Listing Your Home During The Holidays

There is a tendency for Sellers to put off listing their home for sale until sometime after the holidays.  However, based on my experience and further research, I have uncovered my MY TOP TEN reasons why you should list right before now.

REASON NO. TEN:  Usually, people who look for a home during the holidays are in a time crunch – especially if they are visiting from another area of the world.  I have spoken with people from other areas who have come for a South Florida holiday visit only to “never leave.”

REASON NO. NINE:  Serious buyers have fewer residences to choose from during the holidays. Historically, inventory drops before and during the holidays.

REASON NO. EIGHT: Houses typically show better when elegantly and seasonally decorated. Creating a sense of warmth and friendly gatherings evoke emotions in the buyer – which leads me to reason number seven —

REASON NO. SEVEN: Buyers are more emotional during the holidays.  Perhaps there is something displayed in your home that takes a buyer back to his childhood memories.  The strongest sensory memory that humans possess is “sense of smell.”  Harvard research would show that “decoding of fragrant memories can trigger changes of behavior.” The perfume of fresh-cut pine, the rich aroma of chocolate chip cookies and French vanilla roast coffee wafting through your kitchen along with the crisp fragrance of a cinnamon-laced broom lazing in the corner might create the right buying environment for your prospects.

REASON NO. SIX: Because many take time off from work for holiday shopping, parties, and out-of-town company, Buyers have more time to look for a home during the Holidays during the week. The scurry of buying activity during the season could overflow into the scurry of buying a new home

REASON NO. FIVE:  By selling in the last or first quarter of the year, it may be much easier to schedule the move with the moving company because this is considered the moving industry’s slow time of the year.

REASON NO. FOUR: Some Buyers may be starting a new job after the first of the year. They may be “hanging around” for that shrinking holiday bonus and need their current employment to qualify. My experience with relocation would bear out that transferees cannot wait until Spring to buy.  They may need to get their children settled into a new school prior to the Winter-Spring semester.  Therefore, you must be on the market now.

REASON NO. THREE:  You control the showings.  The Seller has the option to restrict showings. Even though a Buyer may be eager to see your home, sometimes NOT being able to see the property right away (Hide-the-Bride psychology) may make him more eager to make an offer once he is afforded the opportunity to actually view the home.

REASON TWO: Some people must buy before the end of the year for tax reasons . . .

And –

REASON NUMBER ONE:  Homestead Exemption! It’s Florida’s gift to homeowners to help them with their taxes.