In the real estate market, business typically winds up and slows down towards December, as everyone is preparing for Christmas and settling into the festive atmosphere with their friends and family. It’s not a time of the year for alternative big commitments, and selling your home is about as big as commitments can get.
The assumption that many real estate agents make is that sellers will defer listing their property on the market until the New Year, when business starts to pick up again. Regardless of that, however, there are still a few ways that you can win listings during the holiday period. Read on to find out more.
Go after unsold homes
The New Year is a time for change, and you might even be able to re-roll the dice on those properties that didn’t manage to sell the first time around. These homes are likely to not have an agency working with them, so it’s worth getting in contact and seeing if they’d like to try your services in the New Year.
Sell the benefits of the season
Christmas is a special time of year and that’s something that sellers can capitalise on. During the period, unless you’re in a highly rural area, there are going to be prospective buyers around you on holiday. Coupled with the lack of competition from other vendors, as not many people choose to sell over Christmas, you could easily swipe a great deal on your home.
Add value to your local audience
Some real estate agents choose to make the most of the festive period by sending out greetings cards. How successful these are, however, is debatable. Often, they just get caught up in the household clutter around people’s homes and hardly looked at.
Instead of wasting time and paper, provide your audience with something that’ll actually be useful to them, such as a council schedule or a newsletter of local events from restaurants and bars. If you can give them something that’s helpful, they’ll be all the more likely to get in touch with you.
Take advantage of people’s lighter schedules
One of the main obstacles for selling a home as a seller is fitting inspections/meetings around a full-time job. Over the holidays, this isn’t an issue. You’ll have as much free time as you need to attend these and buyers will also be more available to check your property out.
During the Christmas period, buyers’ moods are also going to be more relaxed, meaning that they’ll be much more likely to negotiate. That lends itself well to all parties involved.
Communicate your opening hours
If you’re working tirelessly through the holidays, let people know about it! Many people are going to assume that your offices will be shut until the New Year, which could lead to a downturn in inbound business leads.
Don’t let this set you back – communicate that you’re going to be selling properties right through Christmas and that you’re still taking on clients.