Top 10 Tips for Selling Your Home During the Holidays
The holidays are often considered the worst time to put a home on the market. While the thought of selling your home during the winter months may not seem ideal, selling your home during this season actually has its advantages: the competition is typically less fierce and, since purchases are based on emotion, staging your home for the holidays typically brings out the best emotions. First, you need to decide if you really need to sell. Really. Once you've committed to the challenge, don your Santa hat and follow these strategies:
ONE: Avoid going overboard on decorations. Homes often look their best during the holidays, but it’s not a good idea to overdo it on the decor. Make sure you don’t crowd your home with decorations that are too large or even too many. This can and distract buyers from what’s important. Also, avoid offending buyers by avoiding religious themes. Instead, choose general fall and winter decorations.
TWO: Hire an available and reliable real estate agent. That means someone who will work hard for you and won't disappear during Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's. Ask your friends and family if they can recommend a listing agent who will go above and beyond to get your home sold, then verify they are available when it counts. This will ensure less stress and allow you more time to enjoy the holidays.
THREE: Find motivated buyers. Typically those who are looking to buy a home during the holidays has a good reason for doing so. Good agents will target buyers who have a deadline, including those relocating for jobs, investors who have a tax deadline, University students and staff, and military personnel, if you live near a military base.
FOUR: Price it to sell. A home that’s priced well for the market will make buyers feel merry. Rather than gradually making small price reductions, good real estate agents advise sellers to market “at” market value (not above) before putting a home on the market. Pricing it low in this market just frustrates buyers. The ideal transaction is smooth for everyone.
FIVE: Make curb appeal a top priority. When autumn rolls around and the trees start to lose their leaves, maintaining the your yard becomes even more important. Bare trees equal a more exposed home, so touch up the paint, clean the gutters and spruce up the yard. Keep buyers’ safety in mind as well by making sure stairs and walkways are free of snow, ice and leaves.
SIX: Hire a professional to take high end real estate photos. When the weather outside is frightful, homebuyers are likely to start their house hunt from the comfort of their homes by browsing listings on the Internet. Make a good first impression by offering lots of flattering, high-quality photos of your home. If possible, have a summer or spring photo of your home available so buyers can see how it looks year-round. Most Realtors have connections to great photographers and often foot the bill for this service.
SEVEN: Create a video tour for the Web. You'll get less foot traffic right now, so shooting a video tour and posting it on the Web will attract house hunters who aren’t able to physically see your home or would rather not drive in a snowstorm. Again, agents will have access to Professionals who can create Matterport tours (virtual tours) for your home.
EIGHT: Give house hunters a place to escape from the cold. Make your home feel cozy and inviting during showings by cranking up the heat, playing soft classical music and offering safe holiday treats. When you encourage buyers to spend more time in your home, you also give them more time to admire its best features.
NINE: Prepare to tone down on your typical holiday mad rush. Think about ways to make the holiday season easier on you this year. Choosing gift cards over homemade gifts, reducing your contribution to party planning, etc. will lift some of the burden off your shoulders to allow you to prepare your home (and yourselves) to sell.
TEN: Relax — the new year is just around the corner. The holidays are stressful enough with gifts to buy, dinners to prepare and relatives to entertain. Take a moment to remind yourself that if you don't sell now, there's always next year, which, luckily, is only a few days away.
Source: HGTV