Although Christmas is a time for family and extravagant celebration, is it also a good time to be putting a property up on the market? It only comes around once a year and perhaps you could be taking full advantage of it financially.

Making the decision to sell your family home is difficult enough, let alone trying to figure out when the best time is as well. Finding an agent that won’t be on vacation and is willing to work for you over the holidays is just the first struggle. There will always be mixed opinions from everyone you to talk, so why not let us weigh in on the subject?

Let’s look at some advantages and disadvantages of selling a property over Christmas.

Disadvantages

The biggest problem with trying to sell a property over Christmas is that a high percentage of people are on holidays. They’re generally not in the mood for the stress, frustration and overall burden of the home buying process over this period. Everyone is winding down from this mentality, and escaping to a state of relaxation. This inevitably leads to significantly less interest from buyers and willingness to engage in negotiating activity. Like finding an agent, any other resources you require and contact with other parties will be extremely limited.

One issue that may arise is the suspicion amongst potential buyers that’s created when putting your house on the market right on Christmas. Buyers may wonder why you are seemingly in a hurry to ‘get rid of your property’. They may ask themselves, why wouldn’t they wait another month or so and begin the process in the new year? – There must be something majorly wrong with it. This creates a perception of desperation which leads to substantially lower offers which is the last thing you want.

Advantages

There are still a few positive elements involved with selling over Christmas though. With the right strategy, vendors may actually be able to lock in an even better price for their home. Leading up to December, the supply of homes drops dramatically around almost every area of the country. This simultaneously decreases seller competition, but does quite the opposite for the buyers. A local agent is usually the best person to talk to about how the Christmas period can affect your home’s sale.

High demand for homes in a particular area at this time is also a good sign. You may see offers exceed your original expectations in terms of your asking price. Buyers are generally serious about offers and your home may sell very quickly. Christmas buyers love the idea of starting the new year in a new home as well – plenty of motivation for them to throw offers around. Homes also appear more welcoming and bright amongst the happy, cheerful Christmas season which always sets a positive mood when taking potential buyers through.

Include Your Home In The Festivities

Set up your home with only a moderate amount of decorations to bring the Christmas cheer out. Overdoing it will create the opposite effect and may discourage buyers – You’d basically be creating mess, or clutter. Never display religious ornaments or statues as some buyers may find it hard to imagine how to integrate their own culture or religious values into the home.

There’s plenty of up’s and down’s to selling over the Christmas period, it may just be a matter of figuring out what’s right for you, and whether or not it will benefit you as the vendor.

Either way, it’s Christmas time, which means you’re winning – Happy Holidays!