Top Tips for Selling a Home During the Holidays

-Consider the spiritual backgrounds of potential buyers in your market before decorating for a vacation.

-Minimize Christmas decorations to focus on your home and its features and benefits.

-Less is more when it comes to decorating a house for the holidays while you try to sell it. Optimize the number of holiday-specific decorations you display.

-Christmas trees and other large Christmas decorations consume space which can make rooms appear smaller.

-Install and remove outdoor Christmas decorations 2 weeks before and after the holidays.

-Turn off illuminated Christmas decorations before displays, buyers should focus on your home and not your decorations.

-If you have out-of-town guests, ask your agent to postpone visits until after your guests leave.

-Leave a plate of homemade Christmas treats for potential buyers.

-Show summer photos of the house and gardens to inform buyers of the characteristics of the house in other seasons.

-Before screenings, remove snow, ice, and leaves from hallways and driveways. Don’t overlook exterior entrances to basements, garages, and porches.

-If you plan to close a home purchase or sale close to a holiday, check with your agent, tilt company, and lender to verify two business days prior to closing that they have all required documents and that funds have been transferred to complete the transaction.

-If you are closing your new home, select a weekday, early in the day, to schedule your closing time, to accommodate last minute delays by a mortgage loan processor, insurance or title company proprietary.

-If you plan to move over the holidays, be aware that moving companies will require more notice and may charge additional fees for packing, moving, and delivery of household items on weekends and holidays.