Selling Your Home during the Holidays

Sellers usually don’t choose to put their homes on the market during the holidays but there are reasons why it actually may be a good time to sell your home. So, if you find yourself on the market at this “joyous” time of year, here are some things to consider:

1. The pool of ever-present real estate tire-kickers is drastically reduced during December and January. They are too busy shopping, wrapping and decorating to bug their agent to show them homes they probably won’t buy. So, that leaves MOTIVATED buyers in the market who really need a home to buy -- either due to relocation or a sale of their current home. As a seller, you will have fewer showings during the holidays but these buyers are much more motivated and serious.

2. The supply of homes available for purchase is lower in December and January. Many of the homes on the market are stale, vacant, not properly staged or overpriced. If your home hits the market priced properly and showing well, it will stand out like a holiday star and may be snapped up by one of the motivated buyers who are still out there looking!

3. Holidays bring out warm feelings of family and home. Tasteful decorations can add sparkle and spice to the home and may foster buyers’ fantasies about holiday dinners and entertaining in the home. Just remember a few “de’s of staging—declutter, depersonalize and desecular. Set the dining room table for a festive holiday dinner, place a beautiful wreath on the front door and strive for understated elegance. Keep your religious decorations to a minimum (to help the buyers visualize their family living in your home) and the kid’s holiday pictures from year one need to stay packed away this year!

Expect some inconvenience showing your home during the holidays but prepare by setting guidelines for showings that your agent can post on the MLS. For example, post a no show message for 12/25, 12/26 and whatever you need for your New Year Celebration. Make it as easy to show as possible but enjoy a few days of “freedom” too. Remember to turn every light in the home to counter act the grey days of winter and keep the thermostat at a comfortable temperature. Holiday smells like spiced apple, pumpkin pie and cinnamon are comforting and evoke positive karma so olfactory staging in your home can help set the mood as well. Selling a home during the holidays may be a challenge but a SALE will certainly make it all worthwhile. Good Luck!