*Winter on the Eastern Shore is a good time for new resolutions and a fresh start.*

The beginning of a New Year always comes with the promise of a fresh start, and nothing speaks to the possibilities like resolutions. There’s self betterment, whether scrolling on your phone less or reading that book that’s been sitting on your bedside table for months. Physical improvements, like getting stronger or making time for a little more exercise, seem especially appealing after a season of indulgence.

But here on the Eastern Shore, the wintertime, especially the New Year, is a time for mindful resolutions. Be more present. Watch the geese and ducks out on Eastern Neck Island. Head to Tuckahoe or Pickering Creek, empty and beautiful, and go for a hike that feels like you own the place. Spend a lazy Sunday at the Bookplate in Chestertown or Antique Books and Fine Arts in Easton, boning up on the stories of the Eastern Shore’s past. This is a time for slowing down, for appreciating, and for reminding yourself why you love it here.

*The slow season is a time to rest, recover, and plan to set down roots in your favorite Eastern Shore town.*

It’s also a good time for fulfilling that resolution to make this place your home. Maybe you’ve been coming to the Eastern Shore since you were a kid. Maybe you love boating here and have always dreamed about dropping anchor here for good. You might be a weekend visitor, a Waterfowl Festival annual attendee, an aficionado of St. Michaels. You might dream about introducing your grandkids to the same river you grew up sailing.

Make the Eastern Shore your home and welcome the spring’s water views, paddles and sails from your piece of paradise.

You know who you are—you are a future Eastern Shore resident. So why wait?

The news from the housing market is good. When looking for your perfect Chesapeake home, though inventory is still low, seasonality has resumed in the same way it was pre-pandemic. Colder months always mean less competition—but especially now, that the bidding wars from late 2020 into early 2022 have subsided. You’ll save the $25-100k over asking price that prospective home buyers were routinely offering just to get a foot in the door. Even with a 1.2 to 2% rate increase, it’s a wash.

It’s a whole new playing field for sellers, as well. Sellers are more flexible, providing closing cost help and assisting buyers in buying down the rates on their mortgages. That’s always good news, but especially for new homeowners, who really benefit from that kind of helping hand.

Delayed resolutions grow stale as they are lost in the immediate goals of everyday life. Don’t wait. If you’ve been holding out for your dream home on the Eastern Shore, when the season begins to warm, the market will too. Now that rates have dropped back into the 5% for 15-year mortgages, ARMs and jumbo loans (a 4 month low) it’s a great time to work with your realtor and make your resolution a reality.

*As you sail into 2023, take advantage of a strengthening buyer’s market to make your dream of Eastern Shore home ownership a reality.*

Imagine welcoming the beautiful Eastern Shore spring with the return of the osprey, crab and the boating season. Enjoying sunsets from a porch over open fields. Finding your perfect piece of the Chesapeake promises the satisfaction of a completed resolution, but more importantly, a happier, healthier, and more fulfilled life. Can there be a more important kind of fresh start than that?