Tips on Selling Your Home During the Holidays

/

As the weather outside gets frightful, and people are focused on Black Friday sales and what Roast Beast they'll be serving is there hope for those who have their home FOR SALE?

A home can be sold during the holidays if you apply a few rules and stage your home properly.

Here in Chicago, our winter holidays are an open invitation to go WAY over board with the concept of "Decking the Halls" -With too many trims, lights and blow-up seasonal icons bellowing on our front yards. 

My business, Reinventing Space had the pleasure to be featured a few years ago in a clever and informative article on Selling Your Home During the Holidays in the Chicago Tribune - "Make holiday home sale a reality."

Photo Credit: CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Photo Credit: CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Here is some key advice from the article:

  • Those left combing the market during November and December are typically more serious about the home hunt, Spreen said. They might include families relocating for job changes, first-timers ready to leap during a slow market, and those who've recently sold a home and need a new place to live.

  • "You'll have fewer showings, but they'll be more powerful," said Dennis Dooley, managing broker with Prudential Rubloff Properties. Holiday season buyers are typically "motivated and financially ready," he added.

  • Deck the halls with restraint. Holiday decorations make homes festive and buyers merry. But too many ornaments, wreaths and garlands can obscure views, make rooms feel smaller and distract buyers from their true purpose: deciding whether or not your home is right for them.

  • And think twice before displaying decorations specific to your religious or cultural heritage, said interior stylist Julea Joseph, owner of Reinventing Space in Palos Park, since it makes it more difficult for others who don't share your background or beliefs to envision themselves living in the space.

  • Photographs should picture the home as it appears in the current season, but sellers may want to capture and post additional shots of summer landscaping to give a hint of what lies ahead.

  • Tap the spirit. Light the fireplace if you have one. Decorate with a pretty throw. Make your home cozy, and someone else might want to nest there.

  • Clear the schedule. Since buyers are likely to be fewer in number during the dark days of winter, be ready to accommodate the interest you do have.

Deck the halls "lite" when your home is on the market during the holidays.