[00:00:00] : mm Welcome everybody. This is Ron Evans and this is my real estate, one on one podcast and Youtube channel and I thought now that we are in christmas week and going into obviously the slowest selling season. Right? Yeah, Pardon Me 1 2nd. This, trying to go live on Youtube for the first time to see how this flies may end up having to come back and just re upload anyway, but thought I would give an audience an extra opportunity to see me live. Anyway, we're heading into the christmas week and this is the time of year when a lot of people choose to pull their homes off the market or they take a step back not wanting to sell because technically it is not the prime selling season, but you know what, Because there are so few homes on the market and because other things like interest rates are about to go up and have already started going up and will incrementally go up, most likely throughout 2,022. It's not the worst time at all to either get your home on the market or at least prep it to go on the market right after the first year. So I thought I would take some time today to talk about selling your home during the holidays or winter months and what you can do to set yourself up for the most success right now. So let's dive right in um you know, selling your home uh especially this time of year, it's very stressful. It's always stressful selling your home, but now you compounded with holidays and shopping and traveling and family and events and everything else going on, school's out school's and you never know if you're coming or going, it can honestly take away all of your energy, all of your positivity and turn everybody into a grinch. But um, did you know that Holmes still sell typically just as fast in the winter time as they do in the summertime, it's just, you might not have as much competition and that can change things around and make everybody very happy. So if you're thinking about selling now, if you're thinking about trading up to a more expensive home, um the savings you are likely to save, thinking you're gonna get a better deal in the winter and the spring time on your home, it's really going to be a wash because you're also going to pay more for the home that you're purchasing. So that's the number one reason why it's not a bad time to sell right now, is you can still take advantage of a really hot seller's market. But you can also go ahead and look for a home today and get yourself in and actually earn three or four months of equity in your home by buying in the winter versus waiting till spring and competing against everybody else when the prices will go up, it's all going to be uh equal or pretty close to equal, so start prepping now. Um, a lot of sellers, even ones that uh, wait until the springtime or the prime selling season they regret their number one regret is they didn't prep early enough. So it's not even if you do think you want to wait, it's not bad idea to start prepping now for the sale of your home way before listing it. So you can't make the decision to want to list and move and then prep because then you're going to be behind the eight ball, it's just going to add that much more stress. So start prepping first, then let it snowball in. On average sellers make at least two improvements, not one, but two improvements to their home before listing that could be painting, cleaning carpet, think small things, right? Not necessarily anything big, staging de cluttering things like that, but you're going to typically do too. So tackling weather dependent projects fairly such as exterior painting or roofing. We'll ensure that your home shows the best during the winter months. Um you would also be wise to prepare for all kinds of winter weather. You know, we don't just here in southern California or wherever you're listening. Our weather can change, we can go from 80°1 day in December or January two 45° a day or two later. We can go from sunshine to rain. I don't really get a lot of snow, but basically our weather can vary, it can go, the temperatures can vary and that can have a hard impact on the exterior of your home. So prepare the exterior of your home. So it shows the best during the maritime um, you want to make sure your home is looking safe and welcoming for all your buyers. Uh, if you're not in southern California, if you're listening elsewhere in our country, um, make sure you've taken care of, if you have snow shoveling the walkways, snow on the roof, rain gutters cleaned out if need be all those little things that all helps the way you, the way you maintain your home shows to a buyer create a cozy ambiance. Um, once you get a buyer into your home because you're taking care of things on the outside, give them a reason to want to stay, give them a reason to feel comfortable to feel cozy, to have an emotional connection to your home. You need to appeal to all five senses. Okay, in the wintertime, natural light can be a very difficult thing to accomplish depending on where you live in the winter, but it is always still one of the number one selling reasons of a home open space, natural light coming in. So do what you can to open up windows, move furniture around that might be blocking some light coming in maybe from other rooms reflecting light in. Do these little things to really create a warming and welcoming environment in your home. You should do other things to add flattering lighting, maybe some up lights behind couches or chairs or furniture. Okay, brighten