Selling or Buying This Holiday Season

Looking to buy or sell this holiday season? Sellers tend to hold off on listing their home during this festive time of year, but now may be the best time for you to list your home with low inventory and low interest rates still available to buyers. Selling can work in your favor during the holidays, if you play your transaction right. Buyers can also get the deal sealed with the correct agent at hand.

Home sales, historically, do fall during the winter months, however with current market conditions and home buyers still looking to purchase at the low interest rates - now can be a lucrative time to sell. During the holiday season, as a seller, you will have lower competitive listings, eager buyers and typically a less busy agent. You may also have more time for showings with days off in November, December and January.

2020 and 2021 has produced all time low inventory in the housing market. Traditionally speaking, we tend to see less inventory available during the winter months. Reduced listings during the holidays means less competition for my sellers. This holiday season sellers may very well benefit from the lack of inventory; buyers may have more opportunity with the multiple offer situations having fizzled out.

With the lack of inventory and low interest rates, we are still seeing eager buyers. Additionally, buyers may be looking to have purchased and moved into a new home prior to Christmas or the New Year! This can lead to a quicker transaction and a motivated buyer. Agents are typically less busy during this time of year too. Less client activity means more focus on you as the agents client. Although a good Realtor is well balanced and can handle their clientele no matter the season, if you are looking for a hyper-focused agent, now may be a good time to contact your Realtor!

If you do plan to list your home this holiday season, here are a few quick tips:

Keep the holiday decor on the down-low. Essentially ease up on the holiday decorations. Too many Christmas decorations can be overwhelming or distracting to buyers. Plus, keeping your holiday decor to a minimum will make your home seem more spacious during showings. 

For those of you who cannot resist the holiday magic, keep in mind the following rules when decorating:

1. Dont block or cover the important selling features of your home. Buyers want to see these features!

2. Dont buy or put up too large of a Christmas tree. You dont want to take away from the space in your home.

3. Keep presents hidden in a safe place during showings.

4. Fight the urge to hang garlands or banners.

5. Consider holiday scents for showings. We can keep these as long as they are not too overwhelming.

6. ALWAYS have a home-stager come in before professional photos. Home staging and professional photos are essential to your listing. Staging and professional photography is included with all of my listings. Contact me for more information at (281)387-9364. You can also visit my webpage at: www.har.com/cayleedoiron

Whether youre buying or selling, no matter the season, connecting with the right Realtor can make a huge difference in how your transaction goes! As a Houston Realtor with Stanfield Properties, I serve clients from Galveston to Lake Conroe with my key market areas being south of Houston. Any time you have any real estate questions, please do not hesitate to contact me! Im always happy to talk real estate!