Selling a Home During The Holidays

By Jason Gelios REALTOR®

While the real estate market does tend to slow down during the holidays, it can still be a great time to sell your home. With more serious buyers shopping for homes you may get a lot stronger interest vs the other times of the year where more less aggressive buyers exist.

Here are 9 things you should do if you decide to sell your home during the holiday’s:

Decorate but don’t overdo it
It may seem tempting to go all out for the holidays, you should be conservative about how much you decorate your homes. Over the top holiday decorating can actually deter some buyers from viewing your home.

Hire a reliable REALTOR®
Hiring the right professional that will be available when you need them is key at anytime of the year. Make sure your chosen professional is not going away or slacking off for the holiday season. Hire someone who will be around to answer questions and get the job done.

Seek out motivated home buyers
While a lot of this leg work should be done by your REALTOR®, you should also be sharing your property with your personal network as well. The more eyes that see it the better!

Put curb appeal FIRST
Curb appeal is not only important during the warm months but it is equally important during the cold holiday season. Keep walkways and driveways shovelled and salted. Entryways should still be inviting to potential buyers.

Take excellent photos
During the holiday season less people will come out for a showing so you want to entice buyers to put your home on their list to view. Great photos will make sure that buyers will want to trek through the snow or cold weather to view your home in person.

Price the home to sell
At any time of year you want to avoid ‘testing the market’ and over pricing your home. It is very important to come out of the gate with a great price to create buyer urgency. When buyers feel a home is priced right they will hurry to see it anad possibly place a beneficial offer. Price the home too high and it will sit on the market dormant.

Create a video tour of the home
Video is being consumed in high amounts right now. People oftent prefer vidoe over pictures and having a video tour of your home increases the chances of you getting a showing and possibly an offer. Don’t offer edited pictures in video format though. Do an actual video tour that is professional and informing.

Make your house inviting for showings
When people actually come out to view your home you want to make sure it is inviting for them. I have shown countless homes that were too cold or too hot and not comfortable. The more comfortable your home is to potential buyers, the better the buyer will feel about possibly moving forward.

Relax. Enjoy the ride!
While selling your home during the busy holiday season can be a little stressful, you should know that not everything will be perfect. If you do your best and follow these tips you should be in the best position to get your house sold during the holidays!

Jason Gelios REALTOR®
ItsAllAboutTheRealEstate.com