5 Reasons to Sell Your Home this Holiday Season

Around this time of year, many homeowners decide to wait until after the holidays to sell their homes. Similarly, others who already had their homes on the market, remove their listings until the spring. Let’s unpack the top reasons why selling your house now, or keeping it on the market this season, is the best choice you can make. With more people spending the holidays at home this year, buyers are looking for a cozy place to welcome friends and family. Your house might be the perfect match.

1. Lack of competition

Most people know spring and summer are traditionally the most popular seasons for home buying (and home browsing). In the spring and summer, there are more homes being listed, giving potential buyers the license to be picky and take their time with a listing. In addition, with so many houses available, this requires more effort and strategizing to make a property stand out.

The holiday season offers the chance to emerge as the best option. One of the cornerstones of mastering how to sell a home is initiating enough interest for consumers to take the first step. Less competition goes a long way towards stacking the deck. People house-hunting during the holidays want to make a purchase sooner rather than later.

2. Winter sales are often quick (and profitable)

If you were afraid the frostier weather might adversely affect the housing market, you can breathe easy. According to a 2013 study by Redfin, the chance of selling a home in the winter held steady at 65% — higher than any other time of year.

On top of that, homes sold from December 21st to March 21st actually went off the market closest to the original asking price, and spent the lowest number of days on the market. The fall, especially around Thanksgiving, sees those numbers drop a little, down from 65% to 57% with an average of 34 days on the market. But as a property moves toward spring, according to the study, the potential for financial gain from a home sale remains steady.

This doesn’t mean selling a home during the holidays is a guaranteed win, but it does mean much of the fear and uncertainty around selling a property during this time should not be a deterrent to you exploring all your home-selling options.

3. Flexible schedules

Most Americans take a majority of their paid (and unpaid) vacation days between the week before Thanksgiving and the arrival of Christmas. While this period of time can be hectic and busy there’s still quite a bit of downtime for most folks during the holidays.

This can serve dual purposes. It can offer you an opportunity to perform upgrades on a property you might not normally have time for. You’ll have the flexibility to clean and maintain a property, not to mention stage the home in a more festive and pleasing manner which can often add healthy margins to your final sale price.

More importantly, this sudden influx of “free time” gives would-be homebuyers the chance to pursue your property beyond “usual” viewing times. Instead of waiting for weekends to display a property, or after work, you can set showings during the week which means more eyes and more opportunities for someone to make an offer. 

4. Leverage the holiday spirit

From the music, to the lights, to time spent with family, the holidays are imbued with symbolism and imagery that many of us respond to powerfully.

And it’s not only residential neighborhoods that get in on the act. Many cities go “all out” to provide a festive ambience downtown, in parks, and in locales frequented by residents. So, why not tap into this powerful emotional tone-setter and use it to sell your existing property?

By aligning your property with an existing holiday motif, you can ensure your property makes a great first impression. 

5. A New Year means new jobs and people on the move

The end of the year is when many businesses throughout the US offer positions to new employees. For example, according to the Bureau of Labor in January of 2015, last January, non-farming employment saw an increase of approximately 151,000 jobs in the US. (In many cases, these were jobs in which the employee relocated.)

And if there’s one sector of holiday home buyers who are highly motivated, it’s the individual and/or family relocating due to a new job. These buyers want an expedited closing process that can happen during the holidays.

The Decision is Yours

There’s no question shorter days, colder weather, and a diminished amount of home buyers can make the prospect of selling a property during the holiday months a challenge. However, while a majority of people take a step back from the real estate market during the holiday months, you may find when the temperature drops, your potential for a great real estate deal starts to rise.