up dark corners. You don't want nice, beautiful natural light to come into a home. But then the back half of the room is dark and just kind of sucks all that away. So maybe accent some lighting where it's dark. Maybe if you don't have a fireplace throw on a fireplace video, there's the crackling sound. Something that can trigger an emotion for somebody or trigger a memory for somebody. Um That all does work. Believe it or not. Yeah, as the days get shorter, try to keep your house as more light and bright as possible. Even during the daytime, I already went over having all the windows coverings open um even turn on exterior lights because maybe they will shine in through a window. All these things help if you have anything that can have a nice light, pleasant scent throughout the house and aromatherapy diffuser perhaps. Um Warm smells like vanilla, apple pie, cinnamon all work best in the winter because those are things that we always may be thought of as a child growing up, you would smell these things and when you smell them later on, it kind of brings you back to a happy place, incorporate some different textures and textiles with your furniture. Maybe some different faux fur rugs or throws, um wool chenille pillows and throws. Okay, turn on some soft music, hang some wind chimes on the back patio. Anything to create a relaxing atmosphere because you want people to come in and feel invited and you want them to stay and look at your house longer than they maybe normally would. And honestly, I know it sounds kind of quirky, but if you have the ability to bake actually baking an apple pie or baking some cookies or whatever on the day that you know, you're going to have some home showings isn't the worst thing in the world. The natural smells, even if you've got some aromatherapy going on, natural smells actually play a little bit better to the senses. It's really, really, really important during these months. If you're selling to highlight the right features, If you have a fireplace highlighted, have it on. Okay. Or at least have instructions there and give instructions to the, to your listing agent or the person coming to show your home on how to demonstrate it for the buyer. If you have heated floors may not be a thing here in southern California, but where you're at, it might be a big thing, have them on, really point those things out. Um, if you have a garage that's suitable to be utilized, maybe it doubles as like a man cave or it's all, uh, you know, set up. It's sealed, it's, you've got a nice floor, you've got it finished on the inside and it's set up for things that you can do, even in the wintertime, it's an extra space to get away for the kids to play or for things to be done in the wintertime. If the elements are bad outside, make sure they know about that, make sure it's open and it's inviting to them for that. Let's see what else. Just going through all my notes here. Um, have some nice inviting photographs up in the listing description. Okay, accentuate all these things. Make sure your agent is accentuating all these features in your listing description. Um, using having a music in key words like heated floor. It can actually boost The viewership of your listing by a little over three than other listings. If it's a true feature, make sure it's pointed out. Okay, Holiday decorating dues and donuts. If you want to incorporate holiday decorating into your staging, it can work. It can give your home a more inviting and homey feel. But remember one homebuyers mary could be another buyers tacky. So it's important to be mindful that not every buyer may celebrate the same holidays go very neutral with your holiday decor. Okay, When you're staging your house very, very neutral. Um, if you're adding seasonal items for the holidays, minimize other decor and furnishing furnishings when there's too much decor going on your home might look and feel cluttered to a buyer for lack of a better term or better phrase, you don't want someone to walk in and feel like christmas threw up in the house. Okay, keep it simple, keep it clean. That's not to say you can't still do your own thing and have family items out and have heirlooms out and things of that nature. But just knowing that your end goal is to also sell your house while you're celebrating the holidays, just keep those things in mind and just Number one, keep it clean, keep it simple, don't overdo it. Your holiday decor should not, or should match, I'm sorry. Um, your current color scheme of the home. So if your home looks, um, if it's like, you know, farmhouse, modern, farmhouse looking and that style and those colors, your holiday decor should look like it belongs with that. Um, allow the sellers to just rely on seeing items like garlands and wreaths to accent the home's best features such as a fireplace mantel or a staircase. If you need to have a holiday tree, christmas tree, make sure it fits the space you're putting it inappropriately. Okay, there could be nothing worse than having like a small corner, but you're used to like a nine ft tree and that's awesome for you when you're personally, you know, in your own personal space, but if it takes up too much space in that corner or too much space in front of that window, it'll be very distracting for someone coming in, looking to buy your home. So a big tree in a small area can make a home look smaller and cluttered. Conversely, a small tree in a big space can make it look empty and make it look