If you’re looking to sell your Las Vegas home, that’s good news for the many local buyers looking for a place to call their own. But what about selling your home in Las Vegas during the holidays? Looking at the pros and cons will help you decide whether to try your luck in a town built on doing just that.

Rule of Thumb

The holidays are all about tradition, and traditionally many real estate agents advise against holiday listings. Buyer traffic slows as people get into the swing of the season. Conventional wisdom says it’s better to list after the New Year, when more people shift their focus from holiday cheer to investing in a new home. 

Although in many respects a unique town compared to other major U.S. cities, Las Vegas is by no means entirely immune to this buyer lethargy, which begins as Thanksgiving looms and lasts until after the New Year’s Eve fireworks display on the Strip has faded into memory. With buyers relatively scarce during the season, you may have to settle for a lower sale price as compared to selling your home in the busier spring cycle. Furthermore, agents often feel wary about access for showings during the holidays, a time when many households are busy with family and friends.

On the Other Hand…

Some local real estate agents will use that other hand to throw conventional wisdom out the window. They’ll point out that, unlike snow-prone parts of the country, your attractive Las Vegas property won’t be hidden under mountains of white stuff when buyers come around during holiday season. Sure, the oleanders may not be in full bloom, but many desert landscapes still look perfectly hospitable year-round.

And what about the lack of a significant number of homebuyers around the holidays? An agent in favor of holiday-time listings will explain that the buyers who are out there during the “Season to be Jolly” must therefore be serious, and if they do find a home they want, they will pay the price to own it. Also, if you’re selling your home in Las Vegas at a time when many others are not listed, then you actually have a more valuable commodity. People tend to move to Las Vegas all throughout the year, as job opportunities in prime local industries such as hospitality and construction beckon year round. 

If You Decide to Sell During the Holidays

If you think that showing your home during the holidays will prove too disruptive for family or seasonal activities, then selling your home after the New Year is a better option for you. If, however, you decide that a holiday season listing is within your comfort zone, then follow a few common-sense guidelines to make this listing time count:

• Use restraint with holiday decor. A few seasonal items around the house are fine and in keeping with the spirit of the season, but refrain from candy-coating your home’s exterior in a Broadway-show light display, or decorating every room so much that buyers can’t properly view the space. 

• Follow general home staging practices, which stress that buyers must be able to visualize themselves in the home. That means the sellers should keep to a minimum (or out of sight) items such as photos and memorabilia that overly personalize the house.  

For more information on the seasons in relation to Las Vegas home sales, check out “Best Season to Sell Your Home in Las Vegas.” In the meantime, happy holidays!

 Photo Source: Flickr

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