Should You Put Your House on The Market During The Holiday's?

A lot of home owners after Thanksgiving if there home has not sold will take it off the market and consider putting it back on in the spring selling season around March or April. But is that always the right thing to do? Buyers are buying homes 12 months out of the year. In the Charlotte, NC. area the housing market is not as drastically affected by weather as other parts of the country are. We do not have to deal with the extreme cold or snow like our counterparts in the North and west do... Now there are two thoughts to the process of taking your home off the market for the holiday period and relisting it in the spring. The first one is that you do not want to be bothered by showings during this time and it is an inconvenience to keep your home up for showings during the holidays. Also, who is out there really looking at houses now? Everyone is usually too busy with the holidays and family gatherings to go out and look at homes. So no one is going to come out and look at my house anyway. The second thought is buyers are always buying homes and by leaving mine on the market I have less competition and less showings but more serious buyers looking to buy a house. So, it is to my advantage to leave it on for those serious buyers who want to buy and need to buy a home before the spring market. In reality both answers are true. The holiday's do make it tough to maintain your home in a show condition and with the trees barren and it getting dark earlier the time for showings tends to be smaller as people want to look at a house they can see during the day. Also, people do have holiday and family gatherings on their plates right now. But also serious buyers who either have to move or are wanting to take advantage of the winter market to avoid bidding wars are out looking at homes also. In fact this time of the year for me is the second busiest season for me after the spring market. For out of state buyers this is the ideal time to move when the kids are on Christmas break and they can start the New Year off in a new place. Also, buyers are always looking for homes and if the right one comes along they will buy....With the internet being so prevalent now buyers do not have to go out and look at homes physically first. They can view them online in the comforts of their home on the computers or phones....And they are looking. Searches for homes tends to increase now as well after the beginning of the school year lull as stats have shown. But the biggest advantage to putting a house on now versus later is less competition. It is no secret that there are fewer homes for sale in the winter months than there are in the spring season. Less competition usually means a seller can get a good price for their house and not have to worry about the neighbor lowering their price to below market value to just sell it. However; if the holidays are to hectic for you to list your home then consider right after the first of the year. Most people wait until March or April to list their homes. By putting it on the market after the first of the year you still get a head start on the spring sellers and buyers are out looking in a little more aggressively since they are now thinking of tax returns as down payment to help them stop renting and buy a house. Everyone situation is different and with there really not being a wrong answer to put your home on or not....It comes down to your family and what is best for you. But waiting to the spring can have a negative effect on your selling of your home and not getting what you want for it because of the competition versus selling now or in January or February. Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker Helen Adams Realty Cell: 704-519-7895 ddicecco@helenadamsrealty.com www.davedicecco.com