{"id":23258,"date":"2013-12-19T12:00:46","date_gmt":"2013-12-19T17:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/upstater.com\/?p=23258"},"modified":"2013-12-17T10:56:05","modified_gmt":"2013-12-17T15:56:05","slug":"how-to-go-house-hunting-upstate-in-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/upstater.com\/how-to-go-house-hunting-upstate-in-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Go House Hunting Upstate in Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>David Knudsen, an associate broker with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.catskill4sale.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Catskills Buyer Agency <\/a>in Sullivan County, has some insider tips for snow-season house-hunting. Knudsen has worked as an exclusive buyer agent since 2001, focusing on the second home market, and has served on the boards of the Sullivan County Board of Realtors and the Sullivan County Multiple Listing Service.<\/em><\/p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-23293\" alt=\"winter_house_catskills\" src=\"http:\/\/upstater.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/winter_house_catskills-490x367.jpg\" width=\"490\" height=\"367\" \/>\n<p>Lots of folks take time off around the holidays, and want to fill some of those days with an upstate house hunting trip. But house shopping in the winter is a somewhat different animal than looking at houses during warmer weather. It\u2019s very doable \u2014 in fact, January and February are among the busiest months in the second home market \u2014 but you have to be prepared.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest difference? The weather. The weather upstate in the Hudson Valley and Catskills can be very different than the weather around New York City. We might get a foot of snow when only a few inches fall in Central Park. (Sometimes the opposite is true, particularly with Nor\u2019Easters, when more snow falls downstate than upstate.) Snow in the forecast is not a reason to not plan a trip (unless it\u2019s an impending Snowmageddon). But stay in close contact with the Realtor you\u2019re working with to make the go or no-go call. They see the conditions on the ground, and more importantly, know the roads you\u2019ll be driving. If they caution that it doesn\u2019t look good, don\u2019t push because it\u2019s the only day you have free for the next three weeks to make a trip.<\/p>\n<p>When you do come up, be prepared for winter driving. Don\u2019t think that just because you have an all wheel drive vehicle that you\u2019re invincible. Keep some sand and a small shovel in your car in case you get stuck. In my experience, people get into trouble because they drive beyond the limits of what they and their car are capable of. If your Realtor suggests leaving your car at the bottom of an unplowed drive, listen to them. Most of us can eyeball a drive for slope, snow depth and snow type, and know what will make it up and what won\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>On winter trips, you may need to make adjustments to your carefully curated list of houses to see, depending on conditions. When snow falls overnight, most public roads are cleared by late morning, but it may take longer for the crews to get to some of the more secondary back roads or roads in private communities. If I hit a road that\u2019s iffy, I may pull a house from the trip and move on to the next one. That\u2019s one reason it can be better to work with a single Realtor in an area in the winter, because they can more easily make on-the-fly changes to an itinerary.<\/p>\n<p>When house shopping in the winter, overdress. Comfort trumps style. Some of the houses you\u2019re visiting may be unheated, and something that Realtors know well is that it can be colder inside an unheated house than outside. Also, driveways, walkways and stairs at unoccupied houses are often not plowed or shoveled. Wear the tallest winter boots you have, because you may well be tromping through some deep snow. It\u2019s the perfect excuse to pick up that pair of Hunter boots you\u2019ve been eyeing. Stashing a pair of dry socks and extra gloves in your bag is a good idea, too.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of those unheated houses, they\u2019ve been \u2018winterized\u2019 with their water shut off, and even in some houses with low heat, the water is off to minimize any damage from frozen pipes. So always ask before using the bathroom in a house. If you\u2019re meeting a Realtor directly at a house, rather than at their office, don\u2019t assume the plumbing will be on. If you need to, make a pit stop at a gas station on the way.<\/p>\n<p>Children generally have less house hunting stamina in the winter, so if they\u2019re tagging along plan a shorter trip. Also, tell your Realtor that you\u2019re bringing your children (and their ages) so he or she can adjust timing. Tromping through snow can be tough for little ones, so be ready for a carry or two. If you do bring kids, plan like you would for a day in the snow, not a day at the mall. I can\u2019t tell you how many times I\u2019ve heard parents wish that they hadn\u2019t left the snowsuits at home.<\/p>\n<p>Winter can be a great time to shop for houses. Upstate Realtors (outside of the main ski areas) have more time. The snow covered landscape is beautiful and you can get a better feel for land and views when the leaves are off the trees. But you just need to plan right, slow down, bundle up and stay flexible.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>David Knudsen, an associate broker with Catskills Buyer Agency in Sullivan County, has some insider tips for snow-season house-hunting. Knudsen has worked as an exclusive buyer agent since 2001, focusing on the second home market, and has served on the boards of the Sullivan County Board of Realtors and the Sullivan County Multiple Listing Service. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Go House Hunting Upstate in Winter - Upstater<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/upstater.com\/how-to-go-house-hunting-upstate-in-winter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Go House Hunting Upstate in Winter - Upstater\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"David Knudsen, an associate broker with Catskills Buyer Agency in Sullivan County, has some insider tips for snow-season house-hunting. Knudsen has worked as an exclusive buyer agent since 2001, focusing on the second home market, and has served on the boards of the Sullivan County Board of Realtors and the Sullivan County Multiple Listing Service. 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