HEY HOMEOWNERS - STAGING DURING THE HOLIDAYS

Christmas is upon us, and if you're selling your home during the holidays, you're going to face more challenges than if you were selling it at any other time of the year.

With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, gift wrapping, baking, and preparing for out-of-town family and friends, it's even more difficult to keep the house in perfect order just in case a potential buyer and their agent want to suddenly drop in.

So I have a few words of advice for staging and decorating during the holidays.

First of all, if you were my customer, I would advise you to follow your usual holiday traditions (not all stagers are going to agree with me on this.) This recommendation is especially important if you have small children. Moving, disrupting their normal habits, or drastically changing their personal spaces can be very upsetting to children. If you now take away Christmas, as they know it, it may cause further disruption to you and your family. Put up a tree, if you normally do, but if you can do without some of your usual holiday decorations, and perhaps cut back just a little this year, it might help to lessen the amount of "clutter" a buyer has to look beyond while previewing your home.

Be careful about leaving out expensive gifts or other valuables while strangers are coming and going from your home--this is especially important during open house. Your agent will work like a dog to protect and defend your home during the open house, but he/she cannot be with every person every second that they are in your home. If buyers come in with children, the wrapped gifts, decorations, toys, or other small items might be tempting to pick up and play with, possibly breaking them. And unfortunately, even with every precaution, some homeowners have had things taken. So use your best judgement as to what to leave out on display while your home is on the market (even after the holidays have passed.)

Any other time of the year, I would advise you to "de-personalize" your home to make it more appealing to any potential buyer. But the holidays are the one time I say it's OK to make it personal! It's a time to be with family and friends and to celebrate and honor the season in your own personal way.

Merry Christmas!