8 Do’s & Don’ts to Selling a home over Christmas

1. Do decorate your home for the season.  Decorating our homes for Christmas is
   one of the most enjoyable parts of the Christmas season and it shouldn’t be any different if you’ve chosen to put your home up for sale during the holidays.  However, you’ll want to make sure that your decorations do not obstruct any beautiful features of your home and you’ll want to keep in mind that Buyers will be strolling through your home so make sure any decorations still allow for easy access throughout your home when prospective Buyers arrive to view your home.  Also, you don’t want to have to worry about anyone tripping over any light cords or other decorations.
2. Don’t be a scrooge.  As I just mentioned as a “Do” above, it’s Christmas time so let any prospective Buyer know that a fun loving Christmas lover lives in your home and not some old humbug.
3. Do keep your home clean and tidy. Neat, clean and clutter free homes sell fast and for top dollar when you’ve priced your home to sell. Why would you want to be bothered over the holidays for nothing. So if selling a home is your goal, make sure you do this daily.
4. Don’t make showings difficult. On those significant Christmas holiday days, such as Christmas Eve and the day of Christmas, you can certainly close the door to showings however, on all other days you should allow for Buyers to come and visit.  If you’re going to be making the times for showing sparse and far and few between due to the holiday, you’d be better off on simply not listing your home for sale.  Listing your home for sale and not allowing the ease of showings can result in your home languishing on the market for sale without any Buyer’s offer and this added time period of not selling can flag Buyers into wondering that  something might be wrong with your home and if Buyers think something is wrong with your home, they’ll offer you less money for your home. So don’t do this, very important.
5. Do bake your favorite holiday cookies, cakes and breads as there’s nothing better than the smell of freshly baked sweets welcoming prospective Buyers. Have you ever walked into a home that has just taken freshly baked cookies out of the oven?! Oh the smell, heavenly.  Go ahead and bake up a storm, just remember to clean up after yourself. And if you’re not #2, you could even leave some goodies out for your guests, the prospective Buyers; go ahead and sweeten them up!
6. Don’t leave out small, highly priced, valuable wrapped presents under the tree. Eliminate the temptation from a weaker soul. Just like you wouldn’t leave out your valuable jewelry on display, the same holds true for presents. This is rarely something that you have to worry about, but why would you want to risk that precious gift that you’ve worked so hard for in order to save money to purchase it or perhaps you searched long and hard to find that perfect gift. Don’t risk losing it, keep it out of sight, out of mind.
7. Do sell your home, if selling a home is in your plan. If selling your home is in the plans, by all means put your home up for sale over the Christmas holiday. Selling a home is all about planning. Like any major consideration, you will always need to have a plan.  There will be interested Buyers and Buyers are always in a better mood over Christmas.
8. Don’t be surprised when you indeed sell your home over Christmas. It happens and it can happen to you, particularly in a Seller’s Market where Buyers are screaming for homes to buy as they are here in South Florida.  Imagine celebrating on New Years Eve for having sold your home over the Christmas Holiday season!

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