Selling your home at any time of the year can be a fraught process but the lead up to Christmas comes with its own seasonal challenges. However, if you’ve been good, done research and some planning, you can find the festive season filling your Santa sock with unexpected riches!
Typically the pre Christmas period sees a slow-down in the number of houses listed for sale as people are distracted with end of year activities such as planning holidays, the additional end-of-year parties and celebrations and organising Christmas day. But there are some who look to these periods to find properties that during the heat of the Spring market may have been overlooked, or over priced. Because the number of houses for sale during this time is typically lower than any other time of year, there is are potentially more buyers looking – in fact, for some this is the only time they have the space in their schedules to look at property.
There are other people who are very keen to find and secure a property before Christmas so there is a chance they can be in and settled before the school year commences at the end of January – this can be a strong purchase incentive. If you are able to offer a short settlement period, it can be the difference between a sale and a no sale!
3 Hot tips for selling before Christmas:
1) Don’t be desperate
Desperation is a bad reason to force a sale. Make sure you have planned well ahead for a pre Christmas sale strategy to work. If you are transitioning houses, have your new house secured prior to December. While the ideal buyer may be looking in December, they may not be ready to make an offer until mid January when everyone returns from the break.
2) Have a good team
Work with a Real Estate agent who has experience in selling over the December and holiday period. Real Estate agents and Buyers Agents frequently work together to match properties to buyers – often facilitating the exchange of houses without them listing the property at all.
3) Be flexible
People who are seriously looking to buy around Christmas/New Year are often doing so because they don’t have any other time to concentrate on the task. Help make it easy for those who are interested in your property. Would a longer or shorter settlement help them? Is it better for them if the property is tenanted or empty? Make sure you are able to accommodate any reasonable request .
A buyers agent can help you find the right buyer for your property, no matter what time of the year it is. For more information, contact Amanda On My Side.
