Turns out that just like family photos and other heirlooms that are personal to you but distracting for buyers, holiday decorations can make it hard for buyers to “see” themselves living in your home.
As a home seller it might be worth your time to make a few decorating adjustments during December—and for good reason – Real estate experts continue to believe that those looking at houses during the winter months are serious buyers. During the holidays, there are fewer houses on the market to compete with.
So, rather than take your house off the market in December use Tiffany’s tips on how not to decorate your house when selling during the holidays. Who knows? You might wake up on Christmas morning to an offer.
Holiday decorations should fit the style of the home. If you have a modern home, consider tasteful modern holiday decorations. Selling your home at the beach? Your decorations should reflect this vibe.
Go for seasonal greenery. A real wreath on the door with a few bows is fine. So is some pine garland on the porch or across a fireplace mantel.
Don’t over decorate outside. No twinkling, musical or colorful animated characters on the lawn, front porch or the roof. Now is not the time to compete with Buddy the Elf for the most decorated home.
Clean up around your tree. If you have a real Christmas tree, please make certain you clean up the pine needles. Neatness counts!
Keep it simple with ornaments. Don’t clutter your tree with every ornament you’ve ever used over theyears. Think streamlined and simple.
Don’t eat up precious floor space. If your home is small, pare down your Christmas tree size as well. You don’t want it or the presents underneath taking up valuable floor space and making your home looking smaller.
Some decorative lights are fine. Lights (white lights only, please) inside the home are OK, but if you must run extension cords all over the place—forget the lights all together.
Choose colors carefully. If you must decorate your home for the holiday you celebrate, use traditional colors only—so red and green for Christmas and blue and white or silver for Chanukah, for example. Even better, keep religion out of the color scheme and go with silver and gold!
Put away religious symbols. Nutcrackers, manger scenes and menorahs may be important to you but could be a distraction to buyers. Keep those out for your own personal celebrations but put them away for showings.
Staging still matters. For the holidays, you may simply want to swap out everyday linens for those in your holiday color scheme.
Don’t display holiday greeting cards. They become like family photos—another distraction that prevents buyers from “seeing” themselves living in your house.
Pare down presents. If presents are to be displayed, keep them to a minimum. In fact, you may want to wrap a few empty boxes, tastefully, of course, as part of your decorating theme.
