The housing market doesn’t come to a standstill during the holidays. In fact, we’ve found that December is actually a great month to sell your home. Although, selling your home through the holiday season can come with a few additional things you should consider. In addition to all of the regular things you need to do to prepare your home to sell quickly, like cleaning, depersonalizing and decluttering, you will also need to consider whether or not to decorate for the holiday season.
We think that the holidays are a perfect time to showcase the warmth and character of your home to prospective buyers. We don't think that you need to avoid decorating altogether, but that you should follow some simple tips to ensure your house looks it’s best for prospective buyers.
Here are some tips for decorating for the holidays when you are preparing to sell:
Less is More
Follow the “less is more” theory when it comes to decorating this season. Too many decorations can be overwhelming and distracting. Minimizing the amount of decorations you use will make your home feel more spacious and inviting.
If your space is full of clutter and decorations, prospective buyers will have a hard time seeing past it and envisioning your home as their own.
This is true on the exterior of your home as well. Holiday decorations are a fantastic way to add curb appeal and pleasantly welcome your potential buyers. Just try to avoid embracing your inner Clark Griswold. Too many flashing lights and large ornaments might be fun and playful, but they may distract or turn off a potential buyer.
Think smaller
You need to be very thoughtful about the size of decorations you use. For each item, be honest with yourself and ask whether it helps to showcase the space or actually detracts from the room's best features.
Your overall goal is to add some festive cheer and warmth to the space without detracting from the main features of your home. This might mean that you tone down the size of your christmas tree. Large trees and decorations, while festive, may make the room look smaller. Choose an oversized tree only if you have a really large room.
Go neutral or coordinate colors
You want every room of your home to be as appealing as possible to prospective buyers. So, if your favorite holiday decorations clash with the existing colors in your room, think twice about using those decorations this year.
Consider using neutral tones and metallics, such as gold, silver, copper, white or cream. These colors compliment almost every existing decor and is a great way to add class and charm. Think about replacing any multicolored tree lights with white lights for a more neutral and elegant feel. If you are still planning to use the traditional red and green tones, try using more red than green - scientifically, red is emotionally, a more appealing color.
Don’t make it too personal
When preparing your home to sell, you need to keep in mind that buyers want to be able to walk into your home and easily envision themselves, and their belongings, in the space. This means that your holiday decorations shouldn’t be overly personal.
Keep your decorations secular to avoid putting off potential homebuyers of different religions. Avoid displaying family photos, heirlooms and kids' crafts. Stick to more generic holiday decor, and try to create an overall festive ambiance. A good trick is to simmer some apple cider on the stove or bake some holiday cookies before your showing.
In conclusion, we believe that you can still enjoy decorating this home for the holidays even when you're preparing to sell. If you strike the right balance, and follow the tips we outlined above, your home will radiate warmth and charm that will appeal to potential buyers and help them to imagine living there. Enjoy what may be your last holiday season in your home.
Happy holidays!
Revisiting Fixed Vs. Variable Mortgages
It’s the classic rate decision many mortgage shoppers are faced with. And it’s only been made more complicated since the start of the pandemic. Towards the latter half of 2019, variable rates were flying off the shelves with rates as low as prime – 1%. A lot has changed since then.
In March, fears over the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown forced most banks and other mortgage lenders to cut their fixed rates from 3.95% to 2.45% within the span of just one month. At the same time, variable-rate discounts were scaled back to just prime – 0.15% to 0.25%. By the summer fixed rates were setting historic lows. That led to a dramatic shift in mortgage selection by borrowers.
Why the shift in mortgage preference?
First, the fixed rate mortgage is among the most competitive mortgage products on the market. And many believe variable rates have no more room to fall, given that the Bank of Canada’s overnight target rate is holding at 0.25%.
Second, homebuyers are attracted to the stability that fixed-rates offer. They can lock in a rock-bottom rate for five full years.
The outlook
The Bank of Canada, in its recent Monetary Policy Report, suggested that rates won’t be rising until at least 2023, which is when inflation is expected to return to full capacity. Some forecasters, such as those at TD Bank, don’t expect the first-rate hike until 2024.
With forecasts like that both variable and fixed could be good options.
If you are in the process of shopping for a mortgage and are undecided whether to take a fixed or variable rate, I can help you understand the pros and cons and offer personalized solutions.
If you need additional information on this topic, please feel free to reach out to me at 306.222.7900 or debm@mortgagegroup.com
With the cooler temperatures outside, you would normally expect to see the real estate market cool off...but that is not what we saw this past month.
In October we saw 430 home sales, which is a super high number for this time of year. This is actually the same number of sales we saw in September.
Historically at this time of year, things begin to wind down, social activities begin, and the market starts to cool off. For example, in October of 2019, we only saw 307 home sales. So that means for this October we are up 41.5% in homes sales compared to last year.
We commonly hear from clients that they think they should wait until spring to get their home on the market...but we want to show you why we think December is actually a great month to sell your home.
To prove our point, we wanted to collect some historical, end of the year data...and after digging around a bit, we found a trend that we had to share.
We went back a few years, and decided to look at sales to listings ratios. Sales to Listing Ratios measure supply and demand by simply dividing the number of sales by the number of new listings. It is a good indicator of the speed at which homes are selling.
In 2017, the sales to listing ratio for the year was 38.9%, but in the month of December the sales to listing ratio jumps to 63.8%.
In 2018, the ratio was 41.7% for the year, but 52.7% in December.
In 2019, the ratio for the year was 46.5%, but then 67.2% in December.
When you average out those 3 years, you have an average sales to listing ratio for the year of 42.4%, but in December the average is 61.2%.
This means, over the last three years, December has provided homeowners a 18.8% greater chance to sell their home compared to the rest of the year.
In 2020, COVID-19 may impact the sales to listing ratio even more, as we’ve already seen that October was a very strong month. We may find that December proves to be once again a stellar month, and it could be a great opportunity to sell your home.
If you have a home to sell, there is still time to get your home on the market to take advantage of the December upswing. If you have any questions about this, or specifically about your home, we would be happy to go over everything with you.
Thanks and have a great November!