Three Advantages to Selling Your Home During the Holidays

 

If you’re thinking of selling your home but holding off on listing it until January, this article is for you. There are three big advantages to selling your home in the next two months.

1. There’s less competition. A reduced inventory means there are more buyers checking out your property.
2. Buyers are more motivated during the holidays. They may need to buy a home for tax reasons before December 31. They may be moving because they start a new job in January. The bottom line is that they want to buy.
3. Your home already looks great. So make sure you put up some festive decorations that enhance your home. Keep clutter to a minimum, and keep decorations tasteful and neutral.

Buyers are more serious during the holidays. And they are also more emotional. Seeing a warm home decorated for the holidays will motivate them to pay more.


Another great reason to sell during the holidays is that most people have time off. And that means they’ll have more time to devote to house hunting.

Did you know that internet searches during the holidays dramatically increases? Many home buyers devote a large portion of their house hunting time during the holidays to searching online as opposed to driving around looking for open houses. They can then whittle down their list to their top few. To get your home found, you need to have it on the market.

And if you think it’s a hassle because you tend to travel, think again. That’s actually a bonus that makes it easier for real estate agents to show your home. Everything will be vacant and stay clean. You can keep the heat on to keep potential buyers happy. And your home won’t look vacant with people coming and going.

If you don’t want to be disturbed during your holidays, set a daily showing schedule where agents know when they can bring people by. You can also have black out dates where the home is entirely off-limits. Your listing will stay on the MLS but you won’t be inconvenienced.

If your home has been on the market for awhile, it tends to mean that buyers and their agents believe it to be stale and overpriced.  So you could use this time to lower the price or see if there are any simple maintenance or cosmetic fixes you could do to make your house look more valuable. Increasing your curb appeal should be a priority during the winter months anyway. Keep your gutters clean and walkways free of snow, ice, and slippery leaves.

An added bonus is that if you sell your home before the end of the year, you will have the cash in hand for buying your next home in the Spring when there are more listings. And if you have cash in hand, you will look like a better buyer and have fewer hoops to jump through.

Work with your real estate agent to find the strategy that works best for you.