New Photos

If your home was listed in the summer or fall, you might need to freshen up some of your photos. If there's snow on the ground when the buyer does their research, but your images show a picture in the heat of the summer, they may wonder why your home has been on the market for so long. Adjusting your marketing with more recent photos may avoid any unwanted questions. You can still keep your old summer photos up as well. They will give the buyer an idea of what your property looks like in the summer. Just be sure to occasionally update the post so it doesn't show that your home has been listed for a long time. 

Increase Your Social Media Presence

Another strategy may be to up your social media presence to draw more attention to your home. People are less likely to drive around town to look at for-sale homes in the winter. Besides, there are typically fewer people searching for homes in the winter anyway. There are still plenty of buyers surfing the web for new listings, and they could reach out to you at any point. Continually updating your listing to be at the top of buyers' feeds is the best way to draw attention to your home when it's cold outside.

Keep Your Driveway and Sidewalk Clear

Curb appeal is a little different in the winter. In the summer, you can have a pristine yard with wonderful landscaping. As soon as it gets cold, all of your beautiful plants get covered in frost and snow. Keeping up with snow removal is an excellent alternative to the typical curb appeal you hear about when it's warmer. 

Buyers probably don't want to hike through snow and ice to tour a home. If you can keep your driveway and sidewalk clear of any snow or debris, that will leave a great first impression. It may sound weird because buyers shouldn't care about snow in the driveway. It's about the home, right? Well, studies have shown that there's a lot more you can do to sell your home besides keeping the inside neat and tidy. Putting in the extra work outside might increase traffic to your home and create a more inviting atmosphere. 

You could always hire a snow removal company to clean up your driveway after every snow. That would save you some time and give your back a break. If you choose to do it yourself, be sure to clear more than enough space for other cars and have a clean walkway to your front door. The more comfortable you make it to get into your home, the more likely you are to have increased buyer interest. 

Make Your Home Warm and Cozy

Once you get buyers in the door, there are several ways you can make them feel more at home. Realtors agree that buyers are looking for a home that makes them feel warm and cozy, especially when it's cold outside. Make comfortability your number one priority when staging your home and inviting buyers over for tours. Here are a few tips for conducting a tour in the winter:

Keep the Heat Up

If you're like me, you like to conserve your heat and save some money on utilities. In the winter, as long as your home is above 65 degrees, that's good enough, right? When you're inviting people over to your place for a tour, you might consider cranking the heat up to a temperature that will be more comfortable for your guests. A cold home might raise some questions about the insulation or how well the heater is working. 

Eliminating any cold air drafts is a good way to conserve energy, but you probably don't want buyers to see all of your draft stoppers. Draft stoppers can be another turnoff, so try not to cut any corners. Keep the heat running and get rid of anything that might indicate a cold home. A comfy cozy house is what most buyers are looking for in the winter.  

Take Advantage of the Fireplace

Fireplaces are a major attraction in the winter. You can add to the ambiance and contribute to the cozy theme by throwing a log on the fire. Even if you don't have a fire burning for every tour, definitely consider making the fireplace a focal point of that room. Fireplaces are trendy and make everyone feel cozy when they're around one. An added bonus is you can utilize the fireplace to cut back on heating costs. 

Offer Baked Cookies and Hot Coffee/Chocolate

Sellers typically provide a snack for buyers during an open house. You can take that a step further and offer snacks that go along with the cozy theme. There's nothing better than a cup of hot cocoa on a chilly afternoon. Have them sit by the fireplace on a comfy sofa with a warm mug of cocoa, and they can invasion themself in the home already. The added sensation of brewing coffee or baking cookies is the wonderful aroma that will fill the air when your guests arrive. Setting the entire scene and making them feel cozy through all of their senses is the goal here. 

Use Pops of Color to Brighten the Mood

Winter days can be dark, dull, and dreary. Lighting up the room as much as you can make buyers feel merry and bright rather than dark and gloomy. Turning on all the lights and even turning on a lamp or two can lighten up a room and make the buyer feel more welcome. Utilize as much natural light as you can, too. Any attempt to make the buyer feel excited and energized rather than gloomy can give them a better feeling about the home. 

Look out for Possible Issues 

Unfortunately, winter also brings out some problems that you might not notice in warm weather. Pipes may leak when they get frozen and melt, or you might discover that your heater doesn't work as well as you'd like. Keep an eye out for a potential issue that an inspection might find so you can fix it before the buyer makes an offer. Buyers in the winter are serious and like to move quickly, so be sure to stay on top of any issues that might result from the cold weather.