Boxing Day Bonanza: Smart Move or Best to Avoid?

The Boxing Day bonanza; a smart move or best to avoid?

It’s that time of year when estate agents will sit in people’s living rooms on valuations and suggest sellers put their house on the market as part of their extra special “Boxing Day Bonanza”

I’m going to go against the grain and say this isn’t necessarily your best option.

Let’s look at some of the pros and cons so you can make up your own mind what is right for you.

Pros: 

• Rightmove continues to report record numbers of website visitors on Boxing Day, in fact the period between Boxing Day and the start of 2022 was the busiest ever on record for homemovers. Not surprising considering the market we were in at the time.
• Many people like to “get Christmas out the way” and concentrate on their search in the new year. They will likely be starting to look in advance, especially with conversations of an impending move discussed at social gatherings.
• Visiting family, get togethers and the party season can increase people’s motivation to move as it becomes clearer that they need more space, want to be closer to family etc

Cons:

• Of the increased website visitors to the portals such as Rightmove, Zoopla etc, How many actually turn into serious buyers.. or is it just a pipedream?
• Sales agreed between Boxing Day and NEW Year are rare, most likely because many of the traditional high street agents are closed or running on skeleton staff
• This tactic is overused by certain estate agents as a pushy sales technique to get people to sign up with them. Naturally there will be a flood of new listings scheduled to appear at this time.
• More listings means more competition to get your house sold as more choice for buyers. This could result in a lower price being achieved.
• Those who are just starting out their search often still need to get mortgages arranged and narrow down their priorities. Those initial viewings while buyers figure out what they actually want, are effectively a waste of time for sellers.

Summary

Looking at the cons, in my view it makes sense to hold off and let that mad rush die down if you are in the position to do so.

You’ll find in January there will be more serious buyers looking and less of the competition from those listings that were added “on a whim”

Beware of agents offering this strategy along with a cheap fee, overinflated asking price and of course the lengthy contract so you’re stuck with them until Spring! They likely have end of year figures to produce to their bosses so will do whatever they can to convince you.

As an alternative to waiting, our soft marketing approach might be the right way to go. We can drum up interest using social media and our AI database for initial marketing by selecting the correct demographic that are ready to move rather than simply relying on people trolling through Rightmove.

Interested to find out more?

Get in contact here, I'd love to have a chat.

Georgina Patey

Avocado Partner

georgina@avocadoberkshire.co.uk