Top 10 Tips for Selling Your Home During the Holidays

Attract homebuyers even during the holidays with these useful tips.

Related To:

The holiday season from November through January is often considered the worst time to put a home on the market. While the thought of selling your home during the winter months may dampen your holiday spirit, the season does have its advantages: holiday buyers tend to be more serious and competition is less fierce with fewer homes being actively marketed. First, decide if you really need to sell. Really. Once you've committed to the challenge, don your gay apparel and follow these tips from FrontDoor.

  1. Deck the halls, but don’t go overboard.
    Homes often look their best during the holidays, but sellers should be careful not to overdo it on the decor. Adornments that are too large or too many can crowd your home and distract buyers. Also, avoid offending buyers by opting for general fall and winter decorations rather than items with religious themes.

  2. Hire a reliable real estate agent.
    That means someone who will work hard for you and won't disappear during Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's. Ask your friends and family if they can recommend a listing agent who will go above and beyond to get your home sold. This will ease your stress and give you more time to enjoy the season.

  3. Seek out motivated buyers.
    Anyone house hunting during the holidays must have a good reason for doing so. Work with your agent to target buyers on a deadline, including people relocating for jobs in your area, investors on tax deadlines, college students and staff, and military personnel, if you live near a military base.

  4. Price it to sell.
    No matter what time of year, a home that’s priced low for the market will make buyers feel merry. Rather than gradually making small price reductions, many real estate agents advise sellers to slash their prices before putting a home on the market.

  5. Make curb appeal a top priority.
    When autumn rolls around and the trees start to lose their leaves, maintaining the exterior of your home becomes even more important. Bare trees equal a more exposed home, so touch up the paint, clean the gutters and spruce up the yard. Keep buyers’ safety in mind as well by making sure stairs and walkways are free of snow, ice and leaves.

  6. Take top-notch real estate photos.
    When the weather outside is frightful, homebuyers are likely to start their house hunt from the comfort of their homes by browsing listings on the Internet. Make a good first impression by offering lots of flattering, high-quality photos of your home. If possible, have a summer or spring photo of your home available so buyers can see how it looks year-round.

  7. Create a video tour for the Web.
    You'll get less foot traffic during the holidays thanks to inclement weather and vacation plans. But shooting a video tour and posting it on the Web may attract house hunters who don't have time to physically see your home or would rather not drive in a snowstorm. 

  8. Give house hunters a place to escape from the cold.
    Make your home feel cozy and inviting during showings by cranking up the heat, playing soft classical music and offering homemade holiday treats. When you encourage buyers to spend more time in your home, you also give them more time to admire its best features.

  9. Offer holiday cheer in the form of financing.
    Bah, humbug! Lenders are scrooges these days, but if you've got the means, then why not offer a home loan to a serious buyer? You could get a good rate of return on your money.

  10. Relax — the new year is just around the corner.
    The holidays are stressful enough with gifts to buy, dinners to prepare and relatives to entertain. Take a moment to remind yourself that if you don't sell now, there's always next year, which, luckily, is only a few days away.

Next Up

5 Types of Neighbors and How to Handle Them

You may love your house, but getting stuck with bad neighbors may have you thinking about putting up a for-sale sign. Here are some tips on dealing with rude, sloppy or nosy neighbors, and even those mean ones with spite houses.

Staging Tips for Selling During the Holidays

Before you deck the halls, see which holiday decor can help you sell.

Top Tips to Ease Stressful Holiday Home Selling

Plan ahead, keep your cool and the process will go smoothly.

Top 10 Unique Home Selling Tactics

In today’s market, frustrated home sellers are resorting to some unusual methods to get their homes noticed. HGTV gives you some ideas to help sell your home.

Top 10 Expert Tips for Buying a Luxury Home

We polled ten Realtors specializing in the luxury home market.

10 Tips for Settling Into Your New Home

When settling into your new home, make sure you handle these post-purchase musts.

Top 10 Red Flags for Homebuyers

Sellers don't always tell the truth about their homes to potential homebuyers. Look out for these red flags during your home tours and open houses.

Waterfront Buying: Top 10 Tips from Agents

Before purchasing that dream home, master these tips from the experts.

Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Foreclosure

Foreclosure tips on what to avoid, and advice from real estate expert and attorney Tara-Nicholle Nelson.

Top 5 Unusual Features That Can Help You Sell

You don’t have to sanitize your design to sell your home, as long as it stands out in the right way.

Go Shopping

Get product recommendations from HGTV editors, plus can’t-miss sales and deals.

On TV

Follow Us Everywhere

Join the party! Don't miss HGTV in your favorite social media feeds.