Abby Badach Doyle

A lot of it is just human behavior.

Winter is hibernation season and, you know, we have the holidays and then in January you might need time to recover from the holidays.

And just in general, people don't love moving when it's dark and cold and possibly snowing.

Parents tend to avoid pulling their kids out of school mid middle of the year.

And all of that kind of leads to a general sense of like, well, if we've made it this far, like we might as well just wait till spring.

I'd say buyers tend to benefit the most from less competition.

That's a big advantage.

And there might be fewer homes for sale, but they tend to stay on the market longer in the winter.

So in the winter, buyers have a better shot when they want to make an offer.

Like in peak season, you might be competing with a handful of offers, but in the winter, you might be one of two offers or maybe even the only one.

In the winter, you really have to do your due diligence at the walkthrough and at the home inspection.

Snow and ice can hide a lot of major issues.

For a recent NerdWallet story, I interviewed a real estate broker from Valdez, Alaska, and she tells her buyers, when the snow melts, am I going to find an old car hiding out there in the woods?

Your surprise reveal might not be that dramatic, but even a little bit of snow can hide major problems with a property.

Things like roof or siding damage, cracks in the driveway or in the sidewalks, drainage problems in the yard, or even septic system issues.

Yes to the vibe check.

And if you do spot a major issue, remember that sellers who list in the winter are often pretty eager to sell.

So if you get an estimate saying this will be a $10,000 repair, a motivated seller might be willing to negotiate with you on the asking price or even offer to cover the cost of that repair.

Things are pretty stable right now, Ana.

As of the end of January, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was right around 6%.