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Common wisdom holds that the holiday season is the worst time to market property as it is the year’s busiest. This notion, however, is a misconception and the holidays can be an opportune time for listing your Calgary home. Here’s why:

1. Potential buyers are likely to be emotional and will appreciate the care and attention placed in decorating a home. Remember, the holidays are a time for family and buyers will likely envision themselves and their own families in a beautifully created environment.
2.  A home is at its best during the holiday season. A warm and inviting atmosphere, coupled with festive décor, and food that is sumptuously prepared will see a house’s appeal rise astronomically with buyers. Take advantage of the holiday season and appeal to the senses. Sometimes, that bowl of freshly baked cookies or that grand Christmas tree can be more decisive in making a sale than you think.
3. There is always someone out in the market looking for a home during the holiday season and that someone is usually a serious buyer. By keeping your Calgary home listed during the holidays, you will likely catch the attention of such a buyer. Better still, since the prevalent thinking is that the holidays are not a favorable time to place property on the market, you will have less competition to contend with.
4.  Many businesses relocate their employees at the beginning of the year and this creates a sense of urgency for those transferees to find a home during the holiday season. Moreover, most companies cannot wait for spring and the wise will be on the market to capture holiday business.
5. It goes without saying that you will command a better price and make a quicker sale simply because there is less competition.

A Little Extra for the Holidays 

Aside from the suggestions mentioned above, it also pays to consider a few other nuances. First, you won’t lose your sense of privacy and family time when your Calgary property is listed. Remember, you can still decide when to have your house open for viewing. Second, it pays to have your home on the market for the simple reason that the traditional notion of “buying and selling seasons” has been displaced by technology. The internet, smart phones, tablets, and computers are all avenues for potential buyers to scout for homes. Moreover, home hunting is very much instantaneous and not as hectic as it was even 5 years ago. A buyer can literally do a search from work, while eating lunch, or during the daily commute. Thus, it pays to list your Calgary home even if it is just to be on the radar of holiday buyers.      

There you have it, five reasons on why it is actually a sound idea to list your Calgary property during the holidays.

Know someone who is looking to make a decision in real estate? If you know any friends, family, or co-workers who are looking to buy, sell, or invest in real estate within the next six months, would you forward this email to them or reply with their contact information? I’ll send them important information about the Calgary, AB surrounding area real estate market and politely ask for their business. I greatly appreciate your valued referrals; it’s the only way I build my business.

Free Market Report on value of your home: www.CalgaryMarketSnapShot.com

Bryon Howard is a top producing real estate agent with Re-Max House of Real Estate in Calgary, Alberta. He is in love with his high school sweetheart, an enthusiastic Dad & is crazy about endurance sports. To learn more about Bryon and his real estate tips, head on over to his website

1. People who look for a home during the Holidays are more serious buyers!

2. Serious buyers have fewer houses to choose from during the Holidays and less competition means more money for you!

3. Since the supply of listings will dramatically increase in January, there will be less demand for your particular home! Less demand means less money for you!

4. Houses show better when decorated for the Holidays!

5. Buyers are more emotional during the Holidays, so they are more likely to pay your price!

6. Buyers have more time to look for a home during the Holidays than they do during a working week!

7. Some people must buy before the end of the year for tax reasons!

8. January is traditionally the month for employees to begin new jobs. Since transferee’s cannot wait until Spring to buy, you must be on the market now to capture that market!

9. You can still be on the market, but you have the option to restrict showings during the six or seven days during the Holidays!

10. You can sell now for more money and we will provide for a delayed closing or extended occupancy until early next year!

11. By selling now, you may have an opportunity to be a non-contingent buyer during the Spring, when many more houses are on the market for less money!

By Bryon Howard

Image courtesy of jannoon028 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As a break from my usual blog posts, I thought I’d have a little fun and share with you a few tech tips for realtors that have worked for me.

Tech gadgets like smartphones, laptops, and tablets are fairly common nowadays, and I find these devices a big help in decluttering and organizing. Among the electronic solutions that I have at my fingertips, I consider Dropbox, Skitch, and Wunderlist the most indispensable.

1.    Dropbox – Get yourself a Dropbox account. That’s probably one of the best tech tips for realtors I can give you. Realtors are always sharing PDF files, photos, and videos of the properties they represent, so having a Dropbox account—where you can save your files online and access them from anywhere and any device—is a real convenience. Just download the Dropbox software to your smartphone, tablet, or laptop, and move your files there, and the program takes care of backing up your files online.  If your needs are simple, you can do with a 2-gigabyte Dropbox account, which is free, but you’ll have to pay a monthly fee for anything more than 100 gigabytes.

2.    Skitch – A recent discovery of mine is a screen capture app called Skitch. It’s one of my secret tech tips for realtors. Skitch lets you insert text and additional images to a picture. It usually comes in handy when I need to give map directions to a client or point out certain features of a property. With Skitch, I can insert arrows, encircle areas, and annotate on a photo. What’s more, it’s free and lets you sync to different devices.

3.    Wunderlist – While I still carry around a little notepad for my to-dos and reminders, I’ve found a good alternative for when I run out of paper: Wunderlist. Probably one of the best tech tips for realtors is to get the Wunderlist on their phones. This free app lets you jot down lists and set schedules and reminders, and the best part about it is, you can mark off the tasks you complete, the way you would on paper. I like how I can customize the app’s appearance and sync my tasks to other devices like a laptop or a tablet. This way, I’m always on top of everything that needs to be done.

The great thing about devices and tech in general is that it is a fun way to stay organized. I’m the sort, however, who enjoys fiddling with devices and apps so our mileage can differ. Still, it’s great to maximize and explore your devices and I tend to discover something useful that I can apply in real estate. In any case, I hope you enjoyed these tech tips for realtors, and I hope this little post encouraged you to take a second look at those apps and devices you have with you.

Know someone who is looking to make a decision in real estate? If you know any friends, family, or co-workers who are looking to buy, sell, or invest in real estate within the next six months, would you forward this email to them or reply with their contact information? I’ll send them important information about the Calgary, AB surrounding area real estate market and politely ask for their business. I greatly appreciate your valued referrals; it’s the only way I build my business.

Free Market Report on value of your home: www.CalgaryMarketSnapShot.com

Bryon Howard is a top producing real estate agent with Re-Max House of Real Estate in Calgary, Alberta. He is in love with his high school sweetheart, an enthusiastic Dad & is crazy about endurance sports. To learn more about Bryon and his real estate tips, head on over to his website