The conventional wisdom about real estate timing suggests waiting for spring’s warm weather and blooming landscapes before listing a home. According to Ryan Bruen of The Bruen Team at Coldwell Banker Realty in Morristown, New Jersey, conventional wisdom costs sellers opportunities.
“There really is not a bad time to sell your house,” Bruen explains. “It might seem a little cliché coming from a realtor, but there are different advantages and disadvantages of different times of year.”
The spring market attracts the most buyers, but it also brings the most competition. Winter listings, by contrast, face minimal competition yet still attract significant buyer activity, particularly in the current market.
The Serious Buyer Phenomenon
Winter buyers represent a fundamentally different demographic than casual spring shoppers. “You tend to see a more serious buyer,” Bruen notes. “You might not get as many active people through your showings and open houses, but the people you are getting tend to be more serious about buying a home.”
This selectivity benefits sellers. Rather than hosting dozens of lookers with no intention to purchase, winter listings attract buyers with genuine motivation and urgency.
The current market amplifies this pattern. “We’ve had very low inventory,” Bruen observes. “We’ve got a lot of people that are still looking for houses this winter, more so than typical.”
Two specific groups drive winter buyer activity: those who started searching in fall without finding suitable properties, and those who delayed fall searches due to economic uncertainty but are now ready to move forward.
When Exterior Features Don’t Matter
Sellers often worry that winter conditions disadvantage properties with outdoor amenities. Bruen acknowledges this concern has merit in specific cases. “If you have a steep driveway, if you have a swimming pool and a phenomenal backyard oasis, yeah, maybe you should wait until the spring or summer to get your home on the market.”
But even these seeming disadvantages can be overcome with strategic marketing. Bruen points to two recent January listings that defied conventional seasonal wisdom.
The first: a property with a steep driveway that went on the market during a snowstorm and achieved a record sale for the neighborhood.
The second: a home with exceptional outdoor features, including a half-court basketball court, swimming pool, four and a quarter acres, outdoor dining areas, beehives, and wildflower gardens. “We put that home on the market in the middle of January, and it also snowed the day it came on the market,” Bruen recalls.
The solution involved advanced preparation. “We prepared the marketing for that home at the beginning of September. We came in with photographers and videographers.” The resulting materials showcased summer conditions, with footage playing on loop on televisions throughout the home during winter showings.
This approach actually created urgency among certain buyers. “Those people who really want to get in before that season starts can get a full season out of enjoyment in those exterior home features,” Bruen explains.
The Upsizer Opportunity
Winter presents unique psychological advantages for homes appealing to families needing more space. “What better time to realize you need more space than in the winter when it’s snowing on the ground, it’s cold, and you are stuck inside with a bunch of kids who are running around yelling and screaming and bored?” Bruen asks.
Families cramped in undersized homes during the winter months become highly motivated buyers for properties offering separate play spaces, multiple living areas, and room for children to spread out without distracting their parents.
“What better time than in the middle of winter for these people to come out and start dreaming about what hibernation could be like in a home that has room for all their toys and everybody to have their separate space?” Bruen notes.
Market Timing and Competition
Beyond buyer quality and motivation, winter listings benefit from reduced seller competition. The spring market follows a predictable pattern: many sellers list in March or April, all targeting the same seasonal peak.
“The spring is when everybody thinks it’s the best time because there are the most buyers out, but there’s also the most competition,” Bruen explains.
Sellers who can position themselves ahead of this crowd capture buyer attention before inventory floods the market. Properties that might compete with dozens of similar listings in April can dominate their category in January or February.
Preparation Requirements Remain
Winter listings still require the same preparation as spring sales. Homes must be clean, decluttered, and market-ready regardless of season. “Barring certain features, there’s not necessarily a good reason why you should wait,” Bruen says.
The preparation timeline becomes even more critical for winter listings, as sellers must account for potential weather disruptions to contractor schedules and photography appointments.
Looking Ahead to 2026
Early market indicators suggest 2026 will bring increased activity compared to 2025’s historically low transaction volumes. “Just a day or two after the New Year holiday, I saw a fair amount of homes coming on the market and sellers reaching out,” Bruen reports.
This anticipated uptick makes the winter listing strategy even more valuable. Sellers who act now position themselves to capture motivated buyers before the spring rush intensifies competition.
The bottom line: successful selling depends less on season than on preparation, pricing, and positioning. Winter listings that execute these fundamentals well consistently outperform spring listings that rely on weather and flowers to compensate for strategic deficiencies.
“Unless you have any really outstanding exterior features or detriments, there’s not necessarily a whole lot of downside to being on the market in the winter,” Bruen concludes. The upside – serious buyers, minimal competition, and motivated purchasing decisions – often outweighs any seasonal concerns.
Ryan Bruen heads The Bruen Team at Coldwell Banker Realty in Morristown, New Jersey, where he specializes in serving buyers and sellers throughout Morris County. The multi-generational real estate family has maintained the #1 sales position at their Coldwell Banker office for over seven years. The team recently launched enhanced online resources, including market calculators and educational content at bruenrealestate.com.
Disclosure: Individuals or companies mentioned may have a commercial relationship with KeyCrew.
