There may not be a lot of buyers out over the holidays, but you only need one

Helen Morris, National Post

The holiday season is upon us. Work schedules are winding down, everyone is getting their houses ready for visiting relatives or perhaps packing to go away for a few days. You, on the other hand, are also thinking about trying to sell your home.

The professionals are likely to tell you to put that idea on hold from Dec. 15 until the New Year. However, strange as it may sound, there are a few advantages to putting your home on the market at this time of year.

“Most people will be taking vacation at this point and focussing on family and upcoming Christmas and all, so if they are out looking for property, they definitely are serious,” says Heather Paterson, mortgage specialist with Invis in Toronto, an independent mortgage brokerage. “It’s great for the seller, because they know that the people who are coming in are not just kicking tires, they really are serious about making offers.”

At this time of year, the challenge is to attract those serious buyers to your home.

Home stager Dane Caldwell suggests having a compelling exterior photo taken by a professional to make sure prospective buyers take the trouble to battle the winter weather and holiday traffic to come view your property.

And once they’re inside, your home must stand out from all the others. “You’re talking about Toronto, so you want to make sure that it’s contemporary and sophisticated and not busy,” says the lead consultant and founder

of Toronto’s 2 Hounds Design. “Nobody wants ‘busy,’ especially this time of year. People are tired, there’s traffic, and shopping is crazy.”

Ms. Caldwell adds that holiday decor should be kept simple and uncluttered.

“People don’t want to be out, so you really want to stress that your house is a place where potential buyers are going to walk in and say ‘I don’t want to look any more, I want to stay here. This is a great place to have friends over for New Year’s,'” says Ms. Caldwell.

Many realtors agree this is not usually the best time to try to sell.

“The holiday period is bad for any number of reasons … the weather tends to get crappy, people’s minds are involved in their holidays … finishing stuff at work… the last thing usually on people’s minds is buying or selling a house,” says Laurin Jeffrey, an agent with Century 21 Regal Realty.

However, Mr. Jeffrey says that with today’s market, the old norms do not always apply.

“There are no listings out there; we’re still looking at almost half what we had this time last year,” says Mr. Jeffrey. “I’d have had three or four more sales in the past couple of weeks if there was product out there. I’ve got a lineup of people who want to buy and there’s nothing I can sell them.”

No matter the time of year, attracting the best offers is still important.

“You really want to make sure you put your money into cleaning, whether it’s bringing help in or pitching in yourself,” Ms. Caldwell says. “Paint the entrance, the main floor and the master bedroom and bathroom,” she says.

Additionally, “put anything you don’t need into storage so there is a sense of space in the home — that’s probably the best use of your money.”

Just do cosmetic fixes, she says: “Now is not the time to think about renovating.”

Flexibility on viewing times also matters. You may want to put your feet up after baking for hours, but when someone wants to view your home, say yes — then clean up and go out for a coffee.

“Don’t be there when buyers come to look. There’s nothing more awkward than having an entire family sitting having lunch while trying to show people around. It makes buyers uncomfortable,” says Mr. Jeffrey.

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Contact Laurin Jeffrey for more information  –  416-388-1960

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