The real estate market tends to slow down significantly during winter, but it’s still an excellent time to attract motivated buyers.
Real estate agents know that hosting an open house typically does not result in a sale, but adding a bit of charm with a themed open house can be more captivating. A wintery open house with the coziness of Christmas can help you gain new leads or entice a buyer to put in an offer.
Why host a Christmas open house
A Christmas open house has plenty of perks for the seller and hosting agent. With the upcoming holidays, attendees are generally more spirited and jolly.
Christmas-themed open houses offer ample opportunities to network with potential buyers and create a cozy atmosphere for family gatherings.
Christmas open house ideas
There are several ways to create a uniquely festive Christmas open house. To help get you started, we’ve compiled a list of five Christmas-themed open house ideas:
1. Set the mood with holiday scents and music
The most impactful way to create a Christmas-themed open house is with holiday scents and festive music.
Whether you use candles, wax melts, or diffusers, choose smells that spark holiday joy. The most popular aromas for wintertime include sandalwood, amber, vanilla, myrrh, balsam pine, juniper, and cinnamon.
In addition to wonderful winter smells, play soft or uplifting Christmas music in the background. Play a general or curated Christmas playlist on either a home assistant speaker or through the TV. Most music-streaming platforms offer perfectly curated Christmas playlists.
If the homeowner doesn’t have a speaker/home assistant, you can purchase a Google Mini or Alexa Dot for as little as $14.99.
2. Deck the halls
If you want to host a Christmas-themed open house, you need to commit. While decorating the interior is a given, check with the city or HOA (if applicable) on when you can light up the exterior.
For the exterior, decorate the home with a festive door wreath and lights or ornaments on any trees in the front yard.
The inside should include a Christmassy tablescape, a decorated tree, garland on the mantle or railings, and stockings hung by the chimney…with care.
The sellers may plan to decorate for Christmas regardless, but if they’ve already moved or don’t have Christmas decor, you can find plenty of holiday items at your local thrift store.
3. Offer festive refreshments and snacks
Offering small water bottles or other refreshments at an open house is typical. For a Christmas-themed open house, consider festive drinks and snacks.
You can have a hot chocolate bar complete with mini marshmallows and crushed candy canes or supply hot apple cider, eggnog, and mulled wine.
For snacks, bring a plate of sugar cookies, chocolate-covered pretzels, and mini pecan pies. You can also place small carryout caramel popcorn bags by the front door.
4. Provide printed holiday art
Promote your business and your listing with printed marketing materials. Your open house attendees can take home a festive holiday print perfect for dressing up their fridge.
On the front of your printout, feature a colorful holiday design, and on the back, highlight your real estate business and details about the listing.
You can order quality prints from websites like Vistaprint. Looking for holiday art templates? Check out these free designs from Virtuance.
5. Host a toy drive
It feels good to give during the holidays. Consider hosting a toy drive during the open house. Many reputable charities host annual toy drives, including Toys for Tots.
You can choose a local toy drive by searching online. Make sure to announce the donation details in your open house invites and social media posts.
Use Virtuance to attract potential buyers
Hosting an open house takes preparation, including decluttering the home and professional photography. To make your life easier, consider using Virtuance as your real estate photography service provider to enhance your open house marketing campaign.
Virtuance’s award-winning listing photography attracts more buyers and sells listings faster than the competition. Consider decorating the listing before your scheduled photoshoot. The Christmas-themed real estate images will increase interest and boost attendance.
Schedule your Virtuance photoshoot today to help market your upcoming Christmas-themed open house.
FAQ
Although the holidays are notoriously slow for real estate, you should still host a Christmas-themed open house. Winter offers numerous motivated buyers and an opportunity to build your lead list for the upcoming year.
While Christmas is an exciting holiday for most people, there are some things to avoid when hosting a Christmas-themed open house. Try and remove the homeowner’s personal items, like pictures and stockings with names. Buyers should see the space as their own, not the seller’s.
Additionally, try and avoid abundantly religious decor. Keeping the decor neutral will appease most attendees.
