Winter open houses can be a headache, but with the right planning and festive touches, they can turn into a golden opportunity to showcase a home's charm and attract motivated buyers during the holiday season. They also provide one secret weapon that you don’t get any other time of year: a home-for-the-holidays theme.
Below, we’ll explore why you should consider a holiday-themed open house for your listings and provide a step-by-step guide for success.
Reasons to Host Holiday Open Houses
The end-of-calendar holidays aren’t exactly prime season for real estate open houses. Before we even get into how to host holiday open houses, let’s start with “Why?”
#1: We Work with What We’ve Got
You probably wouldn’t choose December, of all months, to market someone’s house, but sometimes that’s just the way the gingerbread crumbles.
If you’re contemplating real estate open houses before the holidays, chances are that your timing isn’t flexible. And if you have to sell a house before the new year, you’re going to need to make use of all the marketing tools in your arsenal.
#2: Winter is For Serious Buyers
People who are going to open houses in between holiday events and gift shopping are almost guaranteed to be motivated buyers. You’re not going to get a whole lot of lookie-lous.
That’s something to keep in mind if turnout is thin – you may not see many visitors, but the ones that show up are likely ready to spend money.
#3: Festive Days Make Houses Homey
Nothing says “home” like holidays. Most people have strong sense memories of this time of year, which provokes feelings of nostalgia and happiness.
In other words, holiday open houses give you an advantage you won’t get at any other time of the year: the seasonal staging will predispose buyers to the sort of emotional experience that you normally have to work hard to manufacture.
Step-by-Step Guide to Successful Holiday Open Houses
Once you’re committed to a holiday open house, how do you make sure the event is a success?
Step 1: Schedule Early
We’ve all been a last-minute shopper in the midst of the holiday party season, so you know that the last two weeks of December are busy for everyone. You’re unlikely to snag buyers’ attention, and the sellers may have events to work around. And that’s not even starting on your own plans.
It’s better to schedule your holiday open houses early in the season – late November to early December. That’s late enough in the year to take advantage of festive decorations but early enough not to be trampled by everyone’s social schedule.
Step 2: Deck the Halls (Mindfully)
Nothing makes a house more homey than holiday décor.
Some guidelines to make sure your decorations enhance the appeal to potential buyers without distracting them:
- Stick with simple and classic decorations, avoiding anything gaudy or gimmicky. White Christmas lights and stockings – yes. Inflatable Santa or tons of Christmas miniatures – no.
- Lean more heavily on winter imagery than religious imagery – for example, use wreaths and boughs instead of mangers or menorahs.
- Avoid overdoing it. You don’t want your decorations to be so cluttered or busy that it’s all visitors see.
- Decorate the mantle, if there is one. Leaving it undecorated will look wrong.
Check out our article on holiday staging for more tips!
Step 3: Be Flexible If the Weather is Frightful
In most cities, winter is a crapshoot for weather. As the date of your open house approaches, keep a very close eye on the weather for any storms or inclement conditions.
It’s better to push the date of your open house than hold it on a day when everyone would rather stay home. However, if you do have to reschedule, make sure to broadcast the information on all channels – potential buyers will not be pleased if they brave the weather to find no one’s home.
Step 4: Prep for Safety and Comfort
On the day of the open house, you need to arrive early and create a cozy, welcoming atmosphere. That includes:
- Shoveling and salting the path to the door and any outdoor areas where visitors may want to go (if necessary).
- Setting out a snow-catching mat at the front and back to keep the floors relatively dry (if necessary).
- Warming up the house so it feels comfortable and cozy. If there’s a fireplace, consider lighting it up to show it off and contribute to the fantasy.
- Infusing the home with the scents of the season. Think pine, cinnamon, gingerbread, and anything else that might evoke coming home after a snowball fight.
- Play festive holiday music. As with the decorations, keep it simple, agnostic, and at a volume that won’t distract people.
- Offer festive snacks and beverages to contribute to the seasonal cheer and encourage people to linger and explore.
Step 5: Extend the Cheer
You might see fewer people attending open houses in the last two weeks of December, but you can bring it to them! Let's face it: eventually, we all need a break from our relatives, and some potential buyers will use that time to do a little holiday real estate browsing.
Once your holiday open house is wrapped up, record a video tour of the house before you turn off the lights and music and pack all the decorations away. This will allow you to get the most out of all your hard work by showing off the home at its holiday best for anyone who couldn’t make it in person.
Hold off sharing your tour until after the real open house has come and gone – no spoilers for potential guests! But for the best effect, post it far and wide during that dead pre-vacation period when most people are just killing time in the office. You can leave it up on listing pages well through New Year’s.
Get The Gift of Knowledge
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Written and Published by: VanEd
