Not many people flock to their local estate agent to bag themselves a ‘For Sale’ board near Christmas time. But, despite popular belief that December is a bad time to sell, the start of winter can be a great opportunity for sellers.
From less competition to better buyers in the market, you could actually see a quicker sale during the festive season than if you wait until spring.
If you’re considering selling your London home, here are four reasons to sell it at Christmas and not wait until the New Year.
1. BUYERS ARE MORE MOTIVATED
There may be fewer buyers in December. But the ones that are searching for a new home are often much more serious. Most of the time, winter buyers are highly motivated. They either want to get things moving before Christmas or be in their new home as early as possible in the New Year.
Some end-of-year buyers will be looking for a good deal, while others will just be looking for a quick one. Either way, if you want to sell your house, putting it on the market in December could be well worthwhile.
2. THERE’S LESS COMPETITION
Many people choose to wait for spring to arrive before selling their homes. While the flowering season is a peak time to buy and sell, it can leave your home lost in a crowd.
With less competition at Christmas, the searching buyers will be browsing a smaller pool of properties. When you couple this with the fact that the December buyers are more serious, your property could be in high demand.
3. YOU’LL BEAT THE JANUARY CROWDS
Since the New Year brings us all an opportunity to reflect, it’s no surprise that Rightmove record some of its busiest days in early January. Even Boxing Day sees many property portals recording record-breaking traffic[1].
Contacting an estate agent in January means you’ll already have missed the first wave of New Year buyers. If your property is listed before Christmas, you can beat the crowds and be ahead of the game.
4. GET A QUICKER, MORE PERSONALISED SERVICE
A quicker sale is definitely on the cards when selling your home in December – not just for the reasons we’ve already mentioned.
Since the property industry is generally quieter at the end of the year, your mortgage valuations, searches, and solicitor responses could all be much quicker than usual. Plus, since your estate agent may not have as many clients in December, they could dedicate almost all their time to selling your home.
NEED HELP SELLING?
While many people put off selling their home near Christmas, our team at Properly believe in doing things differently! We know there are lots of benefits to getting your home on the market early to beat the January crowds.
If you’re selling your London home, give our friendly team a call today on 0207 459 4400 or email us at [email protected] to learn more about our services and how we can help.
