If you’ve been trying to sell your home in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Almaden Valley, Cambrian, or anywhere with good schools but haven’t received an offer yet, don’t dispair!

With our mild winters, you really can sell any time of year.  And this one is a far cry from an El Nino winter.

Not only that, but in mid-December a lot of folks DO pull their homes off the market, and the result is a tightening of inventory across Silicon Valley from the months immediately prior. The ratio between listed and sale pending homes improves dramatically.

But you’re thinking: it’s a hassle. It’s the holidays.

And you’re right. So do it differently.

But before I tell you how to do it differently, it’s important to address something. How is your home positioned in the marketplace? What’s the feedback been like if the home hasn’t sold?

If the price is too high, the condition is too poor, you need to first address those items. All the marketing in the world won’t help if the buyers believe your house is priced too high for the current market.

Usually when a home doesn’t sell, there’s a reason and everyone knows what it is.

But if your home is priced well, shows nicely, and it’s a mystery as to why it hasn’t sold, then read on. Time may be on your side!

We are in a buyer’s market, which means really a procrastinator’s market – buyers believe that if they wait, homes will be cheaper in the future. For people who want to buy now, the selection is lessening by the minute. So if you are patient, assuming your home is not overpriced or has some other “issue”, your chances of selling are improving by the moment.

To make life easier for the next 2-3 weeks, I suggest implementing a Holiday Marketing Program. Showings will be fewer, but the buyers more serious. Here are my suggstions:

• take the sign down – you don’t need drive-bys right now, but serious buyers
• take the lock box off the doorknob or outside hose bib and make it portable for now – use only if necessary
• make all showings by appointment only – you can leave the lock box out if need be
• forget open houses – only about 5% of all buyers actually find their home that way
• continue marketing on the web and on the MLS – buyers are there!

Homes often look their best during the holidays, and many buyers write serious offers during this time. If your Silicon Valley home is well positioned in the market and has had good feedback, hang in there! Take it a little easier the next two weeks but don’t give up. Your odds are improving!

Tags: Holiday Marketing Program, mary pope-handy, Real estate, selling your home during the holidays, silicon valley, silicon valley homes, Silicon Valley real estate

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 6:09 pm and is filed under Selling Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.