For the Serious Home Seller, December is Becoming More Popular

The holiday season from November to January has long been considered the worst time to have a home listed. Homeowners used to feel that it was too much of a hassle and there was not enough activity for them to have their homes on the market during the holiday season. A long, tough real estate market is starting to turn around this trend.

December has become a popular month for home sales. New listings are also surprisingly popping up as well during the month. Realtors are finding that more homes are coming on the market in December instead of January or February. In the declining real estate market of the last few years, time has meant money. Many homeowners have seen an advantage to listing their homes sooner rather than later.

For example, in Port Jefferson Station, sixteen homes have been listed in the past thirty days, compared with only ten new listings taken in January earlier this year.

While the thought of selling your home during the winter months may dampen your holiday spirit, the season does have a major advantage: holiday buyers tend to be more serious. Anyone house hunting during the holidays is a buyer on a mission.  When selling your home, it's the quality of the buyer you need for a successful sale, not the quantity.

Beth Maguire had her house on the market since April with a local real estate agency, and it did not sell. She plans to re-list it this week with someone new. The season is not deterring her one bit.

"I really don't think the month matters," she said. "I plan to keep my house on the market through the holidays, and hope that St Nick will sell it."

Originally Maguire wasn't going to decorate the house for Christmas but tried a different approach.

"I took some of the furniture out so the house looks bigger with the decorations and less furniture'" she said. "It's staged differently and I think it is going to help. I know someone wants a pretty house for Christmas. It's a different spirit."

Over the last five years, December has also seen its fair share of contracts written on homes for sale in Port Jefferson Station. The attached graph depicts the number of total contracts written each year versus the number written during the month of December. Last December was a phenomenal year comparatively speaking.

While some of this can be attributed to the tax credit, some of it can also be attributed to a shift in thinking. Low interest rates and buyers motivated to take advantage of the increased selection will increase the numbers out searching for a home this December.

"It ended up working out really well," said Vivian DiTomasso, a buyer with experience purchasing a home during the holidays.

The DiTomasso family purchased their home in Port Jefferson four years ago around the holidays. They were relocating from East Patchogue, where they had sold their previous home and didn't want to risk losing a buyer by changing a closing date.

"I thought moving around the holidays would be bad, but it was actually much easier," DiTomasso said.

They moved in just a couple days after Christmas and found it to be a very positive experience.

"It was kind of cool," she said. "It was a new start, a new year, and a new house. Our daughter was only 9 years old, so the holidays actually made it more fun for us to make the transition with her."

A serious buyer can't hold off making a decision until after the holidays, so if you are a serious seller, keep your home available and you are more likely to sell it.

Amanda Eckart is a senior real estate agent at in Port Jefferson. You can contact her at 631-404-2215 or by email at amanda@jprealtor.com. Visit her online at www.pjvillagehomes.com