By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Photo Credit: Tori Lynn Wallitsch, Alliance Real Estate and Ross Designs LLC, Omaha, Neb.
The majority of real estate professionals encourage their clients to list their home during the holidays because, they say, the holidays can be a great time to sell a home, according to a survey at Realtor.com. So if you have a home for-sale during the holidays, should you stage it decked out in holiday-spirit and glow?
Most real estate professionals say “yes”–just maybe not in the Clark Griswold holiday-overkill kind of way.
About 37 percent of real estate professionals say they advise their sellers to display non-religious holiday decorations during an open house in order to make the home feel more inviting during the holidays, according to a survey by Realtor.com. Twenty-eight percent of real estate professionals say they advise their clients to display ALL of their holiday decorations–including the religious decorations. And then about 8 percent of Scrooges tell their sellers to tuck away all forms of holiday cheer and seasonal decorations, and keep the home staged how they would any other time of year.
For those who do recommend staging for the holidays, here are a few subtle ideas agents often give to their clients, according to the survey:
By Charlene Storozuk
Selling your home is a stressful event, but doing so over the holiday season can kick the tension level up a notch. If your home is on the market over the holidays, you might be wondering if you should deck the halls or give it a pass for this year. That is, if in fact you celebrate the season.
When deciding whether to decorate or not, take the demographics of your neighbourhood into account. If the majority of home owners in your area do not celebrate the holidays, you may want to follow their lead and not decorate your home for the festive season either.
Here are some things to take into account if you are going to decorate:
- Less is definitely more. Combat clutter by keeping your holiday decor to a minimum and choosing classic, tasteful pieces.
Avoid displaying holiday collections. I happened to mention one year that I like nutcrackers. I didn’t even own one at the time, but now, 10 years later, I would have to guess that there are close to 80 of those little fellows standing guard in my home during the holidays. If I were selling, I’d want people to look at my home, not my collection.- Decorations should be in good condition. This is not the year to bring out Grandma’s tattered Santa Claus or Rudolph with the missing nose. Let them hibernate.
- Use an artificial tree for this year. You can place some pine boughs in a large bowl and dress it up with a few pine cones and holiday balls. You’ll still get that real Christmas tree scent without the mess.
- Never leave tree lights on when you are not home. If you have a showing booked, turn the lights on just before the appointment and be sure to come back right after to turn them off.
- Consider the safety of small children that may be coming through your home. Don’t leave out small decorations that could become a choking hazard.
- If Felix the cat has a bad habit of knocking your tree down on occasion, you might want to forego putting your tree up this year. Murphy’s Law says that Felix will do this just when potential buyers are on their way over for a showing.
One last thing: once the holidays are over, make sure you take down your decorations soon afterwards. As well, if the listing photos were taken while your home was decorated for the season, make sure that once mid January rolls around, new photos are taken. Buyers that see a Christmas tree in your living room while viewing your property online in March will be tipped off pretty quickly to the fact that your home has been on the market for a while.
Charlene Storozuk
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Charlene Storozuk is the owner of Dezigner Digz, a professional home staging and interior decorating company based in Burlington, Ontario. Her work is featured in the book FabJob Guide To Become A Home Stager, 2009 edition. She serves as regional vice-president, Canada for the Real Estate Staging Association and is a past recipient of the North American Leadership Award for her work as founder and president of the Halton & Hamilton-Wentworth RESA Chapter.
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