Decking Your Halls For The Holidays

It's that time of the year again and you’re selling your home. The questions inevitably come up: When I am selling my home, should I decorate for the holidays or not? If you normally decorate your home then I would continue to do so. The decorations can give the home a warm, inviting feel but could distract a buyer from the great features you have to offer and could offend others. My opinion would be to tone it down a bit from what you would normally do.

When decorating your home, here are a few tips you can use that will help bring the festive mood into your home, but still appeal to the buyer and allow your home to put its best foot forward.

1. If you normally get an 8 foot Christmas tree, think about a smaller tree or a table top tree as to not overwhelm the buyers or make the house appear small.

2. Do not hide or over decorate the special features of your home. If you have a fireplace, maybe put garland along the top with lights, but do not put decorations in the front.

3. Keep walkways clear of presents and decorations as to not cause trip hazards.

4. On the tables you can bring in the outdoors by using pine combs, holly, candles and fresh fruit.

5. Use ample amounts of the color red, it is an emotionally appealing color.

6. Keep the outdoor lighting at a minimum. Give your roof top Santa and Reindeer the year off.

7. Do not display religious items as this could be a turn off to buyers who do not share your family’s faith.

Keeping things simple and understated is the way to go it will bring people in without overwhelming them. You should use decorations to highlight your homes best features. Your home is on the market with the desire to sell soon, so by keeping the amount of holiday decorations to a minimum it will be easier to move when the time comes.

Michael Mooneyham is a licensed realtor for The Salem Team at Keller Williams