Tag Archives: Holidays

Holiday Magic Spreads through Highlands Homes

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12-23-15-holidaysLast week, those of us who were out and about during the increasingly short daylight hours could take in what looked like the regular number of Highlands homes decked out with the familiar holiday paraphernalia. When the weather cooperates, it can’t help but bring a smile to your face to spot the reindeer, Santas, menorahs, giant candles, elves—all the elements that help bring home the familiar feelings the season seldom fails to muster.

I bet it’s just that—the sheer familiarity—that explains a large part of why the words “Holiday Magic” are no exaggeration. Sooner or later we feel it. It grabs us. The holidays are back!

This usually starts (for me at least) with a valiant attempt to reject reality. Sometime between Hallowe’en and Thanksgiving, with the first department store ad or the first notes of a carol playing somewhere in the distance, we think “OH NO! – NOT ALREADY!!!” This is the part when the ‘magic’ part of the holidays is nowhere in prospect. The whole concept is at its most materialistic (the ‘material’ being that we haven’t started serious gift shopping, are too busy to even think about it, can’t recall whether the roasting pan was wrecked when last year’s gravy got burnt, etc. etc. etc.).

Immediately thereafter, in a truly magical disappearing-of-time act, it’s suddenly a couple of weeks before the big day, when all the preparations had better have been set into motion. It’s already holiday running-around time. This is when we are out and about, and can take in all the Highlands homes belonging to Highlands homeowners who have the organizational skills that allowed them to erect the reindeer, Santas, giant candles, elves, menorahs, etc. It’s also the time of year when we may begin to experience some true holiday magic…especially if our running-around to get ready happens at night, when the holiday lights are ablaze…

For some of us, there is something about those area homes decked out in lights, and the ornaments, and the music, eggnog, cookies…or even the fruitcake or the stollen or the latkes. It’s the familiarity of the way all the trappings combine to bring back memories: images of our kids’ holidays, or our parents, or dearest friends…and finally, of our own childhood.

In spite of all the running around, sooner or later, this most special, set-aside top of the year puts us in mind of how very much we treasure the ones who are dearest to us. If we’re lucky enough to have them gathered close, it’s pretty wonderful. If this year, that can’t happen—the memories will have to provide the magic. Sooner or later they usually do.

Whether these holidays bring you Christmas or Hanukkah gatherings (or both!), here’s wishing you and yours the happiest, most joyful of celebrations—the kind that create future holiday magic!

Holiday Season can be a ‘Selling Your Home’ Season, Too

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Selling your Sapphire home during the holiday season may sound like a less than ideal game plan, but there are some advantages now present only at this time of year. It’s true that some extra effort may be called for, but it can be worth the endeavor: there are several factors that make showings at this time of year particularly promising.

The first advantage is the flip side of the greatest disadvantage: the slowdown in real estate activity we usually expect over the holidays. That relative paucity of active prospects means fewer showings, so the number of times you’ll be called upon to put your Sapphire property in peak condition will be smaller. The other side of that disadvantage? The showings we do expect will be to particularly motivated buyers. If they are interrupting their own Christmas and New Year’s activities to go house hunting, they probably mean business. And it’s also likely that they are motivated by a timing deadline. This makes those showings especially promising.

Another positive aspect to selling a Sapphire home at this time of year is how appealing the staging possibilities become—and with little extra effort. Your regular holiday decorations make the place festive and cheerful every year, anyway—usually little else will be needed to bring those enhancements into play for prospective buyers. Yuletide décor is automatically a kind of natural staging that brings out the cheeriest side of any home…and who doesn’t respond favorably to the scent of cookies in the oven or cider bubbling on the stove?

Along with those automatic holiday positives, owners selling their home in Sapphire do need to be careful to avoid some built-in potential downsides. Right now the sun stays lower—even at noon—than at other times of the year, so it’s important to make the most of the light that is available. Keep rooms well-lit and window drapes pulled back to allow as much sunlight as possible. Even during daylight hours, most rooms show their best with all lamps and ceiling fixtures turned on. Fireplaces are sought-after features—and this is the best time of year to make the most of yours by keeping a cheery fire blazing.

When you are selling your home during the holiday season you should also make the effort to keep your own schedule as flexible as you can—even more so than would ordinarily be called for. Potential buyers will have their own holiday obligations to attend to, and are often forced to jam showings into tight spaces. It can be worth it, though, when you keep in mind that holiday home shoppers are motivated prospects.

If this December and January look like opportune times to be selling your own home in Sapphire, it’s not too late to give me a call. I will be active throughout the season, helping Sapphire prospects find the home of their dreams—the home they will be making holiday memories in for many years to come!

The Holidays: Once-a-Year Opportunity for Selling a Sapphire Home

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12-3-holidayI’m always a little surprised that more people don’t take advantage of the holiday season to sell their Sapphire home. The spring selling season may be the most popular, but there are a host of reasons why, for a home that is already market-ready, you might think twice about waiting to list it.

Among the leading reasons that make this an especially advantageous time of year to sell a Sapphire home is the financial motivation for some prospective buyers. Especially when an individual’s financial picture changes toward year’s end, a few prospective buyers find that the tax advantages of a purchase in the current year are reason enough to speed a sudden purchase. Classical supply and demand forces add another reason the decision to sell a home in Sapphire now could be a good one. Since Sapphire listing volumes taper off toward the end of the year, the choices are relatively few, increasing the value of each to motivated buyers.

Experience tells us that the average holiday-season buyer does tend to be more highly motivated, if for no other reason than that they are choosing to house hunt over all the other activities the season calls for. In short, this is not the season for lookyloos. There is also the advantage that holiday decorations add. The emotional appeal of a well done (not overdone!) display can augment a Sapphire home’s underlying curb appeal. Add to that the fact that all of us tend to be a bit more emotional during the holidays, and it wouldn’t be surprising to find buyers more flexible in what they are willing to bid. As every merchant has come to realize, the holidays are shopping days.

For those who will be traveling for the holidays, rather than that being a reason to put off listing, those days can be ideal times to sell your Sapphire home. The house will be unoccupied, clean and available for showings at any time of day—the perfect situation for turning the otherwise slow holiday season into a standout to those buyers who need a home now.

I will be working throughout, so give me a call if selling your Sapphire house is an idea that makes good sense. The more available you make your home during the holidays, the more likely you’ll find a buyer during this hectic time of year.