8 things home sellers should know during the Christmas season

As we all know, almost everyone is in the mood to spend some cash during the holidays. Christmas shopping is part of the whole celebration as people head to the malls to purchase gifts for their families and friends and even for themselves. Basically, it is a good but frantic time for malls.

For home sellers, they think the Christmas season would be a hard time to find buyers for their houses because everyone is too busy with the festivities. Per The Balance, some other reasons why sellers might choose not to push through with the house sale during the holidays include new home buyers thinking that sellers are desperate to sell the house, getting low price offers for the house, believing that selling the house on January could attract more buyers, and the agent having a vacation.

So the sellers instead go on a vacation. While most would go for such idea, there is one wise seller who would rather keep his or her hopes up to finally seal a deal, and he or she may have made the right choice.

Benefits of selling during the holidays

Do you want to know why that seller made the right call? According to businessman Dave Ramsey, there are three benefits a seller can get if he or she chooses to keep the sale open during the holidays.

1. Most competitors are on vacation.

First, there will be less competition during the Christmas season because most of the sellers may have removed their houses from the market at such a particular time, while other sellers who are planning to put their house on sale may wait until after the New Year or springtime to do so.

Since there are fewer competitors in the market, this would be a good time to attract buyers. They just have to ensure that their houses are prepared and in great condition in case of touring buyers around.

2. Buyers during the holidays are more serious.

Second, if there are buyers roaming around during this time of the year, it means they are dead serious in getting a new home right now because of various reasons such as taxes, moving for a new job, and finding the ideal home.

In order for a seller to catch a deal, they must keep their times and lines open so that it would be easier for buyers to call them if they want to have a look around the house.

3. Decorations help influence a buyer’s decision.

Finally, emotions will help a buyer in deciding to purchase a house. With that factor in mind, a seller must make the house look comfortable and welcoming all throughout the showing.

The decorations must also not distract the buyer from the best qualities of the house to further reinforce that the house is a good choice for him or he, so it would be better to avoid cluttering the whole house with unnecessary adornments.

Home sellers usually do not sell properties during the holiday season, thinking that clients and buyers are busy vacationing. (Source)

Additional tips

For some additional bits of advice, Realtor.com has more tips to offer to help sellers get closer to the sale of their houses.

1. Hosting a party

Throwing a holiday party would help sellers boast the house’s exceptional features to friends, neighbors, and families who might be interested in purchasing the house. After the party, one of the guests might express interest in buying the house.

2. Keeping the sweets within reach

The smell of cookies and cakes that came right out of the oven would increase the success rate of selling the house. To further boost the chances, the seller must offer the buyers a taste of these delectable treats.

3. Leaving empty gifts for thieves

To prevent theft inside the house, sellers must not leave gifts under the holiday tree. They should instead leave gift boxes that do not have anything inside them to prevent any losses due to the sneaky hands of thieves.

4. Brightening up the house

Christmas lights have brightened up homes during the holidays, and they are also effective in reinforcing that homey and relaxing atmosphere in the house. Furthermore, if there are dim lights within the house, they should be replaced with brighter light bulbs.

5. Preparing for bad weather

If a snowstorm hits the day of the showing, sellers should clear the pathways and sidewalks and maintain the house temperature to the right level to make the buyers feel more comfortable while looking around. If there’s rain, they can prepare some umbrellas in case buyers still want to see the outdoor features of the house.

(Featured image via Deposit Photos)