Selling your home during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is not always easy, especially for sellers who live in a cold climate. It takes more effort to catch the eye of a potential buyer during the winter, but here are a few hacks to make that process easier.
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
1. Be strategic about pictures
According to the National Association of Realtors, 89% of shoppers find pictures very useful in real estate listings. When selling your home during the holiday season, though, you might have to get a bit creative.
“Get pictures from different seasons, images of gardens and pools, and make a collage or video out of them. This will show what the home looks like in the spring, in the summer, etc.,” said Margaret Rome, owner of HomeRome Realty in Baltimore and host of the radio show All About Real Estate.
Rome also suggested that sellers should invite a photographer to their home during different seasons, even if they aren’t ready to list just yet. This allows the sellers to capture the house looking its best in a variety of settings.
One big issue home sellers face during the holidays is decorations, which Brian Balduf, CEO of VHT Studios, said should be avoided in pictures.
“Downplay the seasonal decorations if you can. Put them away or don’t get them in the shot because the photos get dated,” he said. If it doesn’t sell by the time the holidays are over, buyers will assume that it’s been on the market for a while.
If you have no choice but to take pictures that include holiday decorations, you may want to look into virtual staging and digital photo enhancement.
“We use the technology to remove holiday decorations. In the studio, we can just take that out,” Balduf said.
This can make marketing a home during the winter much easier. Additionally, the technology can remove snow from the yard or change the furniture and color of the wall. However, it cannot be used to alter home structure.
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
2. Carefully choose holiday decorations
Selling a home during the holidays doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to avoid decorating altogether, but you may need to be more strategic when choosing how you show off your holiday cheer.
Debra Carpenter of Sandpoint Idaho Real Estate suggests not going overboard.
“It can be tempting to deck your home out like a winter wonderland, but too much decorating falls on the extreme end of the spectrum,” she said. “To sell your home, you want to stay somewhere in the middle.”
What does that mean? It can mean sticking with celebratory seasonal basics that enhance the home’s cozy factor, but don’t distract from its bones.
“It’s fine to put a few holiday touches around the home, [such as] poinsettias in a vase, even an understated Christmas tree,” Carpenter added. “You want to be sure that the home can be seen in its entirety without having parts covered or changed with overdone decorations.”
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
3. Work with the weather
In most areas of the United States, holiday months are synonymous with colder temperatures. This may be one reason why sellers often see the holidays as a bad time to sell.
And yet, it may not be as disadvantageous as some sellers think.
“There won’t be as many people looking as in the spring, but the people looking at houses this time of year are serious buyers,” Rome said. She suggested showing off any beautiful snow scenes or fall leaves. Additionally, she advises that sellers write their listings with an eye toward the season, mentioning features such as fireplaces up front.
If you’ve got potential buyers who are willing to brave the weather, you also want to show them how comfy your house can be in the cold.
“Keep it around 65 degrees so your home feels warm and inviting,” Carpenter said. “A chilly home won’t come across as a cozy living space and can deter buyers.”
For anyone who is selling a vacant home, Rome suggests a programmable thermostat that can be controlled from a smartphone. “[Having buyers] walking into a cold house is a real no-no,” she said.
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
4. Curb appeal equals safety
Curb appeal takes on a different meaning during the winter months, especially with all the snow, slush and ice that acccumulates during that time of year.
“Be sure to keep driveways and walkways maintained and shoveled. You want buyers to feel safe and secure as they enter and exit your home,” Carpenter said. She also mentioned placing additional lighting in areas that are slippery and prone to freezing. Rome agreed and added that sellers should keep salt or sand nearby.
As long as these safety aspects are covered, buyers can evaluate your home’s aesthetics just as they would during any other season.
“Make sure the house numbers are visible and prominent, the mailbox is new [or] freshly painted and the front door [is] immaculate,” Rome said.
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
5. Get the right agent
It’s common to take time off during the holiday season — which can be great when you want buyers to come and see your home, but not so great if your agent is out of the office. It’s important to find an agent who’s to show your property when buyers are off of work, even if that means taking less time off for their own holiday celebrations.
One final piece of advice to remember is that selling your home when it’s ready is the priority — no matter the season. As Rome said, “Your house may not sell when you put it on the market at Christmastime, but it’s definitely not going to sell if it’s not on the market.”
This article originally appeared on MagnifyMoney.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
