Rain, Rain...Go away.

It often seems like the weather has a major influence on the real estate market. You may think, nice weather, people go out, poor weather, people stay in. Or maybe you think, nice weather, people have other things to do rather than think about real estate. Or maybe you think, poor weather, people go out to houses as there is not much else to do. What about the cold? The snow? The heat?

Yes, I know it sounds complicated.

The fact is, people are looking to buy and sell real estate based on their personal needs and personal time frames. When someone puts a house on the market for sale or decides to buy a new house it can be triggered by many of lifes changes. New job. Loss of job. New child. Child moving off to college, or getting married. Inheritance. Etc.

The fact is (at least in the West Hartford and Greater Hartford market place) the Spring time is certainly the busier time for real estate. The flowers are in bloom. The grass is green (in most cases) and the leaves are on the trees. People are in good moods as the cold winter has past and the hot humid summer is not here yet. Buyers and sellers think about being in or out of their house before the new school year starts. But they want to do it before summer vacation and camps set in.

The weather certainly does have an influence on how people looking for real estate spend their time. This past weekend I hosted an open house here in town. I had a steady flow of people through. It was a fairly rainy day. When I asked people if the weather sent the to my open house, I got a variety of responses. Some said "yes." Others said "no." Some were/are really looking to buy a house. Others said there was nothing else to do and they enjoy looking at houses on Sunday.

So in conclusion, I really do think the weather plays a role. However, life brings us changes and often times, no matter what the weather is, real estate is involved in the changes we encounter.