Do Buyers House Hunt in the Snow?
Pictured above is a scene from my street during one of the three blizzards Northern Virginia experienced in the winter of 2009-2010. To think a buyer would be house hunting with two feet of snow on the ground may seem far fetched, but it happens.
No one expects buyers to be out during a snow event when visibility is low and roads may be in poor condition. However, once the storm is over and streets are passable, buyers who have higher tolerances for dealing with snow are likely to be out looking for homes…especially given that a snow storm may actually limit the competition many buyers are facing.
It was actually after the second blizzard of the 2009-2010 snow storm that I recommended to a buyer-client of mine that we keep our house hunting appointment. He was from New York and didn’t see a problem with it, but thought it unusual for Northern Virginia. While we were facing competition at the time, it was nowhere near what buyers are facing now. It gave him a leg up and he was able to go under contract without competition on a townhouse in Leesburg.
However, it was during that house hunt that a couple sellers assumed that we were not going to show up…simply because there was snow on the ground. They had not cancelled our appointments, but seemed put out when we did arrive for our scheduled showings. So while impending snow storms may be just what a desperate buyer needs, if you are a seller that doesn’t want showings during snow, you need to communicate to your listing agent and cancel showings if that is your wish. Snow doesn’t automatically taken everyone out of the house hunt.
Chris Ann Cleland
Associate Broker
VA License #0225089470
Long & Foster Real Estate
Call or Text: 703-402-0037
Email: ChrisAnn@LNF.com
www.UncompromisingValues.com
The opinions expressed in this blog are those of Chris Ann Cleland, not Long & Foster. All content is written by Chris Ann Cleland without the aid of artificial intelligence.