cold again. We're looking to really warm up the space and keep your home feeling homey and comfy. So you gotta get it just right okay. If you've got kids, this next recommendation might be really, really tough. Um to stick with but try to avoid holiday yard inflatables and high wattage exterior lights. Think think christmas, vacation and clark Griswald, you're gonna want to kind of dial it back, keep it minimal, keep it simple, keep it classy, but still keep it, you you can still have your personality in there but just dial it back. If you're normally the overachieving type, you really want to pay attention to your homes. Online curb appeal. So not just the drive by curb appeal, the physical curb appeal but your online curb appeal. Did you know that about 95% of buyers now use online tools in their home search. And in the winter months, fewer home shoppers are inclined to get out and go to her homes if it's windy if it's cold, if it's chilly they just don't want to get out and tour homes and go to open houses Until they've done their window shopping 1st. So they do their window shopping 1st, they go from their big list to their small list and they're very dedicated and then they go out and they look because they don't want to waste their time going out and bad weather or being away from those family events, those holiday events that different kids being home. Okay, so they're gonna be much more purposeful in their search. So savvy sellers need to showcase your home's best features online. If you're not using me as your agent or someone on my team as your agent, make sure that your agent and you are and you are working collaboratively to accentuate your home's best features online. Make sure they're using professional photography, iphones take great photos. My google pixel takes amazing photos. I am not a real estate photographer. I do not have. It is a special gift to actually do real estate photography as a profession, hire a professional. You're hiring an agent right to be the professional to sell your home. If your agent isn't also hiring a professional photographer, please recommend that They do insist that they do drone photography if it's necessary in today's day and age. Even if you live in a condo, there's nothing wrong with having some drone photography and drone videos because they can be used to not just highlight your property but the surrounding neighborhoods, especially if you live in a master planned community that has a lot of amenities. Okay, It is very much the norm or at least should be the norm to include that in your listing online. A three D. Home Virtual Tour. Holy cow, especially in this time of year, make sure your agent is having someone come in and do a matter court or similar type of three D. Virtual tour that they can upload online. Again the buyers are out there, there's not as many of them because there's not as many homes available so everyone's taking a break. But if you can do all these right things even at this time of year, you can get your home listed, you can get your home sold. You gotta listen to me three d. Home Tour. It's going to make your home rank higher online. # one and then number two it's gonna catch the eye of the savvy shopper and they're going to look and be like wow, I can take myself into this home and now really put it high on my list to want to come back to go see it in person. There is actual research out there that homes with a 3D. Tour Get at least 45% more abuse online than homes without listen to that. Again, homes with a three D. Tour online are going to get At least 45% more views than homes without if you know that the pickings are slim Anyway, make yourself stand out, do these easy things to make yourself stand out. Even if there was only 20 homes available. Do you want to be the 20th home in somebody's search, You want to be the first home in their search, do all these things and you'll be the first home in their search. You want them viewing your home, you want a viewing at multiple times online and you want, I'm saving it online and whatever portal it is they're searching for you because then you know what they're gonna call and they're gonna come and they're gonna see your home in person and if it looks in person like it did online, you've done all these things, you're gonna get your home sold even in the wintertime, even at the holidays and almost every year I've been in real estate. I've had clients take me on in the holiday season, some as late as thanksgiving time and to a person. Almost all of them have said, well maybe we should wait till after the first year and almost always have had to sell and buy at the same time. I didn't have one this year, but I have the last few years, I have never failed to get somebody personally into a home by christmas when they've listened and these are people that I need to sell and then buy, listen to what I'm telling you, Listen to what the experts say, hire a good agent that's also going to listen to what the experts say and you're going to have an awesome holiday season. I wish you all the best. I would like to say merry christmas from my family to yours with whatever holiday you choose to celebrate. If you have any questions or comments, Please email me direct at RealEstate101@RonEvansRealty.com. Send me a text message at 949-929-2270. Or just drop a comment of whatever platform you were listening to me on. If it's the podcast or on Youtube, take care everybody see you again later this week.