The holidays are right around the corner and Christmas has arrived in every shop. Some of my friends have even started their holiday decorating already. For most people, decorating your home for the holidays is a favourite way to kick off the season and get in the festive spirit. If you are selling your home during the holidays, however, you may want to re-consider how and when you decorate your home.

It’s proven that when a seller spends time preparing their home for sale (e.g., doing touch ups, repairing anything broken, cleaning, organizing, staging) their home will likely sell quicker and for more money. The goal of organizing, cleaning, and staging is to help potential buyers envision themselves living in your home and seeing it as theirs. Unfortunately, holiday décor does not help with this, especially if potential buyers do not celebrate the same holidays and traditions as you. Consider this, do you think it would be more difficult to envision your furniture in someone else’s home when there’s a giant, decorated Christmas tree in the middle of the room compared to if there wasn’t a tree?  I think it might. However, I’m not a total Scrooge and I can certainly appreciate still wanting to enjoy the holidays despite preparing to move, so here I will focus on some tips for doing just that.

Tip #1: Wait to Decorate

Maybe it’s a tradition for you to put your holiday décor up on November 1^st. If this is you, consider waiting at least another month to 5 weeks. And for the love of real estate, at least wait until you’ve had professional photos taken of your home and your first open house. This will give potential buyers an opportunity to at least view your home online, through pictures and virtual tours, and at the first open house without the holiday décor.

Tip #2: Keep it Minimal

Consider foregoing the 30-foot inflatable snowman in your front yard this year and try to keep what décor you put out to a minimum. For every 2 pieces you would usually put out, consider putting out just one. For instance, if you typically line your stairs with garland and put a wreath on your front door, just put the wreath out. The goal will still be to show off the best features of your home, so try not to cover those up with holiday décor.

(Image Source: https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.6-ft-inflatable-shivering-snowman.1001007308.html)

Tip #3: Don’t Decorate Every Room

If you usually decorate every room in your house for the holidays, consider keeping it to just one or two rooms, such as the kitchen or your formal living room. Again, this will help buyers with envisioning themselves living in your home.

Tip #4: Declutter Other Items Even More

For every holiday décor piece that you put out, put one of your regular décor pieces in storage. This will help cut down on the feeling of clutter. It will also help you to be packed and ready to go for when you do sell.

(Image Sources: Photos by Tracey Ayton; images found here: https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.6-ft-inflatable-shivering-snowman.1001007308.html)

Selling your home during the holidays can be a great time to sell as there is likely less inventory for buyers to choose from and those buyers that are out looking are typically quite serious and ready to make a move.

If you’re looking for some great gift ideas, check out my Maison Monday posts (#maisonmonday) on Instragram or Facebook (@fionawhiteatsutton) as I am featuring a holiday gift-giving guide at various price points each Monday leading up to Christmas. I wish you all happy holidays shared with loved ones.

Written by:

Fiona White – REALTOR® with Sutton Group – West Coast Realty

Phone: 778-552-6246

Email: fwhite@sutton.com

Website: http://www.fiona-white.com

Facebook/Instagram: @fionawhiteatsutton