The Holidays is a GREAT time to SELL your home!

While many people are taking their home off the market, because they believe that there are no home buyers out there, they are just making the odds of selling your home better.

Your home will never look better, or smell better.  With all the Christmas trimmings your home will invoke pleasant memories of happy times for potential buyers.

You may think that having your home on the market will interrupt your festivities.  But if you really think about it you are probably only entertaining one or two days during that time.  It would be better to decline and reschedule showings rather than to take the home off of the market for a month or more.

People looking during this season are serious.  Most people are very busy during this time and will not waste time looking at home unless they need to move.  So while you may have fewer showings they will likely be more serious buyers.

Many corporate relocations are starting new jobs in January as the new budget year begins.  These buyers will be looking in November and December, and there will be fewer homes to choose from, making the odds of selling your home better.

 If you are serious about selling you keep your home on the market until it sells.  You never know when the right buyer for your home will come along. 

My husband and I found our current home during the week between Christmas & New Years.  He had a little time off- as do many buyers during that time.  The holidays always reminded me that I wanted a larger home to entertain in- we ended up getting exactly what we wanted.  Had the home not been on the market, it may not have pushed us to act quickly.

Staging Your Home During The Holidays.

Selling your home over the holidays is a balancing act.  You want to enjoy the holidays with all of the trimmings; however you need to be careful not to clutter the house up so that buyers can see the features of the home.

We would suggest that you focus on no more than three areas of the home to decorate for Christmas.  The Front Door. 

A fresh wreath or some greenery will make a welcoming backdrop to the whiteness of winter.  A garland along the rail or over the door can be very attractive.  Stores now have smaller outdoor trees that they sell in pairs to place on either side of the front door. 

The Fireplace. 

If you are lucky enough to have a fireplace, this is a great place to add some greenery.   If not add a table cloth to the dining table and some seasonal trim that will accent the colours of your home. 

The Christmas Tree.

If your family has a Christmas tree make sure that it does not clutter up the room, you may need to make room by removing a chair or other item of furniture.  Make sure that it does not block any doorways.  Try to use a theme of no more than three colours for your decorating, such as red, gold and green or blue, silver and white.   If you wrap your gifts in these colors as well it will really add to the theme of the home.

If you do not have a tree, a poinsettia will add a splash of colour and warmth to any room and is also non-denominational. 

If you have time to bake your home will smell great for showings, if you are like most people and don’t throw some vanilla in a pot of water and let it simmer before a showing.  You can also touch the light bulbs with vanilla for a welcoming scent as buyers come in the front door.  Please avoid artificial scents as they just make people wonder what you are trying to hide. 

Remember to leave the lights on, especially at the front door.  With it being dark early you don’t want a buyer tripping as they come up the front steps. 

If you can wait until at least December 1^st (the 15^th would be better) before putting up the tree, and make sure that you have it down by January 6^th, you can have your traditional Christmas and have your home on the market,  just in case that RIGHT buyer shows up.

Do's & Don'ts of Outdoor Holiday Lighting

Driving through neighborhoods, admiring the bedazzled roof lines and ridges, it's easy to spot the eyesore that ruins it for the entire block.

It's the house with 10,000 blinking, multicolored lights set to Yuletide carols with a giant inflatable Rudolph in the front yard.

There will always be the "bigger is better" crowd when it comes to holiday decorating. They want wattage. Lots of eyeball assaulting, bright lights. But resist the urge to make it a National Lampoon's Christmas.

"I've always been a firm believer that less is more," said Bill Hughes, the manager for the lighting department at Amini's Home, Rugs and Game Room in Chesterfield. "Tasteful never goes out of style."

We consulted with some of the area's outdoor lighting experts for their tips on how to get the most bang for the least amount of money and effort.

More consumers are switching to LED lights for decorating outdoors, according to several local installers.

The upfront price is about twice as much as conventional incandescent lights. But the energy-efficient LED lights use less power and require far fewer repair and service calls, installers say. Over time, they can be a better investment.

Plus, the technology has improved, so the LED color, which used to cast a bluish hue, is truer to white.

"Within the last year, the color temperature and color rendering of the LEDs has improved," said Mark Sullivan, owner of Sully's Landscape Lighting and Design in Kirkwood. "People don't like that cool blue look."

For DIYers, he suggests choosing LED lights marked "warm light" rather than "cool light." The color rendering index should be above 80, he said.

Michael Rottler, president of Rottler Pest and Lawn Solutions, says he won't mix LEDs with incandescent lights because his wife can spot the difference.

"My wife notices little details," he said.

Sullivan says the advantage of wrapping tree branches in conventional lights is that they can be cut and thrown away at the end of the season, with much lower labor costs for those hiring professional installers.

But the trick is to put some time into planning and thinking about the design before bringing out the ladder and boxes of decorations. They don't have to be hung the same way every single year.

Here are the experts dos and don'ts of outdoor lighting to make sure your display spreads holiday cheer not eye strain headaches.

Dos

• Use more light if your house sits farther back from the street to enhance its curb appeal.

• Leave at least a foot between the edge of the driveway and staked lights when lining your driveway. If a driver backs out too close to the edge, he shouldn't take out a row of lights.

• Create a flow of light that moves the eye from one area to the next. Avoid "hot spots" of lights bunched in one area.

• Illuminate more than just the facade of your home to create depth.

• Use special lighting effects sparingly, such as a red or green gel pack that can filter the color of a white light.

• Incorporate seasonal lighting with your outdoor landscape lighting. Consider how the pre-existing lights can be used to enhance or complement the holiday lighting.

• Carry the design style from within your house to the outside.

• Add pre-lighted wreathes and garlands to doors and columns. Pre-lighted candles in windows are a classic look.

• Highlight architectural features such as roof lines, chimneys, peaks, windows and ridges.

• Get your spouse's input before installing. There's no quicker way to lose the holiday spirit than getting back on a ladder to redo the lights.

Don'ts

• Don't mix LED and conventional lighting, especially on the same structure. If you choose to do your house in LEDs, and wrap the trees or drape bushes with conventional lights, the difference in hue may not be as jarring.

• Don't stick with all green or red lights, which can look commercial rather than homey.

• Don't try to make hanging icicles work on a modern home. They look best on a bungalow-style house.

• Don't use as many lights if decorating with LEDs as opposed to traditional halogen lights. The lights are brighter, requiring fewer in number.

• Don't light everything.

Courtesy of STLToday, Aisha Sultan.