Keeping Your Home on the Market During the Holidays

Keeping Your Home on the Market During the Holidays

Should you take your Los Angeles home off the market during the holidays?

I hear this question every year. Sellers start thinking about Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's and all the activity that comes with the holiday season, and they wonder whether they should pause their listing until January.

My answer is simple: before you take your home off the market, let's look at the opportunity.

Los Angeles doesn't have the dramatic winter weather that many other parts of the country experience. We can still have beautiful days, sunshine and buyers looking at homes. And while the number of active buyers and listings can change seasonally, the buyers who are out there during the holidays are often serious. They aren't necessarily window-shopping. They may have a reason they need to buy.

Here are four reasons I believe you should consider keeping your home on the market during the holidays.

1. Your Home Can Show Beautifully During the Holidays

Let's face it—Los Angeles homes can look great during the holidays.

A beautifully decorated home can create an emotional connection with buyers that photographs and statistics simply can't reproduce. The lights, the fireplace, the dining room set for a holiday gathering, a beautifully decorated tree and the overall feeling of the home can help buyers imagine themselves living there.

For a seller, that's important.

Real estate isn't just about square footage, bedrooms and bathrooms. Buyers are buying a lifestyle and an emotional connection to a home.

If your property looks spectacular during the holidays, why hide it?

2. You May Have Less Competition

This is one of the biggest reasons to consider keeping your house on the market.

Many sellers decide to temporarily withdraw their listings during the holidays. That means fewer homes may be competing for the attention of the buyers who are still actively shopping.

And here's the important part:

Buyers don't necessarily stop looking just because it's December.

If someone needs to buy a home, they're going to keep looking.

Maybe they've sold their current house.

Maybe they're relocating to Los Angeles.

Maybe they have a new job.

Maybe they're buying before the end of the year.

Maybe they've been searching for months and haven't found the right property.

If your home is one of the few really compelling choices available, you may have an opportunity to stand out.

That doesn't mean you can automatically ask more money. It means your listing may have less direct competition for the buyer's attention.

3. Holiday Buyers Can Be Serious Buyers

There's something different about shopping for a home during the holidays.

People are generally thinking about family, home and the next chapter of their lives. And buyers who are willing to spend part of their holiday season looking at real estate are often motivated for a specific reason.

That's why I don't like making blanket statements about the “best time to sell a house.”

The right time depends on your property, your goals, your competition, your pricing strategy and the buyers who are actually in the market.

If you have a buyer who has been looking for the right Hollywood Hills home for six months and yours comes on the market in December, they're not necessarily going to say, “We'll wait until spring.”

If it's the right house, they may want to buy it now.

4. The Holidays Can Create Opportunities for Negotiation

This is where having an experienced Los Angeles listing agent becomes especially important.

A motivated buyer may be willing to negotiate on price, but there are many other elements of a transaction that can be negotiated as well.

The buyer may want a particular closing date.

The seller may want to stay in the property for a period of time after closing.

The buyer may request repairs after the inspection.

There may be negotiations involving closing costs, credits or other terms.

And with mortgage rates still an important consideration for buyers, the conversation isn't always simply “What's your lowest price?”

Sometimes the conversation becomes:

“How can we structure this transaction so it works for everyone?”

Current market data shows that seller concessions—including assistance with closing costs, repairs and mortgage-rate buy-downs—have become increasingly common as sellers compete for buyers.

That means today's seller needs more than someone who can put a property on the MLS.

You need a pricing strategy.

You need to understand the competition.

You need to understand how buyers are financing their purchases.

You need to understand how interest rates can affect affordability and buyer behavior.

And you need to know when to negotiate—and when to hold your ground.

How Do Interest Rates Affect the Sale of Your Home?

This is another question I hear constantly:

“How will interest rates affect the sale of my house?”

The answer is important because buyers don't purchase a house based solely on the sales price. They also have to consider their monthly payment, financing costs, insurance, property taxes and the overall cost of owning the home.

When mortgage rates are higher, some buyers have less purchasing power. That can affect the number of buyers who can afford your home and can make pricing your home correctly even more important.

It can also change the negotiation.

Instead of simply reducing the price, a seller might consider other ways to make the transaction more attractive to a buyer, depending on the buyer's financing and the terms of the transaction.

That's why pricing strategy, marketing strategy and negotiation strategy all need to work together.

Don't Automatically Take Your Los Angeles Home Off the Market

If you're thinking about selling your home in Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood, Sunset Strip, Mount Olympus, Laurel Canyon, Beverly Grove, Miracle Mile or the Melrose District, I'd like to have a conversation with you before you make the decision to pull the listing.

Maybe taking it off the market is the right decision.

Maybe keeping it on is the better strategy.

But let's make that decision based on your property and the current market—not simply the calendar.

I've been passionately selling real estate in Los Angeles for 30 years. My sales consistently rank in the top 1% of agents in Los Angeles County, and I've built my business around market knowledge, negotiating strategies, creative thinking and attention to the details that can make a difference in a transaction.

If you're asking:

What is my home worth?

How should I price my house?

Is now a good time to sell my house?

Should I sell my Los Angeles home during the holidays?

How will interest rates affect the sale of my home?

Who is the best listing agent for my Los Angeles home?

Those are exactly the conversations we should be having before you make your next move.

And remember: there is no single season in Los Angeles when every home should be sold.

The right buyer doesn't necessarily care whether it's December or June.

They care about finding the right house.

So if your home is the right house, let's put it in front of them.

Don't automatically take your home off the market for the holidays. Let's talk first.

Call me today at 310-890-7895, or let's grab a coffee and talk about your home, your goals and the best strategy for selling it.

You can also connect with me on Instagram: @RobertEricksonLA

Robert Erickson
Erickson Estates
Los Angeles Real Estate
Hollywood Hills • West Hollywood • Sunset Strip • Mount Olympus • Laurel Canyon • Beverly Grove • Melrose District • Miracle Mile

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