By the time December rolls around, many real estate agents have usually started taking their eye off the ball, often assuming that buyers and sellers are more interested in their holidays than they are in their property portfolios. However, the market doesn’t simply shut down just because it’s Christmas, and agents are losing out on a lot of potential listings.
Every year, I see agents making this same mistake. A vast number of agents I’ve encountered appear to be under the impression that people don’t want to buy and sell property during the Christmas period, but I don’t buy into that myth – and I don’t think you should either.
For a variety of reasons, the holiday season can be the best time for a certain individual to buy and sell. They might be looking to get their new property sorted before the beginning of the school year, they might be motivated by the warmer weather, or it simply might be the first time all year they’ve had off work in which the can consider buying or selling.
Here are my top tips on how you can make the most of our of this year’s Christmas period and secure more property listings.
Don’t be afraid of auction campaigns
One of the biggest reasons why people avoid selling during the holiday season is because they believe they won’t get as much for their home as they perhaps could, due to the assumption that all the interested buyers will be away on holidays. The easiest way to combat against this? Simply extend your auction campaign.
An auction campaign traditionally runs for four weeks, but if you can extend this out to 8 weeks, you’ll secure those people coming back from holidays. What’s more is that you’ll also have extra time to connect with interested buyers. Going by the current climate, there’s a strong chance the property will sell long before it even goes to auction, but if you extend the auction date you allow plenty of eager buyers the opportunity to make an offer and cover all bases.
Strengthen your social media presence
A strong social media presence can be incredibly powerful, and it has the potential to help you reach a far greater audience. In order to increase sales during the Christmas period, it’s important you utilise your online presence to demonstrate to your followers that there is plenty of opportunity to sell during the holiday season.
Consider creating a customised Christmas sales video message, and blast it out with boosted posts to all of your local areas. Be consistent with your posts, keep your message on brand, and don’t leave your audience hanging. I find it most effective to end each video with a specific call to action directing them what to do next, whether it be to call us directly or enquire online now.
Take it easy at the Christmas parties
I know this one won’t make me too popular – but you have to fight temptation and take it easy at the Christmas parties. Make a conscious effort to maintain professionalism and decorum, and wait until you’re on holidays to let your hair down. When you’re hungover, you’re not going to perform at your best, and a few too many big nights could cost you some serious business. Is it worth it? Usually not!
One final thing to keep in mind and keep you motivated to sell throughout the holiday seasons is that historically, there have been some record-breaking prices achieved around the Christmas and New Years period. Sometimes, the fact that there are fewer properties available on the market can drive motivated buyers into a bidding frenzy and lack of stock can cause buyers to get into strong competition with each other. Classic supply and demand!
