You Can Sell Your Home During the Holidays Without Hassle

Normally the annual traditions and celebrations observed during the holidays are an anchor for the soul. Despite the hustle and bustle of organizing, buying, wrapping, posting and partying, much of the joy and spirit of the season comes in knowing what to expect.

Except when you’re moving!

It seems ludicrous that anyone would intentionally inject more stress into this hectic period than to schedule a relocation right in the middle of yuletide festivities. Yet many do by necessity.

They have planned or paid time off from work off to complete the sorting, packing and cleaning, loading, travel and unloading arrangements. Kids are out of school so it doesn’t disrupt their academic schedule as much. Family and friends home for the holidays can help manage the process.

Frequently the angst associated with routine relocation activities, however, causes everyone to overlook the obvious. A little pre-planning can help reduce not only seasonal anxiety but the normal fear that comes with making a life transition during a period that’s usually filled with pleasant memories.

•                Separate the things you need for your holidays festivities. – Don’t pack all the wrapping paper, ornaments, gifts, cards, clothes or medications until you’re sure they won’t be needed. You don’t want to arrive at Grandma’s house only to realize all the presents are secured in a box at home, traveling in a moving truck, or sitting in storage somewhere.

•                Plan for delays. – Especially is you’re using a mover. Many local and long distance drivers schedule time at home with their own families between Thanksgiving and New Years. It might take longer than you’d normally expect to pick-up and deliver your household goods. Frequently moving, storage and utility companies, equipment rental outfits, and third party labor and appliance services operate on reduced hours or with smaller crews during the holiday season.

•                Make sure everyone involved knows your timetable and how to communicate with you. – Share your holiday schedule and any available contact phone numbers or digital media addresses with everyone involved in your relocation plans, including your family, friends, moving and utility companies, loading/unloading labor crews, landlord, moving van driver etc.

•                Confirm in advance that each address is accessible. – A five mile long parade, or restricted access thoroughfare because of other holiday festivities can quickly throw a monkey wrench into the best thought-out plans.

If you know someone involved in a move during this difficult time of year, you can help most by trying to understand the immense pressure they’re under and offering your assistance – in whatever manner is needed.

If you’d normally exchange traditional gifts, plan something personal instead. Select an item that doesn’t require a lot of additional handling such as a small memento, card, picture, handmade ornament or family heirloom. Whatever your contribution, it will be remembered and appreciated long after everything is unpacked and put away.

Have to Move During the Holidays? Find a Holiday Moving Company

While searching around for a mover over the holidays, remember to mention when you plan to move. There are a lot of movers out there, but few are performing relocation trips during the holidays. The first thing you should take into consideration is that your move is more likely to cost much more than a regular move. Since most of the personnel would take a few days off during the holiday, it is likely that the holiday moving companies run on a smaller staff.

When booking your moving company, (always) ask them for a written moving price quote. If possible, ask your movers to visit you at home for an in-house moving estimate. This way you can discuss the details in person and you will get a lot more accurate moving cost estimate. Your movers will also be better prepared for the moving day. Make sure you understand all moving fees and expenses included in your final moving costs.

Beware that some furniture items can be carried out only through the windows (often referred as hoisting by the professional moving companies). Let your movers know about all specifics around your move in advance to avoid surprises. Set your moving budget right. Be prepared to spend extra money if you are about to move during holidays. Keep in mind that you can hire a full service moving company and book a luxury moving service option, so you can spend the vacation with your family, while the movers do the complete relocation.

Curb Appeal for the Holidays

Beautifying those overgrown exterior spaces is not just for the holidays, but the right kind of improvements can be for year-round curb appeal.  Just as important as revamping your interiors because they are the first to greet friends and family as they arrive to your house, it's as important to have the outside of your home ready for company.  Ensure that you make a fabulous first impression by combining lush vegetation, elegant paving materials and unique decorative accents to create a single fabulous design.  

Use potted plants to add festive holiday color, and simply remove them after the holidays! 

The Marketplace Now Demands Your Home Listing Year-Round

To many homeowners, selling a home during the holidays sounds like a stressful, unproductive experience. 

Real estate trends have changed and the way consumers buy homes has shifted dramatically in recent years. There are a lot of significant reasons today to have your home listed for sale during the holidays. Here are a few reasons the Holidays won't stop the housing market. 

International Buyers Growing Stronger

The number of homebuyers from foreign nations has dramatically increased as the real estate market in the United States has improved over the past few years. These buyers won't observe the same calendar of events as most Americans. We’ve seen significant upticks in buyer showings and home sales around holiday periods that traditionally were unofficial vacation periods for the real estate industry. When the foreign buyer comes to house hunt, American holidays are often not part of the scheduling process.

