Halloween is around the corner, which means that Thanksgiving is mere weeks away and Christmas and New Year’s are around the corner. Any real estate pro will tell you that the holidays are not the ideal time to be selling your home. Basically, buyers are distracted by the holidays - they’d rather be shopping and planning their Christmas parties than attending open houses and crunching numbers.
Also, nobody (buyers or sellers) likes the prospect of moving in the winter, much less during the holidays. There’s a reason that the real estate “high season” in much of the country is the balmy, holiday-free expanse of summer. But sometimes you have to work with what you’ve got, and you find yourself with your home for sale during the holidays. Maybe it was an autumn listing that didn’t move right away, or a random job opportunity came up, or maybe you’re trying to calculate moving the kids’ schools during the break between semesters. No matter what the reason, you can make the best of a holiday home sale by staging your home festively.
It’s the holidays, so no matter what you celebrate, you probably want to have decorations up. That shouldn’t change just because your home is on the market. In fact, walking into a tastefully decorated home can give some potential buyers the “homey” feeling that every seller strives to put on display. They’ll see your decorations, and imagine trimming their own tree in that same living room next year. But there are some tips that you should keep in mind when decking your halls.
First of all, keep any and all decorations religiously neutral. Stick to nutcrackers and snowflakes instead of manger scenes and menorahs. Not everyone shares your faith, and overt leaning towards one religion can make buyers uncomfortable. Nobody, on the other hand, is offended by Santa Claus.
If you have a heaping box full of miscellaneous Christmas tree decorations cobbled together from beloved relatives who have passed and adorable handmade ornaments from the kids’ school projects, leave it in the garage this year. Stick with a color-coordinated theme that compliments the decor already in your living room or wherever you have the tree. Don’t go with garish red balls and tinsel if your walls are a lovely and calming blue, in other words.
And, about the tree - make sure it doesn’t dominate the whole room. If you have a large tree, make sure you have a large space for it. Otherwise, pick up an inexpensive, smaller and skinnier tree that will make your space look larger and more spacious.
Outside, keep the lights display to a tasteful minimum. A few strands look lovely; too many and you risk looking like something out of a Chevy Chase movie!
With these few simple tips, staging your home during the holidays can turn an innate disadvantage (the time of year) into a chance to show off your home at its most festive and family-friendly appearance!
