As most savvy buyers and sellers know, spring is the peak season for home sales. But job and lifestyle changes can sometimes make it imperative to sell during the winter months. Our Northwest winters can make it difficult for your home to look its best and attract those buyers who, like you, need to relocate in the winter. The following steps can help brighten your home and make it appealing to potential buyers.

Make Your Home Accessible

Make sure there is always a clear path to your door by continually shoveling a path through snow or debris and always make sure the sidewalk and any steps are not slippery from rain or ice. When in doubt, sprinkle a layer of sand to ensure stable footing. If you are holding an open house on a rainy day, put a rubber mat by the front door and a container to hold wet umbrellas.

Create a Warm Welcome

On cold, damp days, keep your home a degree or two warmer than usual and set the thermostat to maintain that temperature so that visitors feel a welcoming warmth when they enter your home, especially during an open house.

A higher temperature setting will also ensure that the heat won’t kick on when a potential buyer is present, which is especially important if you have a loud HVAC system. A toasty, warm house will also give a buyer more motivation to linger and give the house serious consideration. If you have a fireplace, a cozy fire can also create a mood of comfort and homey charm.

Keep it Light

Pull up blinds and open shutters. Make sure drapes are pulled back on all the windows to let in as much light as possible. The only exception to that rule would be open blinds that reveal undesirable outdoor scenery. The idea is to create an open, airy feeling in your home. Turn on every light in the house, including appliance lights and closet lights. This will help even a house with limited windows appear bright and cheerful.

You can also brighten darker rooms by adding a few spotlights on the floor behind furniture. The one light you want to keep off, however, is the light from the TV. You want potential buyers to be concentrating on the merits and features of your home and not the score of the game! For the outside of your home, consider motion sensors to light up the walkway or the front door area for when a buyer approaches the house.

Appeal to the Senses

Music playing softly can enhance the mood of the house, but don’t use a commercial radio station. Instead, have light and unobtrusive music continuously playing during a showing or open house. To make the house seem appealing all year round, display photographs showcasing your summer flower garden or the back deck with charming flower pots on it.

Pleasing smells are another effective tool when showing a house, but be careful, many people are allergic to certain scents and deodorizers. So instead of air fresheners or burning candles, bake cookies or heat apple cider with cinnamon. But be prepared to offer these treats to your guests, or the appetizing odors may make them eager to leave and get a treat of their own!

New analysis from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) shows how rising home prices, mortgage rates, and property taxes are pushing more households out of the housing market—both nationally and here in Washington. Nationally, about 65% of U.S. households are already unable to afford a median-priced new home, and in Washington state, every $1,000 increase in the price of a median-priced new home prices an additional 2,070 households out of the market, including 982 households in the Seattle-metro area alone.

The NAHB “priced-out” analysis illustrates how even modest price increases can have outsized impacts in high-cost regions, while rising construction costs, fees, and regulatory requirements often amplify final home prices and further constrain housing supply. Read the full NAHB analysis and explore state and metro-level data through NAHB’s interactive affordability dashboard.

Q: My roof is leaking badly and repairs haven’t worked. Can I have my roof replaced during winter?

A: Yes! Roofing contractors need to work in the winter months just like anyone else, and some roofers prefer the cooler conditions compared to summer, when it can get very hot up there. Waiting until spring to deal with that leak will just make the problem worse, putting your home in danger of developing more water damage, possible rot, and even mold. Scheduling a roof replacement now will not only lower the risk of damages, but will also keep you and your family dry and warm all season long.

Why Replace Your Roof Now?

Replacing a roof in winter means you will get the best prices, as well as your choice of the best roofing contractors. Work can be limited during the winter season and since contractors must compete for work, they may lower prices to get the job. You can also beat the material price increase that happens every spring. And because business is slower in the winter, the roofing contractor you choose might be able to install your new roof in a matter of days or weeks, as opposed to months. For many homeowners, this quick timing is reason enough to have a job done in the winter.

Does the Weather Affect Installation?

Northwest winters are typically very mild compared to other parts of the country, so the temperature rarely affects the proper installation of most roofing products. And a qualified contractor will not recommend a product that shouldn’t be installed if it is too cold out. Homeowners and roofing contractors’ main concern while re-roofing in the winter months is how to tear off a roof and keep the rain from getting in. Experienced contractors will tear off only a section or sections of the roof that can be properly dried-in right away, eliminating any risk of water damage. Even though it does rain a lot here, there are plenty of dry gaps in the weather that allow for a qualified contractor to make progress with minimal risk. With access to weather apps and radar on mobile devices, contractors on site know exactly how much time they have before the next round of precipitation sets in.

Material Recommendations

Many roofing materials can be installed safely during winter. The most common types are asphalt shingles and cedar shake, along with many styles of metal roofing. Metal roofs aren’t vulnerable to damage from the cold, which means that the installation process isn’t affected in winter. Asphalt shingles can be installed during winter as well, although roofers must take certain precautions to prevent shingles from breaking or not adhering properly. Synthetic felt underlayment installed under the roofing material acts as a weather barrier and does not buckle like asphalt-saturated felt when exposed to precipitation.

For low slope or flat roofs, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and thermoplastic olefin (TPO) flat roof systems can also be installed safely during winter. Flat roofs are more difficult to dry-in, however, so work should be scheduled only when there isn’t any chance of precipitation.

Don’t Wait—Get Your New Roof Now!

Don’t let winter weather stop you from re-roofing your home. To determine if a winter re-roof is necessary, contact a professional roofer in your area. Factors that warrant immediate re-roofing are extreme leaking, excessive shingle blow off, a compromised roof structure, or repair attempts that have failed, to name a few.

Scott Morrison of Tekline Roofing, a member of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBAKS). If you have a home improvement, remodeling, or residential homebuilding question you’d like answered by one of MBAKS’ nearly 3,000 members, write to homework@mbaks.com.