Selling your home during the holidays means a few extra things to keep in mind. Below are some tips on how to keep your holiday-themed house buyer friendly and ready to sell!
- Don’t go overboard with the holiday decorations. They can make your home look cluttered and take attention away from it.
- Large Christmas trees can make a room look smaller. As can a ton of presents under the tree and too much garland everywhere.
- Make sure you vacuum regularly if you have a fresh tree with fallen needles.
- Keep card clutter to a minimum. Large quantities of holiday cards propped up on tables and refrigerators can be very distracting.
- Keep refrigerators neat and tidy (we all get lots of food gifts during the holidays)… buyers will look inside.
- Be careful with outside decorations. Large santas and reindeer can take away from the beauty of the yard or the front of your home. Same with excessive amounts of holiday lights.
- Rake the lawn regularly to clean up the large amounts of fallen leaves. Pick up any fallen branches and debris from yard and walkways.
- Keep up on lawn care. It’s hard to mow and weed during cold wet months, but a well manicured lawn is a great selling point.
- Take a good look at the front of your house after all the leaves have fallen. You might find you have some touch-up work that was covered by the trees before.
- Knock down any large icicles forming over doorways and walkways.
- Make sure your walkway is snow and ice free. If it’s still slippery, pour salt on your walkway to help buyers safely to your door.
- Remember it gets dark sooner, so be sure to keep lots of lights on inside and out. Make sure all outdoor lights are working properly.
- Make sure your back yard is easily lit at night. Buyers want to be able to see the entire property.
- Keep a towel or extra doormat inside your front door for guests to fully dry their shoes before exploring your home. Or have a sign that requests that they take them off.
- If you have a programmable thermostat, remember to change it if you will have showings during the day while it would normally be set very low. You don’t want buyers thinking the house is an ice box.
- With flu seasons around, place a bottle of hand sanitizer by the front door for guests to use on the way in and as they leave.
- Add holiday scents with mulled cider on the stovetop or by using fresh cinnamon sticks and evergreen as decorations. (Make sure you shake out the evergreen ahead of time to get out any bugs that have made it their home)
- Create a warm and cozy environment by lighting a fire, using candles and having fresh baked cookies and hot cocoa ready for buyers.
- Keep in mind that hosting during the holidays can take a lot of prep and clean up time. It might be a good idea to pass it to someone else this year or request extra help to get your place back to showing condition.
- Remember, buyers look in all rooms so if you have people staying with you over the holidays, make sure they are keeping their room tidy and keep the suitcases in the closet if possible.
Tony Meier
Making Real Estate Easy, Fun & Profitable!
Serving Buyers, Sellers & Their Referrals Since 1989
Windermere Real Estate/NE
EastsideHomes.com – Seattle’s Eastside Real Estate Resource