Should you keep your Home on the market during the holidays, and if so, should you decorate?
In my opinion, the answer is yes; you should keep your home on the market during the holidays. First, some experts may say that this will make you appear too desperate, and that may turn off the buyer. If anything, it is the buyer’s advantage to work with a motivated seller. They will be more eager to accept a lower offer than those that are not so motivated. Second, just because you have a For Sale sign in your yard on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas day, does not mean you are going to field any calls, or let someone come in to look at it. You don’t bring your For Sale sign in the house when you leave for the grocery store do you? No, if the house is for sale, it is for sale, no matter what the date is. Finally, any buyer who is out looking at houses on a holiday is a serious buyer, and is ready to buy.
As far as decorating or not decorating, I don’t have an answer. Some buyers may be affected by it, and some may not. I personally would not care either way unless the decorations were blocking or obstructing my view of a part of the house. Then it may be difficult to envision what the house looks like when it is not decorated.
I always try to tell my sellers to make themselves as available as possible. So pulling your listing off the market for a few days, or removing the sign from your front yard, can only hurt your chances at generating a successful sale.
So, let’s here you thoughts: Keep on or take off? Decorate, or not decorate?
December 18th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
The stretch between the week before Thanksgiving and after New Years is traditionally the slowest in the real estate market. People are just busy doing other things. Volume usually picks back up in February, after the Superbowl. If your home is unoccupied it is best to keep it on the market. Many people find keeping a home ’show ready’ stressful during the Holidays with family in town and extra activity around the home. No one wants to have their home shown when it is a mess or company is in town, and people are likewise reluctant to turn a potential buyer away. While having it show ready during the Holiday season is preferable, having it show up as a new listing, looking great and priced right after the Holidays comes a close second.
Decorating for the Holidays is fine, but should follow basic home staging principles. The biggest rule is to keep things minimal with lots of leftover space. Remember, a well staged home should allow a potential buyer to easily imagine how the house would look as THEIR home.