What better time to evoke these emotions, then during the Holiday Season, when we’re all ( buyers included) in a mood of reflection and eager anticipation of what lays ahead. Target those emotions in potential buyers and you’ve made the sale !

Here are some tips that will help your home appeal to the buyers:

• Sight: We all love the warm glow of a fireplace, candles and effective mood lighting. It makes any room look more inviting, it brings out the warm tones in fabrics, paints and it even complements our skin tone to make us look and feel better. That’s good enough for me! Give your rooms that cozy look by switching your cool white or florescent light bulbs with warm white or amber bulbs. And don’t forget the candles. Nothing beats the warm and elegant appearance candle light can bring to your interior spaces (just keep them out of reach of children and pets).
• Sound: Sound or music can be a powerful selling strategy that used effectively, can have a welcoming and calming effect on buyers. During the holidays, why not “welcome” buyers with easy listening, well-known instrumentals. They’ll be sure to feel right at home.
• Smell: Gentle, familiar scents will evoke holiday memories in any buyer. The scent of a fresh tree, clove studded oranges, simmering cider with holiday spices, fresh baked sweets and breads…they all say “Welcome Home”. But watch for sprays and heavy scents that might affect those with allergies or other sensitivies.
• Touch: Very often buyer’s minds translate the feeling of textures in fabrics, upholsteries, draperies, accessories into a sense of inviting comfort, quality and elegance. So dig out those cozy throws, the velvet cushions or table runners, the luxuriously thick hand towels. Appeal to buyers who are looking for the comfort and quality that your home offers.
• Taste: It’s the holidays – so how about leaving a tasty treat for potential buyers. Nothing says HOME than a plate of fresh baked cookies, sweets or a festive bowl of fruit.

The more time your buyers spend in your home, the more they have invested in it. Not only can you use these home staging strategies during the holidays, but they apply throughout the year. Just adapt to the season or the current holiday and you’ll be set to SELL !

Happy Holidays!

But what about those of you selling your home through the holidays? You’ve just staged your home effectively by decluttering, reorganizing, giving it show-home style and now you’re about to re-populate the house with years and years of decorations?  TIME OUT ! In this shifting real estate market, you just can’t let your guard down.

So how do you continue to merchandise your house to ensure maximum buyer appeal but still enjoy a little bit of that holiday magic that we all love. Here are a few home staging strategies to help you sell your home during the holidays:

Holiday Curb Appeal

• Hang a simple string of white lights along the roof line. Easy. Elegant. Done!
• Please, please, please – Pack up your extravagant icicle strands, They are too distracting and, I assure you, are best left for next year in YOUR new place.

Front Door

• Doors wreaths are welcoming and are one of the easiest ways to instantly set the stage for your home.
• Simple is best – something that blends with and “accentuates” your house colours. How about a simple cedar wreath, dressed up with natural pine cones. For a punch of colour, trying adding a few red or silver ornaments or weaving some bright red berry vines throughout
• 1 or 2 pretty planter pots can complete your welcoming, yet festive display. Use your imagination, but keep it simple. Try an arrangement with a few sticks from your garden, an overflowing spray of cedar, holy branches, a simple bow.

Front Lawn

• Take it easy here! I always recommend keeping the lawns clear of decorations. Just as with exterior lights, too many decorations can be distracting. Let the house speak for itself.…..you want the buyers’ eye to focus on your welcoming front door,  not on a 6 foot Frosty the Snowman!

Interior Decorating that Sells

Less is More

• Use less of your ornament collection this year…..buyers need to imagine furnishing and decorating the house with their things. Rooms with your personal ornaments will be distracting to most.
• Consider using ornaments in one colour theme only and that complements your furnishings & decor – reds, blues, silvers or purples, for instance, to create a comfortable flow from room to room.
• Don’t overcrowd with ornaments. Too many ornaments can detract from the best features of the house. Isn’t the house what you want buyers to focus on?
• How about placing a bowl full of ornaments on the buffet, a simple candle/vine arrangement on the mantle, a bowl full of oranges scented with cloves on the coffee table. It’s simple, it’s elegant, it’s welcoming.
• The tree. Just like the room, don’t overcrowd the tree with ornaments. And don’t forget to place a few neatly wrapped (empty) boxes to place under the tree – now doesn’t that say “Home for the Holidays!”

Setting the festive scene for potential buyers will make them feel at home by capturing the mood of the holidays.   Buyers will be able to visualize enjoying many years to come of holiday celebrations with their own family.  Evoke this emotion and you’ve made the SALE !   And…you’ve enjoyed the holiday spirit as well.   So enjoy the holidays and get decking the halls!

Want to learn more tips on how to appeal to the buyer’s senses during the Holidays?  Stay tuned for our upcoming blog.

Happy Holidays!