Benefits of Selling Your Home in the Winter

If you are one of the many people who have a need to sell your home during the winter months, and yes even during the holiday season, don’t be dismayed. Although it typically is best to sell a home during the spring and summer months, certainly selling your home in the winter months has a few benefits as well. It may be a bit discouraging to think about scheduling visits to your home from potential buyers in the midst of a chilling winter season and during your holiday festivities but indeed it can be done.

Though the mere thought of going through the hassles of selling your home during the holidays is frightening, the truth is that there are actually benefits to this timeline.

Benefits of Selling Your Home in the Winter Months

The folks here at From the Ground Up Inspections are every bit familiar with the elements of selling a house as we are with the important elements of performing a home inspection. Our experts here recognize that for many people, selling their home in the winter time is a challenging thought, but we thought we would share some insight with you as to the benefits that present themselves when selling your home during the holidays and in the winter time.

To begin with, as we all know, in the spring time the market for houses gets flooded with activity which means that every home for sale is just ‘another home for sale.’ However, if you choose to or need to sell your home in the winter then chances are you will have pretty much of the entire market to yourself. Anyone in search of a home during this timeframe is apt to take notice of your house for sale since the number of houses available during the winter months is very minimal. With that said, you have a greater chance of selling your home quickly since the market is not overrun with activity at this time.

In addition, the potential buyers are desperate to make a purchase and will ultimately jump all over any houses that are for sale in the months of December, January and February. Statistics tell us that homes that are listed in the winter tend to sell within a few months and have a minimal presence in the market as compared to homes sold in the spring, summer or fall which means that winter sellers tend to get better results than those houses listed during other times of the year.

Finally, if you think about it, if someone is out and about in the frigid winter weather in search of a home, then surely they are serious about buying. More often than not, buyers in the winter months are working up against some type of a definite deadline to buy. Perhaps they have a lease that is running out, are relocating due to a job, or they were selling their own home and now have a buyer in place.

If you are listing your home in the winter months, then we here at From the Ground Up Inspections hope that our insight has offered you some peace of mind about your home sale. And don’t forget, when its time for the inspection of your home, be certain to reach out to our friendly professional staff for all your inspection needs. Our inspectors are all licensed and certified and committed to providing superior services to all our valued clients. Yes, it’s winter and the holidays are upon us. From our little family here at From the Ground Up Inspections to your family, we send along wishes for a healthy, safe and Merry Christmas and holiday season.

Attic Fans and Winter Ice Dams

Winter is certainly a challenging time of year from severe storms, icy driving conditions, and even ice dams that cause a great deal of problems and costly repairs. Icicles that are hanging over the edges of your home’s roof are beautiful to look at in the wintertime, but when they begin to melt and water gets trapped behind the ice, then the water can leak into your home causing all sorts of problems. Ice dams truly create dangerous conditions and damages to your home that require costly repairs.

What Causes Ice Dams?

The three primary causes of ice dams are insufficient insulation in the attic, poor attic ventilation, and/or air leaks in the attic. If homeowners are wise enough to resolve these three issues long before the cold winter months set in then the probability of ice dams forming is little to none. Attic ventilation is a very important component of every home and is required by code, but it is important that you have the appropriate amount of attic ventilation in order to keep the attic cool but not too cold. Typically, when there is appropriate insulation in an attic and there are no air leaks, the amount of ventilation required to keep the attic cold enough is minimal.

The experts here at From the Ground Up Inspections have encountered many a homeowner who believes that inadequate attic ventilation is the ultimate cause of their troublesome ice dams, which leads them to attempt all kinds of absurd solutions for increasing air flow in their attics. With that said, we would advise homeowners to look into attic fans that are specifically made for attic ventilation and not try to implement their own do it yourself solution to the problem. In addition to these attic ventilation fans, there are also solar powered fans that are available on the market today that greatly contribute to proper ventilation in your home’s attic.

We strongly suggest, however, that, while attic fans will accomplish the task of sucking air out of your attic, they present yet another problem – replacement of the air into the attic. If you install attic fans and they remove the air out of the attic, then you have to ask yourself where the air will come from that should be replaced back into the attic. Many times this air will come from attic leaks and surely if your home has a problem with ice dams, then much of this replaced air flow will come from attic leaks.

When ice dams are present, it is critical that homeowners give primary attention to fixing their abundant air leaks and installing sufficient insulation into their attics. Once you are able to seal off all the leaks and have installed appropriate insulation you will find that you have resolved the issue of ice dams. Therefore, the professionals here at From the Ground Up Inspections do not think it necessary to purchase attic fans nor should you use existing attic fans, but rather have them removed and add proper ventilation to avoid any ongoing problems with ice dams and install appropriate insulation as well.

Though many homeowners have been led to believe that attic fans are an absolute plus, whether in the winter or summer months, they are truly not effective nor efficient at all and are not the best possible solution by any means. In the winter months, as we have suggested above, sealing off any leaks, installing adequate insulation and ensuring proper ventilation in your attic are a sure fire solution to all your ice dams and water leak problems this winter. When performing home inspections, we certainly give attention to the condition and overall presence of the attic and ensure that there are no air leaks and that proper ventilation and insulation are in place. As inspectors, we certainly know much about the topic at hand and are happy to share our knowledge and advice with all our clients, old and new.