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Health & Fitness

Should You Take Your House Off the Market During the Holidays? NO! NO! NO!

I am fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to live all over the United States.  While living in New Jersey back in 1979 a friend persuaded me to get my real estate license.  A few years later I met and married someone in the entertainment industry.  It was then that we began our sojourn from one coast to the next with many fun stops in between.

Since we moved every year and a half to two years, it was not feasible for me to rebuild my real estate career.  However, the experience of moving from state to state taught me a great lesson in what clients really need—especially when moving long distance.  Finding myself on both sides of the equation was invaluable.

Each time we were transferred the news arrived right before the holidays, and it seemed like we were always looking to buy a home around Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I have many fond memories of how beautiful the houses looked all decorated with lights and holiday garland.  Many of the homes smelled of cinnamon and spices.  All of my senses were in overdrive and I couldn’t wait to purchase a new home and lay down roots once again.

Since that time I have settled back into my real estate career here in the Midwest.  Each time the holidays roll around I watch many of associates take their clients’ homes off the market.  And each time I shake my head in amazement.  It has been my experience (both personal and professional) that buyers who are looking at homes during this time of year are serious buyers indeed!  I have watched homes sell right before Christmas.  In fact, a few years back one of my clients’ sold their home on New Year’s Eve with the buyers signing a contract right there on the spot!

My advice to real estate professionals is to talk to their sellers about the benefits of keeping their homes on the market during the holiday season!  Too many agents go along with their clients’ request to hold off showings—partly because sellers are burned out and partly because they want their privacy back.  While this is totally understandable I feel that they are doing their clients a disservice by not taking the risk and keeping the house visible at a time when their neighbors are taking their homes off the market.

After all it’s all about the staging and what better time of year than the holidays to have so many beautiful homes staged and ready to go!


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