There are many people across the UK that feel an attempt to market their home for let during the festive period will not bring them desired results; however, over the years, our experience paired with data from property giants like Rightmove have proven that Christmas and New Year is one of the best times of year to market your property.
Each year, homemovers flock to property portals like Rightmove in their millions over the festive season. It’s a time of year when people are off work, feeling more relaxed and are sat at home – the perfect opportunity to assess their living circumstances.
The portal saw a 231% increase in their traffic between Christmas and New Year in 2018; and our own data shows that the period 24-28th December 2019, Jacobs Steel website traffic increased by 282% when compared to the previous week. Considering the buoyancy in the East & West Sussex property market this quarter, there is no reason why this December should be any different.
So, using the above information, we’ve established that getting your property marketed over the festive period is essential if you are looking to reap the benefits of the increase in house-hunters; but now let’s look at how we can make it less stressful for you to do so.
1. Be photo ready
Making sure your photography is of the highest quality and that each room is decluttered and staged as much as possible, will ensure that your property stands out among others online. We take professional level photos as standard but for larger properties, we also offer virtual staging as part of our JS Signature package.
Virtually staged properties can help homemovers visualise themselves and their furniture in the available space; and the listings stand out far more than vacant rooms.
2. Get Featured
Whilst photos assist the marketing of your property and can help it to stand out, there is strong evidence that featured listings on the portals drive more potential viewers to check it out.
Our properties are marketed as feature listings as standard, and receive up to 484% more email enquiries than standard listings*; so you can be sure that your property is getting noticed.
3. Virtual Viewings and Tours
One way to alleviate the stress of selling your property during the festive season, is to minimize the number of people coming through the door – especially if your property is already tenanted. This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many agents to invest in tools that offer virtual appointments and/or property tours.
The benefit of this over the Christmas period is, that at a time when more people than at any other time of year are searching for property, they can still ‘view’ your property and create a shortlist of homes they would like to view in person, whilst not actually disturbing your tenants’ celebrations.
4. Christmas Communication
One of the biggest complaints within our industry as a whole is a lack of communication; and over the Christmas period, when offices reduce their hours or close down, it’s arguably more important that you know what is happening with the marketing of your property.
Jacobs Steel offer an online portal called ‘My JS’. Each of our landlords is given an independent log-in and once in the system, you can track portal statistics, pending viewings, viewing feedback and offers; so even when the offices might be closed, you are still able to keep up to date with your marketing.
5. Tenancy Progression & Property Maintenance
If you have secured a tenant with Jacobs Steel prior to the Christmas period, our dedicated Tenancy Progressor will ensure that your let is progressed as much as possible before things begin to close down for the season. Our in-house Property Manager will also ensure that any maintenance queries are dealt with in a timely and cost-effective way, so that you can be left to enjoy your festive celebrations.