American Homeowner Mobility is Increasing

Americans are far more mobile in their lifestyles than they used to be. Occupations change at a higher rate. Companies relocate more often. The many changes in technology create boom scenarios that make one region flush with jobs after another.

Homebuyers employed in these business sectors are called to move across the country at any point in the year. Their employers often reimburse them through a relocation package to sell their home and buy a new one. When they arrive in a new city, it doesn’t matter if it’s January or July. They’re going to buy a home fairly quickly.

Seller Competition Is Lighter During the Holidays

While these new crops of international and mobile American homebuyers are searching for homes at odd times of the year, home sellers are often still reluctant to list their homes during the holidays. This creates a shortage of inventory and a strong seller’s market in many cases. The home seller who is on the market in an area with very few comparable homes can often stick strongly to the price they’re hoping to get. Without a reasonable number of similar, competitive listings for buyers to visit, the seller is in a unique position of power because of the scarcity of comparable homes.

Holiday Home Shoppers Tend to be More Motivated

Take the average American homebuyer who isn’t relocating: they’d just like to buy a home in the town they live in. Those who aren’t particularly motivated by time will often take a break from searching during the holidays and start again in the spring.

Those homebuyers who remain active in their searches, however, are the extremely motivated buyers. They’re willing to alter their holiday schedules and brave bad weather to get into a home. These are the kinds of buyers that home sellers dream about. They want to move right away and are willing to spend significant money to relieve their anxiousness about getting on with the home buying process as quickly as possible.

Internet Searches During the Holidays Surge

Many new homebuyers devote a larger portion of their house hunting time during the holidays to searching online - as opposed to seeing homes in person. The added convenience of whittling down a list of preferred homes from the warmth of the buyer’s home during bad weather makes real estate website traffic kick up significantly when the overall market sales might be slowing down.

To have your home discovered during this timeframe, it must be on the market. Word-of-mouth, drive-by sightings, and other forms of direct-contact marketing diminish significantly in effectiveness during bad weather periods. Homes advertised correctly online during this time get significantly more exposure than the average home, and those sellers that are taking a break from being on the market are as good as non-existent to the online buyer.

Tips for Moving During the Holiday Season

Even if we try to plan almost every step of our life, sometimes things happen all of a sudden; life does have it’s little surprises.

Relocating is an important event that is often stressful and annoying, especially if you are moving during holidays. Moving during the holiday season can be a challenge. You may not have much choice in the timing, but if you are organized things will run smoothly.

Consolidate the Disorder

Already feeling the heat of the moment and need to get started on the packing process? If leaving most of the work till the last minute isn’t in the picture, designate one room or area as the packing station and don’t let it overflow across the rest of the living space. Try to consolidate the disorder into one spot.

Prioritize

Prioritizing when packing for a move can be a great way of keeping the home together in time for the holidays. For instance, start by going from room to room getting rid of trash and other things you know won’t be going to the new place. Then do another round making plans for belongings you may want to donate such as books, clothing, or furniture.

In the end the goal should be to keep in place sentimental possessions or belongings that make you feel at home like family pictures and other valuables, the guitar, teddy bear, and perhaps that favorite mug. Whatever it is which enriches your holiday spirit, that’s what needs to be left for last.

How Rooms/Features are Expected to Change in 2015

The great room (kitchen-family room-living room) is the most likely room to be included in the average, new single-family detached home of 2015, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Using the scale from 1 to 5 (where 1=not at all likely and 5=very likely), the great room topped the list of “very likely” rooms/features, with an average rating of 4.6, followed by walk-in closet in master bedroom (4.5), laundry room (4.2), ceiling fan (4.1), master bedroom on 1st floor of 2-story home (4.1), and a 2-car garage (4.0) (Figure 4).

A home office, 9’+ ceilings in the first floor (both with average ratings of 3.9), an indoor fireplace (3.4) and bolder colors on interior walls (3.2) were designated only as “somewhat likely” to be included in the average new single-family home of 2015. Some of the “least likely” features to be present: two master bedroom suites, a sunroom, and a hobbies room (all with average ratings of 2.2), a media room (2.4) and the living room (2.5).

Keep Toasty this Winter with Designer Towel Warmers

It can get extremely cold in the winter, even in Florida, but a great way to start your day with warmth is a designer heated towel warmer! Here are some styles that give both function and style.