Want to put your home on the market after the holidays? Here’s what to plan for.
by Heather Benjamin
Holiday season can be cozy and wonderful, but it can also be very busy. If you want or need to move, but also prefer to wait until the holiday rush of activities subsides, you can still start planning now. When you’re ready to put your home on the market, you’ll have a jump on all the other sellers who are also waiting out the last two months of the year.
Here’s how to get ready now so you can stand out in January or February, when buyers start looking again in earnest:
Consult with an agent.
Hiring a real estate agent is a great first step, because you can share your specific needs and ideas with them, and benefit from their market expertise, before you make a plan. As a local expert, your listing agent can help you set a target listing date, price range, and marketing strategy, and they can offer recommendations as to what kinds of updates or fixes best suit your selling goals.
Make larger exterior repairs before the snow starts.
If you know your home is badly in need of a new roof, the furnace is on its last legs, or you have wood siding that needs repainting or sealing, now’s the time to do it, before winter weather sets in. The home repairs with the best ROI in sales price are the ones to do with roof, foundation, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems. Curb appeal matters, too, and exterior painting can be a big help if you feel it’s needed. For those with vinyl siding, power-washing can wait until closer to listing time.Not sure what your home needs? A pre-listing inspection can help you focus on what matters most.
Tackle smaller indoor projects as time permits.
During days when you don’t have guests in your home, devote time to maintenance projects you can do for a few hours at a time, like patching holes, fixing minor leaks, checking light bulbs and smoke alarms, and decluttering. (Yes, you can declutter during the holidays!) If you typically do a whole-house deep clean before holiday guests arrive, then guess what? You’re also ahead of the game for your first open house.
Gather information buyers will need.
If you haven’t looked at your HOA guidelines since you moved in, now’s the time to locate your covenants and specific costs, so that potential buyers can review them. In addition, find receipts from recent repairs and upgrades you’ve made to the house. Last, collect utility bills and trash/recycling pickup information, so that you can present a list of local providers and typical monthly costs. Get both print and digital copies of all these documents.
Rather than dreading doing everything all at once in the new year, getting your home ready on a manageable timeline can help you feel prepared, confident, and guilt-free about enjoying all your holiday festivities. Have fun with family, work on projects that make sense, and make time to just relax and stare out the window as the first snowflakes fall.
After your guests have departed and the New Year’s confetti has been swept up, you can tackle the things that get done immediately before listing, like staging, putting away family photos, making the porch look extra pretty, and having promotional photos taken. Then, yours can become one of the “just listed” homes a buyer notices and thinks “Wow! If I can get this home, I’ll be starting the new year right.”
A real estate agent can help guide you through all the steps of the homebuying process. Feel free to reach out anytime with questions—I serve as a resource for the community, whether client or neighbor. Post by Heather Benjamin, Broker/REALTOR®, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices York Simpson Underwood Realty.