ADVERTISEMENT
For those of us lucky enough to be selling houses in the Northern and colder areas of the country, most of us are seeing below freezing temperatures and plenty of snow. (Forecast for this week is 20 degrees, 0 degrees, and 8 degrees! Oh boy!) While most of us who have lived in cold climates for a long time know how to get by in the winter months, there are a few unique challenges of selling real estate in the middle of winter and so I’m sharing my winter safety tips and tricks to keep you safe – and make sure the snow and ice doesn’t slow you down from selling any houses or marketing!
Here are My Winter Survival Tips for Real Estate Agents:
1. Buy Kitty Litter: I know kitty litter seems like a strange thing to have: what in the earth would you do with kitty litter? Well, if you keep a 5 pound bag of it in your trunk and find yourself stuck in a driveway with clients, you can sprinkle it under your tires to get some traction to hopefully get unstuck without much embarrassment. It comes in handy even when you’re not with clients too!
2. Buy Proper Footwear: Many sellers do not take a whole lot of care in making sure their walks are shoveled and salted, especially if the home is vacant. Having good shoes will keep you standing! I did work with a few friends who could trek down an icy driveway in 3 inch heels…but not me! From working in restaurants in high school and college I found the best shoes for ice and snow are the same shoes that cooks and wait staff wear, commonly called “Tred Safes”. You can get a cheap pair at Wal-mart, or head over onto Amazon and see their slip resistant shoes
3. Speaking of Tires…: Make sure your tires for your vehicle are not worn down and properly inflated. Icy roads can make a car with bald tires lose control very quickly.
4. Leave Early for Appointments: You never know what the roads might be like just 5 to 10 minutes down the road from you – so always give yourself a little extra time in case of traffic accidents and so you can drive slowly and safer. Remember, even a car with 4 wheel drive needs to slow down on icy roads!
5. :Be Careful of What You Leave in the Car: Cold temperatures will destroy your keypad, cell phone, and other electronic items, so make sure you never leave them in the car. You’ll also want to be careful about things like beverages or anything else that might freeze and leak.
6. Show houses in daylight if possible: While the days are slowly getting longer, for many of us it is still dark before dinner time. Showing houses in the day time will prevent you from not being able to see icy spots on the road or on paths. If you do show houses at night, be sure you have flashlights just in case. (You should have a good flashlight in your car at all times anyways – my favorite are wind-up flashlights
7. Get Enough Sleep and Eat Well: Cold weather and long winters can zap the energy right out of us. Getting enough sleep at night and eating healthy can make a big difference in whether you have the energy to actually motivate yourself out of the house or not. It can also help you be more alert and focused when driving, which can help prevent you from being in an accident.
Do you have any other winter survival tips for real estate agents? Share your tips and tricks in the comments below. Or if you’re lucky enough to be in a warm climate, feel free to rub it in about how thankful you are its sunny and 80 degrees out today! You might also want to check out our post on real estate safety tips to practice everyday!
One Comment
I am surprised that no one commented on this. I grew up in MN and I can relate to the coldest that is experience by agents in colder region. For me the worst thing was driving on icy roads and I have witness many flipped cars or cars spun out of control. I feel for the safety on the roads for the agents because they have to drive around so much.