Sell Your Home During The Holidays: A Practical Guide

‘Tis the season to sell your home? Quite possibly. In this article, I’m going to share why selling your home during the holiday is a good idea and how to sell your home during the holidays.

So, deck the halls with boughs of holly and let’s go.

Myth: Spring Is The Best Time To List A Home

There is a lot of general real estate advice out there which has become common rules of thumbs for home buyers and sellers. One of those rules and beliefs is, “spring is the best time to list a home”.

The real estate industry has pushed “spring selling” for a long time, and few homeowners have stopped to question if this is the right advice for them.

But, it’s not necessarily true that spring is the best time. It may not be the best time FOR YOU.

The advice is based on laws of supply and demand over a national real estate market over several years.

It doesn’t consider the current market conditions, your situation, or the local real estate market where you’re looking to sell your home.

On top of that, what does best mean to you?

Every homeowner is different. Some want to know the best time to list so the home sells fast. Others want to know when to list their home so they net the most amount of money.

A Holiday Sale Means More Money

A study done by Redfin, an internet real estate broker, found that the average seller nets more money above asking price during the months of December, January, February, and March than they do from June through November — even in cold cities like Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Lansing.

It seems that if you want to sell your home for the maximum value and net more money above asking, then the winter holidays months are the best time to do it, at least according to this study.

The results of the study are consistent with some important data points. For example, during the holiday season:

There are fewer homes for sale, and therefore, less competition.
Buyers are more serious than the spring market home buyers, which brings in a lot of tire-kickers.
Homes show better when decorated for the holidays. Yay, holiday cheer!
Buyers are more emotional during the Holidays, so they are more likely to pay your price.
Buyers have more time to look for a home during the FALL/WINTER i.e. Holidays than they do during a working week.

Less homes, more time for buyers, more motivation, and a home that shows better are going to drive up better prices during the holiday season.

When spring rolls around, there are a lot more buyers in the market. And, there are also a lot more sellers. Competition is fierce in the spring market.

Be A Non-Contingent Buyer Come Spring

In 2021, the real estate market is still very much a seller’s market. Meaning, homes are selling fast, above asking price, and homes often get multiple offers on them.

As a home buyer, you need to make sure that you are in the best possible position to make your offer the best. One term in an offer that can kill a deal is a contingency based on the need to sell a home.

If you need to sell your home before you can buy, selling your home during the holidays gives you the opportunity to be a non-contingent buyer during the spring.

With your home already sold, you can write offers without a homeseller contingency and make your offers more attractive to potential sellers.

The current market makes it tough for home buyers who need to sell their home first. You can overcome this hurdle by selling during the holidays, so you’re ready to look at all of the homes that hit the market come springtime.

Now, let’s dive into some of the how-to tips for selling your home during the holidays.

Price It Right

Everything starts with pricing. No amount of skill and effective marketing can sell a home that is way above list price. To effectively sell a home, it needs to be priced based on current market conditions and past home sales.

When looking for a real estate agent, I recommend that you hire a certified pricing strategy advisor real estate agent. They are more qualified than your average real estate agent and understand the dynamics of real estate pricing.

They are going to find the right value for your home so that you don’t under price and you don’t over price it — causing you to lose out on money or let the home sit on the market, respectively.

Highlight The Right Features

Some home features sell better during the holiday season and the winter. For example, the new furnace that was installed on a home is going to be a HUGE bonus to every home buyer out looking at home in the cold.

Or, that beautiful gas fireplace with a holiday-decorated mantle is going to shine right around Christmas time and buyers are going to fall in love with the feature of the home. More than they would in the spring or summer.

You can highlight features that are going to sell a home during the holidays. Tall ceilings? Great for a giant Christmas tree. New insulation? Talk about the warmth of the home?

A smart thermostat? Talk about the ability to program it to stay warm while saving you money on your energy bill. A big deal in 2021 with rising energy costs.

Here are some features that tend to sell well during the holiday:

Finished basements
Extra rooms
Mudrooms
Fireplaces
New furnace
Garage with room for cars
Limited amount to shovel

Don’t fight against what’s on a buyer’s mind. Meet them where they are and have the conversation that is already going on in their head.

Home buyers in the winter and during the holidays are going to look for winter-related features.

Hire A Great Real Estate Agent

I briefly mentioned the kind of agent you want if you plan to sell your home during the holidays. First, look for a real estate agent that understands how to price homes right. I recommend working with a certified pricing strategy advisor real estate agent, like the Dolinski Group.

Second, look for a real estate agent that understands the conversation going on inside of a buyer’s mind. Avoid the real estate agent that is going to highlight the pool during December in Michigan, but forget to mention the fireplace.

Third, I recommend working with a real estate agent that is out there working. The sad fact is that a lot of real estate agents use the holiday season as their off month.

They put in very few hours because they figure people don’t want to buy homes and people don’t want to sell.

You don’t want a real estate agent who isn’t working. They’re not going to put in the effort to get your home sold and are often unresponsive.

Look for a real estate agent who is still out there working during the holiday months.

Curb Appeal Still Matters

Since the holiday season brings the cold and snow in northern states of the US, it’s easy to assume curb appeal doesn’t matter anymore. There aren’t any flowers growing or lawns that need to be cut.

Guess again, though. Curb appeal still matters. It just looks different.

During the holiday season, you want to focus on shoveling snow and removing ice from sidewalks. To add some greenery, consider adding potted evergreen plants or artificial shrubs to your front entryway and porch.

Your home is going to be the main feature so it pays to spruce up your front door with a fresh coat of paint, adding new address numbers, adding outdoor lighting and a new doormat can make a huge difference. If your porch is in disrepair, it needs to be fixed immediately.

Snow, Ice, and Salt

If you’re selling during the holiday season and there is snow and ice, you need to take extra steps. First, make sure that your driveways and walkways are clear.

Second, watch out for snow and salt being drug into your home. I see it every year, mostly in vacant homes and it’s a real problem.

You have a beautiful home with great curb appeal, you open the door and bam. The floors are covered in water stains and salt from home buyers just walking into the house without taking their shoes off.

If you plan to list your home during the holiday season, make sure to have a plan for people’s shoes. Either they can take them off or you need to provide shoe covers so that people don’t drag the snow and salt into the home.

Otherwise, you’re going to be cleaning your home a lot more than needed in order to keep it show ready or you risk the home showing poorly for other buyers in the future.

Both situations can be avoided with a little planning.