Dear Dave,
Our home is currently for sale and we are considering having an open house to showcase our home and offer some holiday treats to the neighbors.
What do you think of this idea? We are getting frustrated and really need to get our home sold. We need to do anything we can to make that happen.
Thank you,
Bonnie and Roger – Grand Junction, CO
Bonnie and Roger,
Oh, I know how you feel. This is a common seller response when the showings get further and further apart and old man winter is bearing down on us. Desperate times call for desperate measures, right? Not so fast….. Remember, this can be a hard time of year for home sales. Statistically speaking the two month period from the middle of December to the middle of February are the two slowest months of the year….almost every year. This is not to say that homes don’t sell during this time - they do, but in far fewer numbers than during the spring, summer and fall seasons. Showing traffic can be slow and contracts can be hard to generate and frustrations can begin running high.
In the real estate business we are competing for people’s time and attention year-round, but this time of year it is especially difficult. Right now everyone’s time and attention is consumed by so many things - seasonal parties, school performances, kids sporting events, family get-togethers and Christmas shopping make it very difficult to find time to shop for a new home. The silver lining is that buyers who are home shopping are generally serious and are not just kicking the tires. Also, generally speaking, there are fewer homes for sale so every showing counts!
I, personally, am not a big believer in open houses as a tool to actually sell homes. Open houses are a very useful tool for meeting new customers and introducing them to your services and company, however, they rarely result in a buyer for the home being held open! They do provide the seller some visual evidence that something is being done to sell their home and sometimes that is important enough to warrant an open house. Especially during this time of year, I would suggest you trust that your agent has a marketing plan in place that is reaching the buyers who are shopping for a new home. Lean on their marketing plan and expertise, not on an open house as a desperate effort to sell your home.
I know the sale of your home is important, very important, but sometimes, patience is what is needed and this time of year patience is key. For your own sanity, this is not the season to get desperate and wrapped around the axle. I suggest taking a deep breath and enjoying the blessings of the next thirty days. Focus on friends and family and enjoy the Christmas season. If your home sells, chalk it up to your agent’s good marketing plan and finding the right buyer. If your home does not sell, I suggest meeting with your agent in the middle of January and adjusting your game plan to get the job done as the market pulls out of the Holiday Hangover. Hang in there. You will get it done, however right now may not be the time to pull out all the stops.
Dave Kimbrough
The Kimbrough Team
