SC real estate professional encourages sellers to decorate

A local real estate professional in Greenville, SC, says if your home is on the market right now, go ahead and get your Christmas on! “A house shows so well during the Christmas season. It’s inviting, it’s warm. Christmas really shows the heart of a family and the way they live in the house,” said Joan Herlong, the owner and CEO of Joan Herlong & Associates Sotheby’s International Realty.”I sold one of my personal homes 20 years ago during the Christmas season. We have four children and all of our Christmas decorations, none of them are fancy. But when you walk in our home, it just screams, ‘Children live here, children did this decorating.’ And the family that bought our house either had kids or wanted more kids, and they walked in thinking, ‘Oh, there’s something in the water,'” Herlong said. Herlong said the busiest closing day of the year in the Greenville area is usually the last Friday in May because the market generally follows the school year. Herlong said December is a unique time for buyers and sellers. “Buyers who are looking in December have other things to do, so something has pushed them in the market, and they probably want to put a deal together quickly so their kids can start school in January. Sellers who have their house on the market in December are not testing the water, they’re serious, something has pushed them in the market,” Herlong said. “I find that people don’t look as long in December, and there are fewer buyers and fewer sellers. But in my experience over the last 30 years, deals happen more quickly in December,” Herlong said.