Welcome to the most wonderful time of the year! Unfortunately it may also be the most stressful time of the year as well. Preparing for the holidays as well as trying to sell your home can many times become to stressful.

Here is a list of ways to help keep your home ready to sell, and you just a little saner–

1. Keep your decorations to a minimum. Having to much ’stuff’ for buyers to see can become distracting. This is the year to pack most of your decorations away in preparation for your new home next year.
2. Purchase doormats for inside and outside your home’s entrance. This provides an area for buyers to stamp off any salt, or dirt that may be on there shoes. Colorful doormats will help bring color into the room.
3. Keep your driveway and sidewalk shoveled. Safety is your number one concern during the winter months.
4. If you’re providing flyer’s on your yard sign, keep a path shoveled so buyers can easily grab one when they pass by.
5. Bake cookies during the showing. The smell will help buyers feel like ‘home.’
6. Paint. Because most people are spending less time outside than now is a great time to paint your rooms. Paint instantly makes your home feel newer, so this is time well spent.
7. Turn all lights on. A bright home appears larger and looks cleaner than a home that is darker. Because it gets dark sooner, having your lights on becomes really important.
8. Don’t keep presents or other valuables out during a showing. Don’t tempt someone with having your valuables around. Out of site, out of mind.
9. Keep other personal items out of the way as well. Pictures, religious items etc. should be packed away awaiting your new home.
10. Keep a positive attitude and remain patient. Winter is not the easiest time of year to sell, but continue to remain patient. Remember, a Realtor is not having anymore success than you are.

There you have it, 10 ways to help you sell during the holiday months. By following these 10 simple steps you’ll increase your odds of making a sale during this difficult time of year.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 at 2:48 pm and is filed under Staging, For Sale By Owner, Selling Your Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.