Advantages of Buying a House in Winter

If a new home is currently on your wish list, you may be planning to start your house hunt in the new year. After all, spring and summer are typically the most popular seasons for homebuying. However, we encourage you to buck that trend and consider purchasing your new abode before December comes to a close! Buying a house in winter can offer many unexpected advantages and opportunities, so don’t rule out the season just yet.

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest benefits of buying a home at the end of the year.

Less competition

As we mentioned above, many prospective homebuyers get serious about searching in the spring or early summer. You can probably imagine the kind of challenges you’d face if you followed suit—scrambling to book home tours, competing against multiple other offers, potentially paying more than you intended in order to secure the home (if it’s a resale). Beyond that, it may be more difficult to schedule meetings and tours with your real estate agent if they have a lot of other clients.

Why not avoid those hassles and start your new home search during a less popular time of year? While not guaranteed, you may find that it’s easier to tour homes, find time with your agent and lock down your next house by the new year.

More savings opportunities

You may also find more ways to save money when buying a house in the winter. For resale homes, motivated sellers might be compelled to lower their listing price in order to sell before the year ends, particularly if they’re seeing less foot traffic. If you’re interested in buying new, builders and lenders often offer end-of-year incentives. This could include special financing rates, closing cost assistance, move-in packages, reduced pricing and other savings options. Considering a Richmond American home? Be sure to speak with a local New Home Specialist to see what offers are available in your area!

Quicker tax relief

When you buy a home, you may be able to enjoy certain tax benefits as a result. These can include deductions for mortgage interest, property taxes, discount points and other components of a home purchase. If you close on a house by December 31, you’ll have the chance to claim those deductions on your next tax return, yielding the advantages sooner rather than later. Waiting until the new year to buy a house would mean also having to wait until the following year’s tax season to enjoy potential deductions.

Chance to see home performance

Depending on your region, one of the lesser known advantages of buying a house in winter is the fact that you’ll get an idea of how the home performs in adverse weather. This is particularly relevant for buyers who live in/are planning to move to areas that experience “typical” winter weather—cold temps, snowfall, icy conditions, etc. Anyone buying a resale home, especially an older home, could also stand to benefit from this element of winter homebuying. You can see how well the house’s heating system works, whether the roof can withstand heavy snow, whether the doors and windows are properly sealed and other factors that could make or break your desire to purchase the property.

Shorter closing timeline

If you’re in a hurry to move, another benefit of winter homebuying is that the closing process can be quicker. With fewer buyers in the market during this time, lenders, appraisers, inspectors, insurance agents and title companies likely have a lighter workload—meaning they’ll have more time to help you through a faster and smoother closing period! You may not be competing for time as much as you would be in the spring or summer seasons.

Concerned about real estate inventory in the winter? We’ve got you covered! We have brand-new, designer-curated homes at communities across the country that can close by the end of the year. Check our website to see what’s available near you.

Closing dates are subject to change and cannot be guaranteed. Homebuyers may be limited in the structural changes, options and upgrades which can be made to homes.