Can You Still Sell Your Mangawhai Home Before Christmas?

Labour Weekend has been and gone, and suddenly the end of the year feels close. If you’ve been thinking about selling, you might be wondering whether there’s still enough time to get it done before Christmas.

There could be. The first thing I’d want to know is whether you’re hoping to have the property sold by then, or whether you need to be out of the house.

Those are two quite different plans. You might be happy to agree on a sale now and move in February. You might even prefer to spend one last summer here. A buyer could want the same breathing room, so it’s worth talking through the timing before deciding you’ve missed your chance.

Where it gets harder is when everything has to happen at once: preparing the house, finding a buyer, working through conditions and arranging your next move. It can be done, but we need to be realistic about how much is involved.

My advice would be to start with an honest look at how ready the property is.

You don’t need to renovate the whole house. Often, it’s the fairly ordinary jobs that deserve attention: cleaning the windows, tidying the entrance, sorting out the garden and fixing the small things you’ve stopped noticing. If you’re considering spending a decent amount of money before selling, have a conversation first. Some improvements will help more than others.

In Mangawhai, I’d also pay attention to how the outdoor areas present. If there’s a great spot for dinner on the deck, make it easy to picture using it. If there’s room for the boat, make that space obvious. Buyers should be able to see how they would live there.

Getting the paperwork together matters just as much. Questions about a building addition, a water supply or a wastewater system are easier to work through when the information is already available. That’s especially useful when everyone is trying to organise things before the holidays.

Then there’s price.

Wanting a sale before Christmas doesn’t change the value of the property. We still need to look closely at recent sales and what else buyers can choose from. Starting too high and hoping someone falls in love with it can use up weeks you don’t have.

Equally, I wouldn’t encourage someone to accept an offer they’re uncomfortable with simply to get a sale wrapped up before the break. The price, the conditions and the settlement date all need to be considered together. There may be room to negotiate a result that suits you better.

And if you’re not ready? Use the time to get ready. You can have the photographs taken, gather the documents and work out a launch plan while you finish the jobs around the house.

Christmas is a useful date to plan around. It shouldn’t become a reason to rush a major decision.

If you’re weighing up selling now or waiting until the new year, give me a call. We can look at your property, talk through where you’re heading and work out a timeframe that makes sense.

Loren Lopez
Mangawhai Real Estate
0210 858 8269
loren@mangawhairealestate.nz