A lot of people question whether or not they should be selling their home during this holiday season, and the short answer is YES!  No inventory means some of the most aggressive bidding wars we have seen in 2021, which has already been a year of the most aggressive bidding wars on record! Here are some additional reasons:

Additional staging opportunities.

Staging has a huge impact on appeal of your home to buyer – and the holidays represent a time of year where we can perhaps go even a little more aggressive in our décor than usual.  For instance – have a fireplace in your home?  Dress it up – add a beautiful garland, some stylish stockings.  Help the buyer to picture themselves waking up in the home on Christmas morning with their own children by showing just how they could use the space.  Have high ceilings?  Get that 12’ Christmas tree to show those “soaring” ceilings.  Just a side note about the tree, don’t get one that is too bushy, as you don’t want to make your space feel smaller.  Curb appeal is also important – put a beautiful wreath on your door and some white Christmas lights.  Think stylish, HGTV, neutral decorating – like pine cones, white and sparkly décor, but minimal colours. But for now, none of the big inflatable Christmas decorations.  Curb appeal is so important – and oftentimes all those bright and loud colours come off as just a bit tacky.

In addition to appealing to a buyer’s sense of sight, there are also other senses we can appeal to as well.  Perhaps some Apple Cider going on the stove to make the place smell of apples and cinnamon.  Perhaps a plate of sugar cookies that were freshly baked (also a great scent) that they can help themselves too.  Or what about some light holiday music playing in the background, to create a welcoming ambiance?

Now there is a fine line between just how far you might want to take some of these design ideas, so always consult with your Realtor about what your ideal buyer would be, and how best to prepare your home to appeal to them.

   

Less competition

I have found year-after-year that listings that may have been sitting in December all of a sudden sell through in the three weeks following Christmas. 

Why? Because inventory is SO limited at this time of year.  A lot of people seem to take their home off the market during December – mostly because they don’t think that there will be buyers out there looking, or because they don’t want to deal with the inconvenience of having some showings during their holiday gatherings - but that doesn’t mean that buyers stop looking!

   

The most serious buyers!

The buyer’s out there are likely the most serious – who wants to interrupt their holidays with house hunting, unless it is absolutely necessary?

There are buyers out there who have leases ending, or who have sold their home and NEED to find a new home, like yesterday.  Or after a year like we’ve had, with limited inventory, they’ve been bidding on homes for months and just keep getting outbid. 

Nobody wants to move twice – especially in the winter.  So it isn’t uncommon for these buyers to be willing to pay a premium just to have a place that they can move into.

Just some final notes:

While selling during the holidays has many advantages, one of the greatest disadvantages would definitely be handling showings over what is often a full holiday schedule. 

We recommend talking to your Realtor in advance and setting up a showing schedule.  Do you have particular dates that you just cannot accommodate showings?  That’s totally fine, black them out!  It would be unusual for people to try and show the home on December 24^th or 25^th, but not unheard of.  So black out the dates that simply won’t work for you and your family.  Having this prepared in advance allows people to book around your schedule while not interrupting your plans.  While it is important to keep the home as accessible as possible, it does not have to be to the detriment of your enjoyment of the holidays.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season filled with love, laughter, family, and friends.  And from my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

#AgentJen

Jennifer Queen

Phone: (204) 797-7945
Email: Jennifer@JenniferQueen.com