Winter Weather hurting the housing market
By Matt Blanchette
@mattblanchette
The winter of 2015 is making it even more challenging to sell a home. The massive amount of snow and ice is causing headaches for buyers, sellers and agents.
“It took me a while to decide to sell after being here for so long. And I was like now it’s time.”
After 43 years in her Smithfield home Joan Hoard finally decided it was time to sell about a month ago. A week after her decision, her home was damaged.
“I tried to step on the floor and there is water all over the place.”
It was ice damming. Insurance will pay for the damage, but all real estate showings were canceled. And now the house cannot be sold until the ice melts.
“What do you do? You just sit and wait and get frustrated,” Hoad said.
Hoard’s realtor Nathan Clark of the Nathan Clark team says that is just one of the many issues he’s facing this winter.
“The biggest problem we are having right now is getting buyers into the property. We set up an appointment for a buyer to see the home and we get hammered with a snow storm and it keeps on postponing the showings for it,” Clark said.
Even the simplest things like keeping the for sale signs in front of the house clear are virtually impossible
“I truly think the plows have a fun time trying to hit these signs, we have lost quite a few signs this year,” Clark added.
Sellers who live out of state have added headaches that realtors can help deal with.
“We’ll inspect the property we will make sure the pipes are not being frozen, make sure that the heat is on and make sure that the property is in good shape when the buyers come to take a look at it.“
Clark says there are plenty of motivated buyers right now and he expects the market to thrive once we thaw out.
And for sellers like Hoard, spring can’t come soon enough.
