Karl's Season Shift Theory revisited

There is a message here, bear with me... I cancelled my buyer appointments today as you will soon find out why.

I do miss these days. It reminds me of Chicago and why I love that city but will never go back. Currently, central Denver is getting pounded mercilessly by a sleet/snow mixture that should let up sometime next week. Last night it rained because it was too warm to snow, but now it's sticking. Denver is an odd town weather-wise. I read in USA Today how Denver gets backloaded with all of its snow in March and April,

which shouldn't be surprising, since the two of the three worst snowstorms I've ever experienced have been in March in Denver. Granted, I've only been here 10 years, but living here seems to validate one of my half-baked theories from my younger days.

I remember this one particular summit amongst my Chicago friends - that all-too-common conflagration where four or five of us would solve every problem thrown our way, only to realize that we didn't have the staff to delegate the implementation of any of these ingenious ideas. To get an idea of how long ago these summits occurred, one out of five people had a cell phone and the other four would laugh at that guy as he made weird gyrations trying to hear the person on the other end.

Anyway, I postulated that - I had no scientific backing, just 30 years of observation - that the seasons were oblivious to the calendar and that by 2045 (50 years from my proclamation) summer in the northern hemisphere would be more in line with the autumnal months and winter would start infringing on the traditional spring stretch. I had been seeing warmer Septembers and whiter Aprils for a while now, and it doesn't appear to resetting, and the idea of a white Christmas seems almost nostalgic, unless you live in Buffalo (or Denver, specifically).

Granted, this weather doesn't do us any favors as Realtors (I'm preaching to my Colorado brethren), but I'm beginning to think that while Denver's selling season doesn't have the sharp dip of the Eastern seaboard cities, we also shouldn't assume that the selling season begins after the Super Bowl ends. I've had several listings in the past three years get false-started on the market because prolonged snow storms have stymied their debut. Yes, when your sellers are ready to go, weather isn't much of a factor, but if you're teeing up a listing for maximum effect, May 1 appears to be a safer bet than March 1.

It can stop snowing anytime now...

Karl Lueders is a Denver-based Realtor who loves cold, snowy days just as much as his black labrador Sadie does. Except that Karl won't roll on his back in a three-foot snow drift. Find out more about Karl here or how Karl and Sadie are helping Denver's pet community stay healthy at The Goethe Fund. Look for this logo on future Karl posts: