It’s holiday season and your house is on the market. Feeling the pressure? Should you call a 72 hour hiatus of house showings during the rockiest time of all—that period when boxes and tissue are everywhere and oodles of Christmas ornaments are lined up (or in scattered piles), waiting for their marching orders as to what spot of this year’s tree they will occupy.
Actually, the holidays can be an enormous opportunity for you to appeal to the sentimental side of buyers. That is if you handle them in the right way.
Last week, I brought buyers to a home that was “decorated” for Halloween. I am using that term with great artistic license. It is a home at the high end of the Greenwich market, and a quintessential New England home at that. Low stone walls and a long tree- lined approach set up a nice sense of anticipation to the front door of the sprawling house. It was somewhat of a distraction then, to walk into the entrance where small, dime store type Halloween decorations were running up and down the hallways as if to usher in buyers, webs were hanging from light fixtures and strings of blinking orange lights lined the front windows.
From my experience in decoration and design, I am very aware of how quickly fresh flower arrangements and specialty items can add up, dollar-wise. The tried and true, “Less is More” may be the best guideline for sellers who wish to add the “fest” in festive and decorate their home for one or all of the fall holidays. I can assure you of one thing, while it may work for diamonds, it’s not true that in decorating, and certainly in holiday decorating that “more is more”.
Take a look at the shots below and ask yourself, “what message is that sending?” to someone who is looking at your home. If it’s not a positive one, reconsider your approach to preparing your home for the holidays.
