Selling your home over the Holiday Season
Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, the winter solstice or any other holiday, it does not have to interfere with the sale of your home. This is the time when we celebrate numerous religious and secular events and as a result of many of them our homes are decorated to their best.
For these occasions we often clean meticulously and we add lights, pleasant smells and decorations around the house that make it feel like more of a home. however, there can be concerns if your trying to sell your home and your decorations could turn off perspective buyers. The buyers could be of another religion or belief or it could be just in the approach to decorating. The key to keeping the interest of the most buyers and still celebrating your holiday of choice is to "Keep it Simple".
If your home looks like the Griswalds at Christmas then you are likely to turn a few people away, unless they have sunglasses. The important things to keep in mind when you are decorating your home for the holidays, and you are trying to sell your home, is that you want to accentuate the house and its best features. Exterior lighting can be great, in moderation. If you cover the whole house with lights people will not know what they are looking at (which could be a benefit for a few but not most) and it will distract the buyers attention away from what they are there to buy, ie the house.
Avoid overly strong smells. If you like lots of candles, use unscented ones. Most scented candles will over power a room or home. If you are exposed to the scent for a while then you may not feel that it is over powering but chances are that for a buyer, coming in from outside to a home that has had a scented candle burning for 30 minutes, it will slap them in the face and they will not be paying much attention to the actual home (this has happened on many showings where people think they are adding ambiance only to cause the showing to be cut short due to over powering smells).
Having some fresh bows of cedar or pine can add a fresh natural smell, but make sure that you do not over power the home. Too much smell of any kind can kill any chance of an offer.
When using lights and decorations, imagine what you would find pictured in a copy of Better Homes Magazine. Simple and elegant with accents that attract the eye, in a pleasing way, towards the best features of your home. Keep this in mind when you are decorating and you will be able to enjoy your holiday and sell your home at the same time.
