Here’s my recipe for a Holiday Open House.  The goal is to celebrate the season in a warm, inviting home.  The holidays give a perfect opportunity to showcase a home.

Invitations

Invite the neighbors, as well as those folks who are looking for a new home.  You can reach prospective buyers by inviting agents you know who regularly represent buyers.  The invitations should mimic a Holiday card.  The Open House signs on the street should also be festive.  Unlike other Open Houses, have the homeowners in attendance.

Home Decor

Decorate the home with traditional holiday trimmings.  A Christmas tree adorned with beautiful ornaments and flickering lights makes an inviting focal point.  Place wreaths in the windows and on the doors.  Remove furniture to make the space larger.

A crackling fire (if there is a fireplace) gives off a romantic glow and creates a peaceful ambiance.  I’ve use color crystal color sticks and pine cones, which turn the flames green, red and blue– a wow factor.

Curb Appeal

Use flood lights to create dramatic effects.  Point them to the front door and other outdoor walls.  Uplight any trees nearby.  Or you can just have an electric candlelight in each window.  Stick with classic white lights– you don’t want the Coney Island effect with colored lights. Don’t go crazy with the blow up Grinch and Santa Sleigh. Continue reading this post

All real estate agents hear the objections to putting a home on the market this time of year.  And, for good reason, the holidays are a very busy time and some people psychologically want to think about and do other things.  Real estate isn’t always on their mind and they are thinking about buying Christmas gifts, vacation, taking a break and closing out the year.

“I want to wait until after the holidays because I don’t want to have my tree up and have people tripping over presents.” Or, “Nobody is out looking at real estate this time of year — they are out shopping.” Or even, “I don’t want to disturb my family during the holidays.”

These are objections we all hear when talking to clients about selling their homes.  Well, courtesy of various training I’ve gone to, including some information provided by a broker I work with that has attended Floyd Wickman –

I’ve developed a list below of 11 reasons sellers should get their home on the market right now!

1.  It’s a Happy mess… Buyers buy homes, and holiday decor is key!  Holiday decorations tap into the “happy” of the holidays.  Buying a home is very emotional for many and this happy feeling can help you sell!

2. Preliminaries: Be one of the most ready homes on the market when the
spring market returns and have all of the marketing full force ahead for
when Jan 1 hits.

3. Speculation: We can speculate a little on price right now, and correct
it in the first week of January if we don’t get an offer.

4. Less Competition: Everyone else is waiting to list their home, jump in
ahead and there’s less inventory for the motivated buyers to choose from!
There is a heavy inventory of foreclosures being held into the next fiscal year.
You need to beat them to the market!

5. Best Realtors: The best Realtors are working right now!!!

6. Positioned to Buy: You sell now, so that you can be in the best position
to buy when there is more to pick from in spring Continue reading this post

This is a pretty common question this time of year. I think the answer depends on your personal situation. I met with two homeowners within the last week that want to list their homes and both couples asked this same question.

My advice was that there is no reason to wait because it was not going to disrupt either of their holidays.

If either of them were having visitors for the holidays or was a large family with kids running around the house all day I probably would have advised them to wait.

Here are 5 reasons to list your home during the holiday season:

1.  This time of year many Realtors are taking time off or advising their sellers to wait until January to put their home up for sale. That means fewer listings are coming on the market. Wouldn’t you rather be 1 of say 10 new listings versus 1of 40? Your listing will be noticed more to those who are actively looking. There are always buyers on the sidelines waiting for new listings. Many of them receive new listings daily via email. Listing your home during the holidays might mean that you stand out more amongst all of the other new listings.

2.    If a home buyer is looking during the holidays there is a strong chance that they are motivated to purchase.

3.    The first time home-buyer tax credit has been extended. This might have created a sense of urgency and motivation for some to buy. Continue reading this post

I’m in my fifth year of owning my brokerage and every December seems to have the same outcome.  We sell tons of homes all year long, and then the Christmas Season comes along and home sales slow to a crawl.  It’s been this way year in and year out.

The other day I was thinking about this subject as our normal December takes place.  Yes, it’s a typical December.  Half my real estate agents are on vacation or going on vacation and most of our buyers are coming into town in January or February.

I thought to myself, this is really the best time to buy a home, isn’t it?

Let’s think about it logically.  Selling homes in the current market has been a challenge to say the least.  However, the best priced homes always have multiple offers because everybody is looking for the deal!

Most of the homes we have under contract this month are great deals with very low prices…not so great for my brokerage, but great for the customer.

It dawned on me as I tried to figure this out, why are we having so many low priced homes all of the sudden?  The answer popped out like a rocket.  These homes are under contract because nobody else is out buying homes right now…they are all waiting!

The homes we currently have under contract are usually homes that would receive 10+ offers but at this time of year, there are  no other offers.

So why is this a benefit to home buyers out there this month? Continue reading this post

Last Friday (November 6), President Obama signed legislation into law that both extended the existing $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit and added a new tax credit for some existing home buyers.

Here is a summary of the extended and expanded tax credits:

First time buyer tax credit:

This was extended to May 1, 2010:  A tax credit of 10% of the purchase price of a home, up to $8,000, may be claimed by first-time buyers for the purchase of a primary residence. As long as you are under a binding purchase contract by April 30, 2010 – and close on the transaction before July 1, you can probably claim the credit.

A first-time buyer is defined as someone who has not owned a home in the past three years.

Income limits were increased to $125,000 for singles, $225,000 for married couples filing jointly.

The purchase price of the home can not exceed $800,000.

Existing home owner credit:

If you have lived in your home for five consecutive years out of the last eight years and are buying another primary residence, you may qualify for a tax credit of 10% of the purchase price, up to a maximum of $6,500.

The May 1 / July first time limits apply to the existing buyer credit as well.

The $125,000 / $225,000 income limits and $800,000 max purchase price limits also apply.

The existing home owner credit became effective “on the date of enactment” – November 6.

Of Note: Continue reading this post

After seeing a Senate vote of 98-0, the House approved the extension & expansion of the home buyer tax credit by a vote of 403 to 12.  The overwhelming bipartisan support was applauded by the NAHB and the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).

The new bill extends the expiration of the current $8000 tax credit to first time home buyers purchasing a principle residence.  The bill further expands the credit to include existing purchasers who have owned and occupied a primary residence for the past five of eight years.  Existing purchasers will receive a credit of $6500.

The income restrictions on qualifying buyers have also been increased.  Single filers earning up to $125k/year are eligible for the full credit, and those earning up to $145k/year are eligible for a partial credit.  Joint filers are eligible for the full amount with a combined income of up to $225k, and eligible for a partial if earning up to $245k.

The new law has seen wide support, especially from the real estate blogging community. Continue reading this post