Why You Want to Sell Your Huntsville Home During the Holidays

Are you thinking of waiting for the new year to put your Huntsville home on the market or taking it off the market during the holiday season? Think again, say many professionals. They feel that the holidays can be a wonderful selling time, one that will attract serious, motivated buyers.

To support this belief they cite the following reasons:

1. Buyers can often use winter vacation days to search for a house.

2. January is the busiest time for corporate relocations, and transferees are "under the gun" to find a Huntsville home.

3. Families with children want to be settled by the beginning of the second school semester.

4. Investors need to close escrow by the end of the year.

5. Tastefully decorated homes are inviting and show well during this time.

6. Realtors and lenders generally have more free time to devote to the sale of your Huntsville home.

To that end, it is to your advantage to implement the following seasonal home staging suggestions:

1. As always, de-clutter! Keep kitchen counters and table tops cleared and put toys, newspapers, and magazines in bins or baskets. Remember, when showing a home, less is more!

2. Decorate tastefully and resist the temptation to overdo it. Beware of large tress which make rooms look smaller and avoid lavish mantel decorations that call attention away from the fireplace itself. When potential buyers tour your home, they should be able to envision their own holidays being held there, so give them the "blank space" and opportunity to do so. You might also think about keeping your decorations secular; not every looker celebrates the same holiday you do.

3. Don't forget your home's exterior! Subtle and simple lighting is appealing to all and will encourage drive-bys to come inside to see more of your Huntsville home. A welcoming, well-lighted walkway and entrance with an attractive door wreath and perhaps a few seasonal plants will invite buyers to venture further.

4. Appeal to the senses. Who doesn't appreciate the aroma of freshly baked cookies, the snap and crackle of a fire, and soft background music? All are relaxing and enticing.

Other selling strategies offered by the experts include urging your real estate agent to make an online home tour video. Target and contact those moving into the area (corporate transferees and reassigned military personnel), help you determine a house price that will bring in buyers, suggest tempting incentives, and confer with you about showing times.

Of course you may be inconvenienced a bit while selling during the holiday season, but if you approach the experience with a "goodwill to men" attitude and remember your ultimate goal, it will make showing your home easier and perhaps even more successful. Keep in mind, too, that although you may have fewer showings during this time, those who do come to your house will be serious, motivated buyers who hope to be so "wowed" by your home that they can stop looking!

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