When Is the Best Time to Move In Wisconsin?
Steven Vertz
Wizards of Real Estate helps home sellers, home owners, home buyers, first-time home buyers, & investors better understand the Appleton, Wisconsin, real estate market before selling or buying a home.
It's common to think you should wait for the best time to take action, especially in today's Fox Cities real estate?market. You might be waiting for mortgage rates to go down or for home prices to decrease. You need to understand that trying to predict the market rarely succeeds. Here's the reason.??
No?market is perfect.?
When you decide you are ready to buy a home,?there will?always be?some advantages?and disadvantages,?and that's okay. That's how it is. If you're unsure about that, consider what happened with the Fox Cities housing market?over the last 5 years.?
A few years ago, borrowing rates reached their lowest point ever. Many buyers quickly bought homes to secure the lower interest rates. What is the side effect? With so many more buyers, the homes for sale were sold quickly. Because there were so few homes available, bidding wars?became common, and home prices soared. The buyers?got a good deal on interest rates, but they had other challenges to deal with.?
Now, with higher rates and higher prices, it’s more expensive to buy. That’s not up for debate. However, there are more homes for sale now than there have been in several years. This means you have more choices, and you're less likely to get into an intense bidding war for at least around another month or so in the Fox Cities real estate market. Once again, every market has its advantages and disadvantages.
3 Reasons to Buy a Fox Cities, Wisconsin?House?Before Spring
1. Fewer Fox Cities, WI Buyers Are Competing With YOU
The real estate market is usually slower during the winter months. There are fewer people searching for houses, so you will probably have less competition when you make an offer. This makes the process feel calmer and less hurried.The National Association of Realtors (NAR) says that homes take longer to sell in winter than in spring and summer?(Navigating the Housing Market: A Seasonal Perspective, 2024).
2. Greater Ability to Negotiate in the Fox Cities
Chen Zhao, an Economist at Redfin, says that:
“. . . buying during the off season means less competition from other buyers. That means potentially negotiating a better deal”?(Carbonaro, 2025).
3. Secure Today's Fox Cities, Wisconsin?Prices Before They Go Up
Home prices usually reach their lowest levels during the winter months. Data from NAR shows that home prices were lowest in January, February, and March last year, just before the spring buying season began?(Existing-Home Sales, 2025).
Buying a house in the Fox Cities, Wisconsin and surrounding areas?can be tough with today's mortgage?rates. You might be wondering, "Should I wait until spring when more homes?become available and rates might be lower?" The truth is, we don't know where mortgage rates will go next. If you wait, you might have to deal with more competition, higher costs, and added stress.
Two Helpful Resources for Buying a Fox Cities Home Now
A recent study from Realtor.com found that 20% of Americans believe owning a home is not possible (Jones, 2025). You might feel the same. Due to rising costs from inflation, it's harder to save enough money to buy your first home. But here's the point. With the right support and tools, you can achieve your goals.There are ways to help you buy a home today, even if you don't have a lot of savings or your credit isn't great. Let's look at two options that can help you buy your first home, regardless of the current market conditions.
1. FHA Loans in Wisconsin
If you don’t have enough savings for a down payment or a good credit score, an FHA loan might help you buy a home. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Bankrate?(n.d.) say that the main benefits of an FHA home loan are:
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Lower Down Payments and
Lower Credit Scores Requirements
2. Down Payment Assistance When Buying a Home
If you need a more affordable down payment, you have other options. Did you know that Down Payment Resource (2025) reported that there are more than 2,000 programs in the U.S. that help people buy homes? Over 75% of these programs aim to assist buyers with their down payment (Down Payment Resource, 2023).
More Reasons Why?People Are Choosing Multi-Generational Homes Today
Did you know that?17% of homebuyers are choosing multi-generational homes (i.e.?buying?a house with your parents, adult children, or even distant relatives) (Marroquin, 2024).?What's important to note is that 17% is the highest percentage ever reported by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) (Marroquin, 2024). What is causing more families to live together across different generations??
Key Advantages of Choosing a Multi-Generational Home
In the past, many homebuyers?chose multi-generational homes to help take care of their parents more easily. That is an important reason, but it's not the only one. Currently, another strong reason is our current state of home affordability. Recent data from Amethyst Marroquin (2024), a Research Assistant of Member and Consumer Survey Research for the National Association of REALTORS?,?shows that saving money is the main reason more people are deciding to live with family now. T
he increasing cost of owning a home is making it difficult for many people to buy one for just?themselves. This has caused more families to combine their money to buy a house. Living with multiple generations can help families deal with money problems by pooling incomes and sharing costs like the mortgage and energy bills.
Thanks for checking out this newsletter. Click on the links to review more in-depth information for each section.
~Steven M Vertz, Wizards of Real Estate
References:
Carbonaro, G. (2025, January 1). Housing market 2025: Where and when to buy and sell, according to experts. Newsweek. Retrieved from?https://www.newsweek.com/housing-market-2025-where-when-buy-sell-experts-2004799
Down Payment Resource. (2023, July 10). Down payment Assistance | Down payment Resource. Retrieved from?https://downpaymentresource.com/
Existing-Home sales. (2025, January 24). Retrieved from https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/housing-statistics/existing-home-sales
Jones, H. (2025, January 14). Three-Quarters of Americans view homeownership as part of the American dream - Realtor.com economic research. Realtor.com Economic Research. Retrieved from https://www.realtor.com/research/2025-jan-american-dream-survey/
Loans | HUD.gov / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). (n.d.). Retrieved from?https://www.hud.gov/buying/loans
Marroquic, A. (2024). Home for the Holidays: The rise of Multi-Generational Home Buying. Retrieved from https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook/home-for-the-holidays-the-rise-of-multi-generational-home-buying
Navigating the Housing Market: A Seasonal perspective. (2024, April 29).Retrieved from https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook/navigating-the-housing-market-a-seasonal-perspective