DATE: Saturday, November 29, 1997           TAG: 9711260400

SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY      PAGE: 04   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Cover Story 

SOURCE: BY LOUKIA LOUKA, SPECIAL TO REAL ESTATE WEEKLY 

                                            LENGTH:   85 lines

COVER STORY: HO HO HO. HOUSES CAN SELL OVER THE HOLIDAYS

Deck the halls with boughs of holly and a whole lot more if you want to sell your house during the holidays.

But while you may have heard how difficult it is to attract buyers during the November-December time frame, industry insiders said there are certain advantages to listing your home now.

So if you've had your home listed for sale and received no great offers lately, don't take your home off the market and go into hibernation until after the new year.

``Sometimes, people take them off,'' said Dori Iwanowski of Womble Realty. ``It's very traumatic. You have strangers coming in to your inner-most sanctum. People have a tendency to allow themselves to get stressed out over the holidays. (They) don't want to bother with it, so they take it off the market.''

Lower mortgage interest rates and less competition among sellers trying to show off their properties are two reasons to list a home now. Also, Hampton Roads is in the enviable position of being a big market for military transfers, which can happen anytime.

``Hampton Roads pretty much defies the national trend when it comes to seasonal selling and primarily because of the military exposure here,'' said Steve Craig, who sells real estate for Re/Max Central.

While the market does slow down in the winter, it doesn't come to a grinding halt. For example, statewide figures provided by the Virginia Association of Realtors show that in 1996, the January-February time frame had 6,992 closed sales, while the June-July time frame had 14,339 closed sales, more than twice the amount.

Lower levels of closed sales at the beginning of the year means fewer homes are being looked at during the end of the year, while the spring months bring out prospective buyers in droves for more closings during the peak summer months.

Still, close to 7,000 sales in the dead of winter isn't bad, and real estate experts say buyers who would go out and house hunt in the cold instead of sitting at home in front of a roaring fire are ripe for a move.

Generally, the biggest reason people with children sell in the spring and summer is to time a move with the beginning of a new school year. But Craig, the Re/Max agent, said there is support for moving children to a new school district after school begins.

``People in the relocation business say it is best not to do it in the beginning of the year, but mid-year, when the classes are settled,'' he said. That way, Craig said, the teacher can help one student become acclimated to the school, instead of having the new kid on the block lumped in with all the other new students at the beginning of the year.

Homes show well this time of year, too. Denise Curtis of Norfolk is hoping hers is one of them. Curtis recently listed her roomy Lansdale home because she wants to move into something smaller.

She wasn't put off by the holidays and saw the strong market as an opportunity to sell. Curtis is repainting the rooms and will decorate the fireplace mantel with country crafts and other holiday touches around the house.

``If we have advance notice that someone is going to look at the house, we'll start a fire in the fireplace,'' Curtis said. Craig, her agent, calls the home an ``ideal family house'' and he plans to use that in his marketing campaign.

``If it's sold pretty much anytime this month someone could be in there by Christmas,'' Craig said.

Iwanowski, the Womble agent, said that even on the coldest day of the year, a home can generate more warmth than a day in July.

How can sellers use the cold weather to their advantage? They can start a fire, decorate the residence with wreaths and holly, put out fragrant candles and have hot apple cider waiting for prospective buyers to sip while they look around the house.

Studies show curb appeal - how a buyer feels about a house by exterior appearance - can make or break a sale. Keep leaves and pine needles raked or you may send a message that it might be hard to keep up with the yard work. Decorate front porches with pumpkins, fall wreaths, and mums.

``As meticulous as a seller has to be over the spring and summer, they have to be that way in the fall,''she said.

It's also important to avoid ``dead air.'' In the spring and summer, the air-conditioning and open windows are ways to keep air moving. Find a way to keep that up in the winter by turning on ceiling fans.

``This time of year it is very difficult to keep air fresh in the house. You surely don't want to walk into a clean house and smell last night's dinner,'' Iwanowski said. ILLUSTRATION: JOHN EARLE

The Virginian-Pilot

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