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Different Tips For Holiday Real Estate Transactions

(Buying or selling a home always takes careful planning and marketing.)

Simply placing a “for sale” sign isn’t going to get an influx of buyers in your home nor is walking down the street going to produce your dream home to buy.

But even you get someone to market your property for sale or if you find a property for sale, you need to know how to successfully close the deal.

Now with the holiday season in the mix and without a little extra planning, you could be setting yourself up for a negative real estate experience. The article, “Top Tips for Home Buyers and Sellers During the Holidays in 2006,” written by Mark Nash and posted on ezinearticles.com, offers some insight on how to have a slight advantage either buying or selling real estate during the holiday season.

Face it. The holiday season can be very stressful and frantic to begin with and if you are attempting to buy or sell a house during this time, your emotions can get the best of you. You need to take some extra precautionary tips on top of the ordinary buying or selling tips to ensuring a productive transactions and happy holiday.

Tips for sellers:

First you need to consider the spiritual and religious backgrounds of potential buyers before decorating the property. Jewish or Christian decorations may be considered offensive.

Do not bombard your property with decorations; it looks tacky.

“Large over-size Christmas trees and other holiday decorations consume space that might make rooms or landscapes appear smaller.”

All exterior decorations should not appear before or after two weeks of the holiday. Also, turn off lighted holiday decorations before showing your property. You want the buyer to focus on your house and not your decorations, as clever and cute as they may be.

“Before showings remove snow, ice and leaves from walkways and driveways. Don't overlook outside entrances to basements, garages, and porches. Pet droppings are a turn-off to buyers.”

Tips for Buyers:

Although you can find good deals during this time, do not go into a transaction expecting too much to be given away. Your expectations may be unreasonable and you may think yourself out of a great deal.

“Don’t be afraid to ask for concessions from sellers. Popular give-backs from sellers to buyers are: property and transfer tax rebates, closing cost credits and paying mortgage points.”

If you are having someone (or yourself) conduct a home inspection in wintry weather that makes it difficult to see outside fixtures and air conditioner units, schedule a time to come back and view the property again. If you can’t see it, don’t buy it.

“Patience rules at the holidays. Everyone is busy, and if it takes an extra day to view a property, it's not uncommon.”

Regardless of whether you are a buyer or seller, if you plan on closing close to a holiday make sure that your lender and agent have all the required documents at least two days prior to sale. Holiday weekend can take up to a week to get things back on track.

“If you plan to move during the holidays, keep in mind that moving companies will require more notice and could charge additional fees for packing, moving and delivering household goods on week-ends and holidays.”

Buying or selling a house is not an easy task but should be very rewarding, especially during the holidays.

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