Ask the REALTOR® is a new series in which I answer your most commonly-asked real estate questions, with a new Q&A posting every week. If YOU have a real estate question for me, drop me a note here.
This week’s question: I’m thinking about selling my house, but it feels like a bad time because the holidays are coming. Should I wait? Here’s the answer in this brief video, and don’t miss the transcript below.
Transcript:
Hi, this is Cari McGee from Keller Williams Real Estate in the Tri-Cities area of Washington, and welcome to this week’s edition of “Ask the Realtor.” Every week, I answer questions from buyers and sellers, and pretty much everyone in between, regarding real estate.
So this week’s question is, “I’m thinking about selling my house, but it feels like a bad time because the holidays are coming. Should I wait?”
It’s a great question and I actually get it all the time, and here’s the scoop: You should not wait. There are three major reasons why.
Number one, your house probably looks pretty good decorated for the holidays. You might have a little harvest theme going on in October and November, and then, as Christmas and Hanukkah and other holidays, approach towards the end of the year and the new year, you’ve got some lights probably strung across various areas, and some bright colors. Maybe a tree in the family room, and so, your house is looking pretty good.
So I would go ahead and say don’t worry about that aspect of it because your house is actually going to look a little bit more attractive towards the end of the year and during the holiday period than it will at other times of the year.
Another reason why you should not worry about putting your house on the market during the holiday season is because people buy and sell houses all the time, all during the course of the year. There’s not a set time that’s better or worse because people need to move when they need to move. My own husband and I, for example — we bought our first house, put an offer in on our first house, in…just before Thanksgiving of 1998. And we moved in on the day after Christmas in 1998 because that was the right time for our family.
I’ve also had people buy houses and need to close on them by January 2nd because that was the first day at their new job, and they needed to be in a house before work began. So, don’t worry about that aspect.
And then finally, your competition is less. You have fewer houses on the market as a whole, so people are more likely to find your house, and to find it more appealing, for the other reasons that I mentioned — it’s all gussied up for the holidays.
So it’s kind of a win-win situation when you go ahead and put your house on the market towards the end of the year, during the holidays, so don’t let that be a deterrent. And by all means, give me a shout if you want to list your house.
Hope you’re having a great day, and see you next week. If you have a question for me, by all means, please contact me via any of the methods on the screen to follow. Bye-bye.
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