Winter 2022 Home Buyers Face Unique Challenges, Experts Say

By Reeves Simmons.
Updated Feb 4, 2022

PHOENIX (PRWEB) February 04, 2022 - Bargain hunting home buyers often focus on winter or off-season months to maximize their purchasing power; however, home-buying experts recognize unique challenges for winter 2022.

The nonprofit National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA) surveyed members nationwide to gather information for consumers considering buying a home this winter.

The two-part survey sent to NAEBA members examined known issues that could complicate or derail a home search or transaction. It then ranked those issues most critical for consumers to understand if they are in the real estate market in the first quarter of 2022. The Winter 2022 Homebuying Report discusses the challenges and provides practical measures to overcome the home-buying obstacles NAEBA members identified.

The top challenge identified by NAEBA's exclusive buyer agents (78 percent) was a lack of inventory. The lack of available homes is unprecedented in nearly all real estate markets covered by NAEBA members.

Another challenge discussed in the report is assessing the condition of decks, roofs, porches, and exterior steps covered in snow and ice.

Cold weather is a factor too. Home inspectors should not test air conditioning systems when the temperature is below about 65 degrees. Residential air conditioning units are typically not designed to function at low temperatures. The system may sustain damage if air conditioning lubrication is too cold when turned on.

Sellers working from home poses an obstacle for prospective homebuyers who want to view a home during a weekday.

'Providing homebuyers with information to make informed decisions is at the core of what the consumer advocates at NAEBA do for their buyer clients every day,' Richard Rosa, NAEBA president, said. 'Our Winter 2022 Homebuying Report contains insightful details from real estate buyer agents who dedicate their careers to protecting home-buying consumers. The report is a must-read for homebuyers looking to buy this winter.'

The Winter 2022 Homebuying Report is available as a free PDF download at the NAEBA website: [https://naeba.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Winter-2022-NAEBA-Homebuying-Report.pdf A former NAEBA president and founding member, Jon Boyd, of The Home Buyer's Agent in Ann Arbor, MI, drafted the report.

About NAEBA: Members of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA) believe in a better way of working in the real estate industry. NAEBA members voluntarily dedicate their careers to exclusively representing home buyers, providing fiduciary-level duties to protect home-buying consumers.

Exclusive buyer agents are 100 percent loyal to home buyers 100 percent of the time and work at real estate brokerages that do not ever represent home sellers. NAEBA members are true buyer agents.

NAEBA members do not accept listings, advertise properties for sale, or represent home sellers. Its members avoid the conflicts of interest common at traditional real estate companies, which attempt to represent buyers and sellers in the same transaction.

Consumer advocates created NAEBA in the mid-1990s to fill the void faced by homebuyers and start a professional association that would provide home buyers with a higher standard of ethics.

NAEBA also matches home-buying consumers with its members around the country for no additional cost.