Selling Your Home During The Holiday's Yay or Nay??
Selling Your Home During The Holiday's Yay or Nay??
Traditionally many home sellers perceive the Spring market to be the best time to sell a home, however, there are a few things to consider before you decide not to sell during the Holiday's and/or to remove your home from the multiple listing service (MLS).
1. It's true, many homes will ultimately either cancel or expire off the active real estate market during the cooler months. Why? Because either they don't want to move during the winter, they're not getting enough showings, they don't want to be burdened during the Holiday's with potential buyer traffic, or they have a general perception that the house just won't sell during this time of the year. The truth of the matter is every home that is removed from the market is one less competitor while trying to sell your home. It's pretty typical to see a longer selling time, a few extra days on the market compared to a quick moving Spring market.
2. If you live in the mid-west or states with cooler temperatures, you can bet that when you see a showing request come over to see your home during the Holiday's, they're a serious buyer. As agents, we can sometimes see what we refer to as a "looky lou," a person that is qualified to buy but doesn't really know what they're looking for and may not really be motivated to make an offer. You can bet if temperatures are low, it's a blizzard or there's mounds of snow just to get to the front door.... they're not a look lou!
3. Consider the Holiday's as a possible opportunity to sell, although possibly inconvenient, the Holiday's are a time when people get together and out of town guests could be relocating back home, are in the area.
4. Employment opportunities can change at any time... relocations, promotions, transfers... just because you may view the Holiday's or cool weather conditions as an inconvenient time to have your home on the market or move, due to a job change, a particular buyer will still be on the look out for their new perfect home.
5. Everyone loves the sweet smells of the Holiday's..... play it up! If you have a home with a fireplace, turn it on during showings. Bake some cookies to put out (even if it's just quick take and bake). If you decorate a tree or put Holiday lights out, do it up! Make it festive, make it sweet and don't be afraid to play on the emotions of a potential buyer... after all... home buying is based on emotion! Make that potential buyer feel right at home!
6. As mentioned above, a change to employment can mean a potential buyer, another overlooked potential buyer can be a renter. Leases can be any length, the typical one is a year or six months, but after the initial term is up many leases move to a month-to-month basis meaning the tenant has to give just a 30-day notice in order to vacate the property and that can happen at any time or season.
7. Maybe you just need to sell regardless of the temperature or season. If that's the situation that you're in make sure your agent knows your individual situation and your dire need to sell. Pricing your home competitively right from the start will ensure that your listing doesn't become stale on the market and with the potential to longer marketing times you want to start out competitive. Chose an agent with a proven market system, one that goes above and beyond as exposure to your listing will also increase the opportunities of your home selling within your timeline.
Traditionally many home sellers perceive the Spring market to be the best time to sell a home, however, there are a few things to consider before you decide not to sell during the Holiday's and/or to remove your home from the multiple listing service (MLS).
1. It's true, many homes will ultimately either cancel or expire off the active real estate market during the cooler months. Why? Because either they don't want to move during the winter, they're not getting enough showings, they don't want to be burdened during the Holiday's with potential buyer traffic, or they have a general perception that the house just won't sell during this time of the year. The truth of the matter is every home that is removed from the market is one less competitor while trying to sell your home. It's pretty typical to see a longer selling time, a few extra days on the market compared to a quick moving Spring market.
2. If you live in the mid-west or states with cooler temperatures, you can bet that when you see a showing request come over to see your home during the Holiday's, they're a serious buyer. As agents, we can sometimes see what we refer to as a "looky lou," a person that is qualified to buy but doesn't really know what they're looking for and may not really be motivated to make an offer. You can bet if temperatures are low, it's a blizzard or there's mounds of snow just to get to the front door.... they're not a look lou!
3. Consider the Holiday's as a possible opportunity to sell, although possibly inconvenient, the Holiday's are a time when people get together and out of town guests could be relocating back home, are in the area.
4. Employment opportunities can change at any time... relocations, promotions, transfers... just because you may view the Holiday's or cool weather conditions as an inconvenient time to have your home on the market or move, due to a job change, a particular buyer will still be on the look out for their new perfect home.
5. Everyone loves the sweet smells of the Holiday's..... play it up! If you have a home with a fireplace, turn it on during showings. Bake some cookies to put out (even if it's just quick take and bake). If you decorate a tree or put Holiday lights out, do it up! Make it festive, make it sweet and don't be afraid to play on the emotions of a potential buyer... after all... home buying is based on emotion! Make that potential buyer feel right at home!
6. As mentioned above, a change to employment can mean a potential buyer, another overlooked potential buyer can be a renter. Leases can be any length, the typical one is a year or six months, but after the initial term is up many leases move to a month-to-month basis meaning the tenant has to give just a 30-day notice in order to vacate the property and that can happen at any time or season.
7. Maybe you just need to sell regardless of the temperature or season. If that's the situation that you're in make sure your agent knows your individual situation and your dire need to sell. Pricing your home competitively right from the start will ensure that your listing doesn't become stale on the market and with the potential to longer marketing times you want to start out competitive. Chose an agent with a proven market system, one that goes above and beyond as exposure to your listing will also increase the opportunities of your home selling within your timeline.
Comments
Post a Comment