Marty Millner

Over the years, virtually every seller that I speak with at this time of the year, asks me those questions.  Believe it or not, there are actually several very good reasons to put your house on the market, around the holidays.   Here they are:

 

1.  People are in a festive mood this time of the year.  As we all know, buying real estate is a very emotional experience.  People generally feel better, around the holidays.  I believe that this often translates into a more positive showing experience.

 

2. Houses often look better this time of the year.  Along with my first observation, houses that are decorated appropriately for the holidays, often look better.  This will also help with the showing experience. 

 

3.  There is 0ften less competition, at this time of the year.  Becuase so many people are under the impression that the holidays are not an effective time to expose a house to the market, inventory will often shrink, until the spring.  Since the real estate market is a function of supply and demand, a reduction in inventory, can often help the seller improve the chances of finding a buyer. 

 

4.  Buyers who are looking at this time of the year, are generally very serious buyers.  I have found, that buyers who are actively searching for homes, around the holidays, tend to be extremely serious.  With all the distractions of the holidays, if people are willing to take the time to look for houses, they are usually serious and committed to the process.

 

5.  Coroporate relocations tend to increase, at this time of the year.  I have found, that many corporate relocations occur in November and December.  This can be a slower time, in the business cycle, for many types of corporate entities.  Obviously that is not the case for retail businesses, but I have found that the level of corporate relocation opportunities, often increases around this time of the year.  It is a good time to have your house on the market, in order to take advantage of those very motivated, buyers.

 

6.  You know what the market condition is at the current time.  If your goal is to sell your house, you can evaluate and understand where the market is right now.  If you wait for what is perceived to be a, “better time”, the market could deteriorate further.  Often the fallacy of waiting until the spring, which is what many sellers propose, is that if there are a lot of additional sellers in the spring, the market could deteriorate further.  Again, since real estate is a function of supply and demand, if the spring season brings a lot of additional sellers, but fewer buyers, inventory rises and there is downward pressure on prices.  Since no one can predict the future, you can evaluate the current market, and decide whether it makes sense to sell given those conditions.

 

Clearly the decision as to whether or not to put a house on the market this time of the year is personal.  The point of this post, is to offer some very compelling reasons why it often makes sense to list houses, during the holiday season.  I would welcome your thoughts on additional reasons to sell, at this time of the year.