Week of December 17th, 2007
11 Reasons to List Your Home During the Holidays
As temperatures come down and Holiday decorations go up, some home buyers and sellers in most parts of the country turn their attention away from real estate. Here in the Mobile Bay area, we have less cold weather than elsewhere, but there are still presents to be bought, decorations to be hung, and cookies to be baked. You may be thinking, "Who has time to buy or sell a home during the Holidays?". Plus, families with children tend to buy and sell in the Spring and Summer months to avoid moving their kids to a new school in the middle of the school year.
So, if you’re thinking about listing your home right now, you may decide to wait. Or if you’re already trying to sell your home, you may be inclined to take a "break" during this Holiday season and pick things back up in January.
But if you do, you’ll probably be making a mistake. Why? There are definite advantages of staying in the real estate market for the savvy seller when everyone else heads to the mall.
The number one reason is that your house is definitely NOT going to sell if it is not on the market! It is like playing the lottery or trying to win the cake in a cake walk—you cannot win if you don’t take the risk of buying a ticket. If your home is not on the market, no one can buy it. What is the advantage of that? You may be busy, but your Realtor does the work for you anyway.
This time of the year is actually a great time to have your home on the market. Just remember the basics. Have it well-priced. Make sure it is in good condition. Know that you have a strong marketing and advertising plan in place with your Realtor to get the word out. And do what you can to make it accessible to potential buyers.
With these things in place, you are more likely to have a quick sale, and you are not competing with all of the homes that will be on the market in the Spring. Here are ten additional reasons to list your home now or keep it on the market if it is already listed:
1. Motivated, Serious Buyers. During any lull in the market, the less serious buyers tend to drop out. Those that must find a home keep looking. Buyers that are out actively looking during the Holidays are serious and are ready to make a decision. These are the best buyers to work with, unlike in the Spring, when everybody is out looking at homes and may or may not be ready to buy.
The home market is no more affected at the Holidays than during other "busy" period. If that were so, the market would shut down throughout the year as families concentrate on Spring weddings, June graduations, Summer vacations, and autumn back-to-school activities.
Many buyers deliberately choose to shop for a home after the busy Spring and Summer rush. They know that it will be easier to look, and that negotiations will be less stressful. They may not have children, or they may have grown children, so moving to accommodate the school year isn’t a consideration. Finding the right home at the right price, however, is.
2. Less Competition. You may have fewer actual showings, but more qualified and motivated prospects. You may receive more money for your home now because you have less competition (compared to the Spring market). The less competition your property has, the better your chances to sell your home. Some homes are taken off the market during the Holidays, so yours will have less competition by leaving it on the market during the Holidays.
November and December actually offer a higher exposure ratio compared to other months. While February and March historically produce the highest amount of home sales, when you compare the percentage of sales to the total number of new properties that come onto the market, November and December have the highest amount of sales relative to the number of new homes that are listed on the market. Home sellers have a much greater potential for exposure within the first thirty days than they do during the rest of the year.
3. Your Home Looks Great This Time of Year. Homes tend to "show better" when decorated during the Holidays with festive, tasteful decorations, beautiful lights and pleasant scents. At Christmastime, our culture focuses on family and the home. Preparing for the indoor activities of winter is one of the most enjoyable periods of family life. Allowing buyers to view your home during this most hospitable of seasons lets them better picture their own family life in the attractive environment you have created.
When is your home ever more beautiful and inviting? You have cleaned and decorated, and your home looks like a picture postcard. If the results are good enough for family and friends, they will surely be good enough to impress your buyers.
4. More Emotional Buyers. Buyers are more emotional during the Holidays and often base tehir decision on the warmth and good feeling they have when they enter your home. There’s no time like the Holidays to make people think of "home." Now’s the best time, actually to help buyers picture themselves making your house their home—the quickest way to a sale.
People will encourage their out-of-town family and friends to consider moving to an area near them and help them look for a home. The Holidays may actually give you a selling advantage over other times of year.
5. More Time During The Holidays. More people take time off of work during their Holiday vacations than any other time of year. So prospective buyers may actually be more able to look at houses now than in January. And couples are more likely to look together during the Holiday season, making your selling process more efficient.
6. Buyers are More Sensitive to Scheduling Appointments. Since the Holidays are the time for family, buyers are more likely only to schedule those appointments for houses that truly interest them enough to buy. And buyers are more likely to hold those appointments.
7. Relocation Buyers Move This Time of Year. Most corporate transferees can’t wait until Spring to purchase a home because they need to buy a home now. Your house must be on the market during the Holidays to capture one of these buyers. This will give you an advantage over sellers who take their homes off the market during the Holidays.
Some buyers simply don’t have a choice in when they move. These families are that much more motivated to get their families settled in before either before the January semester begins, or to arrange for the move during Spring break in March. Other buyers may have planned to purchase sooner, but had to wait till their previous home was sold. Now they need a home and have the ability to purchase. Now is when you need to have your home available to sell.
8. Financial / Tax Incentives. Many buyers aware of the financial and tax incentives to buy before the end of the year. They can enjoy that tax write-off whether they bought in early in January or at the last minute in December.
9. The Best Agents Continue to Work During the Holidays. I, along with the rest of my team, are able to spend more time with my clients during the Holidays than during the busier times of the year. The same is often true for lenders, home inspectors, appraisers, title companies and others involved in the transaction.
With reduced inventories and motivated buyers, you will also have all the members of the MLS on your team. You may find you have more showings than you would if your marketed your home during a busier time of the year.
10. More Advertising Opportunities for Your Home. Because many agents and offices have less inventory to advertise during the winter, your home may be advertised more frequently than in the Spring or Summer months.
Convinced now? You should be. And your real estate agent should be able to take care of the details so that you don’t have to worry about selling your home during the busy Holiday season.
So let us work for you. While you are shopping, working at your job, volunteering, taking care of your family and ensuring a Happy Holiday and Merry Christmas for all of your family and friends, we are busy marketing your home, arranging showings and doing everything to bring in your buyer.