Selling A Home During the Holidays. Pros and Cons

SHOULD I TAKE MY HOME OFF THE MARKET FOR THE HOLIDAYS?

Come the end of October and the beginning of November home sellers start wondering “should I take my home off the market for the holidays?”. There wisdom is there are more buyers in the spring and there is usually a slight uptick in home prices in the spring.
While yes there are more buyers there is also more inventory to choose from. As far as waiting another 4-6 months to relist your home no one knows what the future holds there are three things that can happen.  The market remains the same, the market goes up, or the market goes down.  You just don’t know.
Also the conventional thinking of waiting until spring is outdated.  The internet has easily put homes in front of buyer in the warmth of their own home.
The answer is more personal than strategic.  We sell houses all year long.  Buyers reasons for looking for a new home vary greatly.  For some the trigger to look can be anytime of the year, like expanding family, a pending job change, a substantial increase of income, etc…  I know for one of my clients the last two house they bought they closed between Christmas and New Years, putting the houses under contract in late November.  The timing was just right for them.
ADVANTAGES OF KEEPING YOUR HOME ON DURING THE HOLIDAYS

1. You have done the work to get your home ready.  most sellers have a period of fixing, painting, de-cluttering and depersonalizing their home.  It has taken then several weeks to several months to prepare their home to list.  The work is done.  You may have to go through all or part of that process again.
2. There are buyers looking because they need to.  They are motivated to buy.  All it takes is one buyer!
3. Did you know the most common month for corporate relocations is January.  Your home will already be on the market.
4. Buying a home is emotional and a home decorated for the holidays can play on home buyers emotions.
5. Potential tax breaks for home buyers if they can close by the end of the year.  Yep, I have had buyers want to close by the end of December so they can take advantage of their tax write offs for that year.
6. Most likely if you are selling, you are also buying.  You can get a jump on the spring market yourself as inventory levels start to climb from January on.

DISADVANTAGES OF KEEPING YOUR HOME ON THE MARKET FOR THE HOLIDAYS

1. Your busy.  The holidays can be the busiest most hectic time of the year for many.  You just don’t have the time to keep the house in showing condition and you have other things on your mind.
2. It could disrupt your enjoyment of the holidays.  If you do a lot of holiday activities you could find your self working around showings and you might not want to put of that holiday weekend baking marathon.
3. Access to your home.  If you are going to invite home buyers into your home, it is a must you keep all walkways clear of snow and ice.  You never know when the next showing will be requested.
4. You don’t want to tone down your traditional decorating.  If you are overboard over the top decorating for the holidays, it may just be too much for home buyers.  You want the buyers to look at your house not decorations.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON “SHOULD I TAKE MY HOME OFF THE MARKET FOR THE HOLIDAYS?”
So when it comes time to ask “Should I take my Home of the Market for the holidays?” there is no right or wrong on whether you should keep your home on the market for the holidays.  It really boils down to your personal decision and timing.  There certainly can be some advantages to keeping your home on the market.  But if the holidays are chaotic for you then maybe it is not a bad idea for your sanity to take it off the market.
The internet has been a game changer for real estate and how buyers view homes.  Old conventional wisdom was take your home off the market.  But with every buyer having all the inventory at their fingertips on their mobile phone, the old conventional thinking is being replaced.
If you are going to keep your home on the market during the holidays your real estate agent should be advising you to keep the decorations tasteful and to a minimum.  Don’t go overboard with your decorating.  Allow people to focus on your home and don’t sidetrack them with your decorations.