As the cold nights draw in, the Edinburgh Property market shows no signs of slowing down.
WINTER – as we all know – is traditionally a time for festivities, holidays, gift shopping and, of course, decorating your house for Christmas.
For many people with an eye on the property market, it is often a period when you switch off for two-three weeks, content in the knowledge that most thoughts at this time are far from anything related to house sales. However, with the recent performance of the Edinburgh property market, fuelled by an overwhelming in balance of supply versus demand, we believe that this could be about to change. The recent Registers of Scotland (RoS) Quarterly figures showed Edinburgh achieved the largest sales figures for property in all of Scotland – a staggering £806.2m in their period July-September.
And that spells out why buyers and sellers need to stay alert to the opportunities over the winter period.
While the property market in Edinburgh is not likely to really see a downtime as such, as potential buyers move towards Christmas and New Year their time becomes much more valuable with the focus on house hunting still being there but with time much more strictly spent on the hunt.
However, this does not mean there is a slowdown in interest, rather it represents the fact that as the festive season approaches property searches become much more focused, enquiring only on properties they are truly interested in and moving to make bids on properties they are truly serious about. To put it simply, they are more committed to the properties they look at and can be much more eager and committed to completing the sale, compared to other times of the year when this could quickly turn into the longest part of the process.
For example, it is not unheard of for properties to be sold on Christmas Eve.
To make the most of this focused interest and competitive time in marketing a property, follow these tips to ensure your property continues to stand out.
First Impressions
The first impression people have of a property in winter is much different from that they’d have in the summer. Winter makes gardens look bare and can really take its toll on the paintwork. If selling during the winter months ensure to keep the property looking good. Sweep the paths of leaves, spruce up the garden if possible and make sure that you provide a good first impression.
A warm home is a cosy home
It can be expensive to heat many properties during the colder months – but it’s important that if you’re selling your home that you show the full potential to buyers in how the property can keep the cold out. Set the heating timer to ensure the heating goes on before buyers appear, ensure that the house is presented to look warm with cosy lighting and no dampness on show.
Keep it Festive but not tacky
If you’re selling your home at this time of year, it’d be amiss not to make the best of decorating your home. A lot of people buy a home not a house, so to ensure that you take advantage of that – play up to it by decorating your home with classy decorations – to show just how special it could be to them, if they were to spend next Christmas as their first one in their new home.
So, is it time to sell?
There are many more opportunities to make the best of a house sale at this time of year, from baking to ensure positive smells are disseminated around the home to lighting candles, there are lots of small tips and tricks we could let you know of.
So our advice is to take advantage of this positive time for the market, recognise that many people want to make a decision before the new year so they start 2017 on a high in a new property, and get your house on the market.
Get in touch with us for a no obligations discussion on selling your home.