Holiday Decorations and Selling Your Home
If you look at the above picture can you really see the house for what it is? I found this article today and felt like this says it all. In Dickson, TN there are a lot of people who like to decorate and go all out. This is a fun time of year to drive around and see the decorations. However, when you are driving around during this time a year to buy a house they can be very distracting when looking at the house itself as the product and not the decorations. I hope this is helpful to all those trying to sell their home during the holidays.
“One of the biggest questions facing home sellers during the holiday
season is how to decorate. Done correctly, holiday decorating can help sell a
home. Done poorly and you might turn off potential buyers. The big question is:
where to draw the line?
There is one overriding factor that you have to keep in mind when
considering the issue of if or how to decorate real estate. Your home is the
Product. You have to make decorating decisions based on whether or not they
highlight or detract from your product and not personal tastes. If you are just
starting to dig into those storage boxes for decorations, consider the
following before putting them up:
1. Not too little, not too much. When you consider what to put up this
year, remember that sometimes, less is more. A few small items can help give
your home that holiday feel without going too overboard. Holiday
candles, stockings, a wreath or small tree, tastefully decorated are perfect.
Do too much and buyers might see your home as cluttered and too small.
Especially watch out for too many lights on the exterior, too large of a tree
and too many holiday knick-knacks lying about.
2. Go for non-denominational. This is a touchy issue – some
people are very proud of the religious nature of the holidays – but not
everyone. I’m not a huge fan of political correctness – I feel that
mutual respect of each others’ beliefs should rule – but in this
case, it helps to down-play religion in your holiday decorating. Making buyers
feel “at home” in your house is paramount and because religion is a
very personal thing, overt displays really makes this difficult, especially if
your buyers have different beliefs. Have fun decorating the tree, hanging
stockings and putting up lights. But leave the nativity, menorah and other overtly
denominational items packed up – just this year.
3. Avoid messy decorations. Real trees can dry out and drop needles,
swags and other decorations made from living plants can drop leaves, sap or
other detritus, still others can scatter glitter etc. All of these things can
make it difficult to keep your home clean and tidy. This year, stick with
decorations that won’t create or leave a mess.
4. Use decorations to accent. Decorations should highlight a home and
not be the center focus. Remember, buyers will be looking at your home and not
necessarily at your decorations. Keep the tree and wrapped gifts out of the way
and underfoot. Stockings or candles can help highlight a beautiful mantle and a
bow or wreath can help brighten up a doorway. Lights can help highlight
landscaping and holiday place settings can bring a holiday feel to your table.
Many of us (me included) really get into the holiday spirit and it can
be a little difficult to distance yourself and take a critical look at how your
decorations affect your product. For those of us that really get into it, your
REALTOR or another neutral third-party is a great resource. Get a friend to
take a tour of your home and ask them to honestly assess how your decorations affect
it. Don’t hesitate to move or change anything that takes away from what
you are ultimately trying to do – sell your home.”
Eric Rogers –
REALTOR
