Many people across the UK that feel an attempt to market their home for sale 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.
Property websites saw a surge in people looking for new homes over Christmas 2020, with online searches on Boxing Day as much as doubling compared to 2019.
Property portal Rightmove had its busiest ever Boxing Day for visits in 2020, which jumped 54 per cent compared to the same day in 2019. Visits from 1 December to 28 December were also 57 per cent higher than they were for the same period on 2019.
Property portal Zoopla also had its biggest ‘Boxing Day bounce’ ever in 2020 as traffic on its website soared by 70.5 per cent compared to pre-Christmas levels. The Boxing Day bounce is an annual phenomenon as those hoping to move home in the new year turn to the property portals after the dust has settled on Christmas Day.
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 home stands out among others online. Adding pops of colour to rooms, such as cushions or wall art, catches the eye and stops people from scrolling past.
If you’re going on the market after your decorations go up, just make sure the decorated areas don’t look too cluttered and are staged for photos. We can offer advise during your appointment or arrange a consultation for you with Jane Lee; our recommended home staging specialist.
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 home during the festive season, is to minimize the number of people coming through your door. 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 home and create a shortlist of homes they would like to view in person, whilst not actually disturbing your 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 and solicitors 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 vendors 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. Sales Progression
If you have secured a sale with Jacobs Steel prior to the Christmas period, our dedicated Sales Progressor and Managers will ensure that your sale/purchase is progressed as much as possible before your solicitor closes for the season; and make sure that you know where things are at.
If you are unfamiliar with the sales process, download our free moving guide.