Realty, Reality -- Tips for selling your home over the holidays and winter months.

The shopping frenzy is on, for houses. Yes, people are still buying homes and it is a great time to have your home for sale. Many people have asked me if it is a good time to sell their home over the holiday season, I always answer yes and no. I aim to tell my clients both sides of a situation and let them decided what side fits their situation best.

Right now, a home that is holiday decorated, has wonderful lights, a beautiful display, is religious themed or not is welcoming. The key is not to go overboard as you see some characters do in some of the best holiday movies. In Wisconsin, we love our homes, we spend so much time in them over the winter months, go ahead and enjoy the home and that means decorate. Remember though, you are planning to move, so perhaps just take some of your favorite decorations and place them out, have the others already packed and set to go to your new place.

As for the salability of a home over the holidays and winter months, there are additional factors/tasks to consider. One of the biggest tasks is making sure the home is people friendly. You might ask what does that mean. It means keep the driveway, walkways and patio/deck area cleared of snow at all times. No seller wants to deal with a situation where a buyer slipped and fell on your property. Make sure you have plenty of ice melt and an area with a seat for prospective buyers to remove their boots when they enter your home. That dreaded argument of what temperature to keep the home at over the winter months, right in the middle is best, about 70 degrees, you want to make sure your home is welcoming and that means not too hot or too cold.

Remember, the market tends to lose inventory over the holidays as many sellers do not want to deal with showings during this busy time. So if you have your home for sale at this time, you have less competition and the more your home sticks out above and beyond those other homes, the quicker you can move those already packed boxes to your next adventure.

Kucifer Realty is open and located at the Market Place Village in Oak Creek at the corners of Chicago Rd. (HWY 32) and Puetz. Stop in or give me (Garett Kucifer) a call at 414-801-8992 as I would love to provide you with other tips on selling your home in the winter months.

As a side note, the Market Place Village has a Holiday Stroll on Dec. 8 from 10 AM until 4 PM, come check out our neat little village.