The holiday season is jam-packed with parties, shopping, cooking, gift-giving and obligations. With all this going on, you might assume that the festive season is the worst time to buy or sell a home.
However, you may be surprised to learn that the holiday season is actually great for selling your home. Many buyers are naturally attracted and committed to the process during this time of year. In an especially tight housing market, homebuyers will often kick their home shopping into high gear and take advantage of the reduced competition among other buyers.
Once you’ve decided to sell, you may want to do some reorganizing, cleaning, and home staging to present your place in its very best light. Below are some suggestions for holiday home staging during the festive season.
1. Start with staging.
Your realtor should be your first stop when discussing home staging, especially with holiday decor involved. Removing clutter and personal effects is a start, but you also want to consider your furnishings and artwork.
Remove extra furniture to storage (don’t keep it in your garage—buyers will see it there and wonder why it’s not inside the house). And maintain clear sight lines and pathways to add an open, airy feeling to your holiday home.
2. Decorate with restraint.
Having white lights, Christmas decorations, or a menorah on display is fine, but try not to let holiday home decor dominate the entire room. Small, tasteful decorations sprinkled throughout the house give the homebuyer a taste of the holiday spirit and let them envision what they could do with the space during the holiday season.
Nowadays, many sellers are also interested in virtual showings, which means virtual staging. With that in mind, you also need to think about how your holiday decor will photograph and present on a virtual video walk-through. What can draw attention in a positive way in person may draw attention in a negative way online, particularly when your rooms are condensed to the size of a smartphone screen.
3. Keep everything cozy.
Subtle touches that create a holiday atmosphere work wonders. Add a bowl of cinnamon-scented pine cones in the center of your dining room table. Hang a wreath over the fireplace in the living room or on the front door for a sense of warmth. Christmas decorations are taken to the next level when they involve more than one sense, so bring smell into your home decor by sprinkling in fresh evergreen when possible.
4. Don’t forget your color palette.
Be sure your holiday decor complements your current home. Christmas decorations should make the rooms feel festive but never eccentric.
One way to complement your current home decor is to work within the existing color scheme. If your living room is painted a beautiful blue, perhaps skip the red garland and go with a more “winter wonderland” feel with silver bells and snowflakes.
If your dining room is neutral colored, going with some cranberry garland or earth-toned trimmings will work nicely. Your Christmas decorations don’t have to be the same color as the room, but they should pair nicely with the already existing color scheme.
5. Don’t forget the outdoor decor.
Keep away from large blow-up displays or lights that pulse to the beat of “Jingle Bells.” Stick with simple colored or white lights and a small display on your porch. This brings out the curb appeal your buyers are looking for as they browse listings and drive around looking at homes. Plus, it’s the first thing they’ll see.
Remember, you want to make a great first impression, whether you’re selling your home during the winter months or at any time of year.
