Selling a home during the holidays can present both challenges and opportunities. Here are some considerations to remember if your home is on the market during the holiday season.
Decorating for the Season:
Stay away from any decore that is over-personalizing. You want the home to remain friendly. Tastefully decorate your home to make it inviting and appealing to potential buyers during the holidays. If your home typically looks more Christmas vacation-like outside of the home, you may do less of a display or fewer lights. Remember, you are selling your home. Many friends I know who do not celebrate Christmas, decorate their homes, but going with less philosophy is always better. The Decorating should never distract the buyer from the bones of the home. They should be able to feel how the home is laid out. Rooms should not feel cramped with your decor choices. Your Holiday Decorations should elevate the space you are selling, not detract.
Curb Appeal in Winter:
I mentioned Christmas vacation since Clark decorated every piece of real estate that was his home. He had so many twinkle lights he blinded his neighbors, having a cozy night in. Holiday Decore should enhance the curb appeal. You want the curb appeal to provide the perfect first impression where the buyer gets excited to see what is inside this fantastic home. You also don’t want to cause any challenges for your buyer to approach your home. Ensure clear driveways and pathways since Mother Nature might have snowed or produced ice. You only get one chance to make that first impression, which often happens before a buyer walks into your home, so look at all the areas the buyer would see before seeing your home. Selling your home starts when they pull up to the home.
Pricing Strategies:
During the holiday season, there are fewer buyers in the marketplace and those who are often very serious. You need to ask yourself how motivated you are to sell your home. Is there a date you want to close, and if a buyer offered it, would you give a price? Is marketing more about price than terms? Sellers also need to factor in how interest rates are performing and how much a buyer can buy. Having a strategy and knowing what your clear goal is. If you are a seller who purchased a home to move into already and the idea of carrying two mortgages is not an option, then selling your home might be a break-even moment, or sometimes you might lose money. It would help if you made it known to your seller agent and yourself what your goal is.
Staging for the Holidays:
You are staging your home to showcase its best features while incorporating festive elements—the importance of maintaining a neutral and universally appealing holiday decor. If you’re unsure if you have a great eye for decor, check in with your local real estate agent, and they can either give you their honest opinion or put you in touch with a stager. Staging doesn’t always mean working with decore that isn’t yours. Often, staging is tweaking certain areas. Sometimes, your home’s decor is why buyers are not reacting the way you want, but otherwise, it’s because you do not have the right size furniture or pieces in the home that showcase the space. So talk to your local real estate agent or even some good friends. They will tell you honestly if the decor detracts from your goal of providing a welcoming space.
Flexible Scheduling:
Be Flexible in showings or as flexible as you can be if you have specific hours that just don’t work. Talk to your agent. For example, if you know the kids go to bed at a particular time, or you have a holiday gathering at home planned for a specific night. Maybe you have an overly friendly dog in a home, and if you are unaware of showings beforehand, don’t put them in a crate. Let your agent know. Be honest with your agent about times that don’t work and maybe why. The more flexible you are with showings, the faster the home will get an offer.
Marketing and Online Presence:
Be open to virtual tours, be open to mattport, and videos. Not every buyer can see your home at an in-person showing. Some buyers will view your home a few times from afar, so be open to the technology. Your seller agent will likely want to harness social media to create engaging holiday-themed content to attract potential buyers. Your Listing Agent might notice a specific region of the world in your home resonates with and might want to target the market in that area, working with other agents in that area to sell your home, and that might mean your agent is doing a virtual open house versus in person. Years ago, I had a listing, and I noticed three other agents had listings on the same street, so we did a holiday stroll open house. We did collective marketing and encouraged buyers to check out all properties. At each home, there were some tasty treats that prospective buyers could enjoy while they checked out the home. It has a natural holiday feel, and all those listings got offers shortly after. Thinking about the box can help you sell your home.
Year-End Tax Advantages:
Is there a tax advantage at the end of the year that benefits a buyer? If yes, why not highlight that in marketing the home, have your agent highlight that to a future buyer, or have a tax accountant on hand at your open house or one you can refer to that buyer? Is there a tax change coming down the pike that will affect your home? When California had a million-dollar tax going into effect, sellers were offering crazy incentives to buyers and their agents to sell their homes, from commission bonuses to luxury cars. Discuss how these incentives might motivate buyers to move quickly during the holiday season.
Managing Stress:
Holidays are stressful for everyone, especially if you’re trying to sell your home during the holidays. It often comes down to balance. You are balancing your goal of selling your home and enjoying the holidays—strategies for balancing holiday festivities with the demands of the real estate process. Saying no to your agent occasionally during a showing request is okay. It’s okay to outline specific dates. Showings are not possible, but these dates are acceptable. I always tell my clients everything is manageable. If you tell us upfront, the public understands if you say we can get in the following days, but not these days. If a buyer loves your home, they will make things work.
Remember, while selling during the holidays can be a bit different, it also provides an opportunity to showcase your home in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. During the holiday, there is often less inventory on the market, but the homes have something in common with buyers. They are serious, so neither will be a waste of time to entertain. By addressing the specific considerations of the season, you can make your home stand out and attract serious buyers. We are officially in the swing of the holidays, and if you have questions about the sales market. Please get in touch with me
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