Should I Leave My Charlotte, NC. On The Market During The Holiday Season?

The age old question always comes up right after thanksgiving holiday...."Should I leave my home on the market or take it off and put it back on after the first of the year?" My answer is always the same when I get this question.....leave it on the market. There are many reasons for this. Some are logical and some are just from crunching and looking at numbers and trends over the past few years and deciphering that data. First, From Thanksgiving through the first of the year is considered the holiday season. it is when people are in a festive mood and out holiday shopping, attending holiday parties, and getting together with friends and family to enjoy the holiday's together. So, time becomes a precious commodity during this time. It seems that even when we feel that are days are not long enough now; they are even shorter with the holiday's. This leads me to my point. If I have a home on the market NOW during the holiday's and I get a showing; the chances are pretty good that they HAVE TO BUY NOW.... Who goes around thinking of looking at homes during the holiday's? I know I have a lot of other things to do with my time and would wait to after the first of the year to "look for homes' unless I HAD to move or buy. Second, a lot of home sellers schedule their listings to expire around the holiday's. The intentions are that they do not want the home on the market during this time period and do not want their home or holiday disturbed by showings....So, thus they remove it and look to put it back on during the spring market. This leaves even less competition out there for you when people are looking for a home.....The statistics show that from Thanksgiving through the first week of January inventory levels of homes on the market are the lowest all year. Third, home sales during this time of the year are down from the spring and summer months.....but not far off from the fall or early winter months. In fact in relation to the amount of homes on the market and the percentage that actually sell during this month in the Charlotte area is the third highest total all year for a month. So, more buyers may not be out but a higher percentage of homes on the market actually sell now than in 9 other months of the year... Why would you want to not be part of one of the highest sale times in relation to inventory? During the holiday's it may be inconvenient to have someone come look at your house, but they probably have to buy NOW....With inventory levels at low levels and more buyers per house on market than most of the year why would you not want to keep your home on the market during the holiday's? Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker www.davedicecco.com