How to Sell More Homes Before the New Year
Looking to sell more homes before the clock strikes 2025?
Year-end real estate sales can be tough to come by. Buyers and sellers are busy, homes don’t look their best, and your family is demanding your attention.
Below, we’ll talk about a few ways to overcome end-of-year sales challenges, set yourself up for successful fourth-quarter closings, and effectively market for holiday sales.
Make It Presentable
We’ve talked about the marketing potential of leaning into the holidays for your open house and real estate photos, and this strategy packs a punch for end-of-year sales while people are still feeling the sentiment of the season.
Beyond holiday staging, winter can bring out curb appeal challenges for otherwise gorgeous homes. There’s less landscaping to distract the eye from flaws, bare trees expose otherwise hidden eyesores, and the drab weather makes everything look flat and unappealing.
If you’re looking to sell more homes before the New Year’s rung in, it’s important to spruce things up. Touch up the paint, make sure normally hidden areas of the roof look solid, and clean out the gutters. Freshen up the mailbox and update the house’s street numbers. Wash the windows and prune trees and bushes to their winter best. Hire a service to salt the sidewalk and keep seasonal nuisances like snow and leaves under control.
A tasteful amount of holiday decoration can also increase curb appeal at a time when it’s lagging. It’s a way to add a pop of color and warmth to an otherwise unappealing yard, but you can also turn to winter landscaping, lawn furniture with bright cushions, a bird feeder, or other non-holiday ornamentation.
Make It Convenient
Virtual walk-throughs and professional photography are a key part of real estate marketing throughout the year, but they’re never as crucial as they are for holiday home sales.
People are busy as the year draws to a close. Add in poor winter weather, and most will try to screen as many homes as possible through online platforms, whittling down the number of houses they visit to the bare minimum.
Additionally, many of the people who are pressed to buy during December – cross-country transfers, faculty, military personnel, and the like – are doing so from a distance. Creating a high-quality listing that is the next best thing to a live walk-through is critical if your goal is to sell more homes in December.
Finally, add some spring or summer photos of the house to the listing – or even print some for open houses and walk-throughs – to show off the home when it’s in full bloom.
Seek Out Motivated Buyers
If someone is actively house shopping in late December, it’s largely because they have little choice. Whether it’s a year-end job transfer or a real estate investor on a tax deadline, these are motivated buyers willing to jump through the hoops and endure the hassle of a year-end real estate transaction.
They’re the buyers you should be actively courting.
Developing contacts in the relocation and investment communities isn’t something you can pull off at the last minute – it’s something to cultivate throughout the year. However, social media marketing allows for extremely granular targeting for your advertising money. Take advantage of these filters to find buyers on a deadline.
Set a Reasonable Asking Price
If your goal is a quick sale at a less-than-ideal time of year, the most important factor in your control is the asking price.
One thing about motivated buyers is that they’re impatient with any indication that you’re going to require long negotiations, and an overly ambitious price tag is a red flag for a difficult seller.
Price to sell, and you’re more likely to sell. Simple as that.
Create Limited-Time Offers
Another strategy for quick holiday home sales is to introduce a limited-time offer that’s only available to December buyers.
Assuming you’ve already set a competitive asking price, you can offer various concessions to make the deal more attractive.
Then there’s another kind of limited-time deal to leverage, courtesy of the IRS.
Highlight the Tax Benefits of Closing Before the New Year
Buying a house comes with all sorts of unexpected costs, but buying a house in December gives you the opportunity to experience some of the benefits of homeownership more quickly.
When buyers purchase before the New Year, they can claim homeownership deductions on this year’s tax return, including mortgage interest, property taxes, and interest costs of the loan. This will lower their bill in April and potentially result in a larger refund. But if they buy their home just a month later, they’ll need to wait until the 2025 tax season to see any cash.
Make sure to point this out to potential buyers in December – the promise of quick financial relief can be a great motivator to squeeze their purchase in between holiday celebrations.
Address Winter Weather Concerns
No one wants to move into their new house only to learn that it’s drafty or the heating system is on its last legs.
One way to reassure buyers that the home is move-in ready and hassle-free is to spring for a seller’s inspection and address any problems that come up.
Don’t Forget Your License Renewal Requirements
Sadly, some state licensing boards are less concerned about your ability to sell more homes at the end of the tax year and more concerned about making you deal with bureaucracy.
If you’re one of the unlucky real estate professionals in a state with December renewal deadlines, you may be scrambling to meet your continuing education (CE) requirements in time to keep your license active.
Our real estate CE courses are online and self-paced for your convenience – you’ll be able to work through your courses anywhere with an internet connection and squeeze lessons between holiday staging and closing paperwork.
Enroll today!
Written and Published by: VanEd
