Summer’s over, the kids are back in school and now it’s November and you’ve finally made the decision to sell your home. You have been waiting for just the right time but now you realize that there will most likely be showings around the holidays and you’re wondering how far to go with decorating. No matter what holiday you are celebrating, it is family time and you should continue to celebrate with your traditions.

Here are a few tips on how to keep the spirit alive, but not to appear like you are months away from packing up and moving out:

• Keep the decorating to a minimum. You can go crazy next year in your new home!
• If your space is small, and you put up a tree, try to find a smaller one this year. Some trees can take over the whole room. You want to show how spacious the room is. You may consider moving out a piece of furniture to make room.
• If you do like to put up decorations around the house, replace your everyday ones with holiday ones. Don’t add more!
• Cooking smells. Only if they are good ones! Otherwise, try to make those cabbage rolls on days where there aren’t any scheduled showings. (I think they smell great, but not every- one does!)
• Always remember to keep your home tidy and as clutter free as possible. Buyers are not looking at your furniture or decorations, but if they can’t picture their own possessions in there because of clutter, they will have a hard time falling in love with your home.
• Keep it warm! You want Buyers to feel cozy during these colder months.
• You may want to consider hiring a Stager to help with decorating ideas (our business directory has some staging company recommendations)

Selling, buying and moving can be very stressful at any time of year. Hiring professional help can take some of the stress off and we recommend that if you can, you should consider it.

The most important thing to remember, is to keep as much of your routine as possible to make it a pleasant final holiday in this home and look forward to a new one in your new home next year!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Marietta Maier

Exhale…!!!

Well, that was a pretty wonderful start to a new career.

Back in October 2020 I completed my Real Estate courses and embarked on this new journey. Of course, I did spend the first few months “preparing” i.e., ordering business cards, making lists that went nowhere, etc. So basically, things really didn’t get moving until the beginning of 2021.

My first client was family and I am truly appreciative for the confidence that they had in me. Without the extensive knowledge of my partner, I would have floundered. We listed a property that created multiple Offers within the first few hours of the listing having gone “live”. Fun. Exciting. But also, very nerve wracking. Wanting to only do what was best for our client.

This momentum continued right through until the end of August. Frustration set in as residual services became increasingly busy, backed-up or entirely unavailable. Now we were all scrambling for the same deadlines.

Many people have expressed the same sentiment while being very cautious to not seem ungrateful. This has been one of the busiest years they have seen in a long time!  What was it? Pent up demand? People needing change? Epiphanies that came about during COVID lockdowns?

Whatever it was, the frustration continues with the unavailability of services that we have all become so dependent on.

So maybe it’s time for us all to just take a deep breath and realize that we no longer live in a world of instant gratification and that the best things in life are worth the wait.

It’s time to refocus on providing excellent customer service (no matter what your industry). Those customer/client relationships are what will get us through the tough times that are sure to come around again.

Namaste, everyone!

Sincerely,

Marietta Maier, REALTOR®