Boston real estate doesn’t take a break for the holidays
There are homes to sell and people to buy them, and even Christmas can’t get in the way.
The week between Christmas and New Year’s may traditionally be one of the sleepiest of the year, with many people taking a few days off from work or spending time with family.
But not in real estate, at least not this year, as a few hardy brokers across the Boston area get ready to host open houses this weekend, hoping to capitalize on what has been one of the strongest markets in years.
Buyers are also out and on the hunt for condos and homes to buy, with spring-like temperatures helping keep the market rolling. Overall, 2015 has seen an upsurge in sales across the Boston area, with prices rising too, though at a more modest rate.
Steve Leavey, a top Natick broker and founding partner of Century 21 Commonwealth, did four open houses last weekend and is planning on another one this Sunday.
“There are a lot of buyers out there,’’ Leavey said. “If you are not in the market, you are not going to get the showings.’’
“We love this weather – it is really good for our business,’’ he added.
No slowing down
LINK Boston lists 54 open houses across downtown Boston this weekend.
While most are for Sunday, a few open houses are planned for the day after Christmas, including a pair of condos on Marlborough Street in the Back Bay, a condo on Commonwealth Ave. in the Fenway, and a Midtown condo on South Street.
The suburbs will see their share of open houses over the holiday weekend, including a $6.2 million, 8,200 square foot mini-mansion in Weston that was built in 2006.
While staging is all the rage in open houses, with an emphasis on depersonalization, Leavey said he tells clients trying to sell a house over the holidays to keep their decorations up.
“Keep them up – staging them tends to take some of the soul out of the home,’’ he said.
In the run-up to Christmas, Peter DelRose of Re/Max Leading Edge in Watertown sold a two-family home in the $600,000 range.
The house netted 16 different offers.
He’s ready to do an open house this weekend, should a seller be so inclined.
“We are certainly trying to expose all the buyers still out there this time of year,’’ he said.
Differing approaches
Some brokers, though, plan on taking a break over the next week.
Ellen Friedman, a buyers’ broker with Keller Williams in Cambridge, said her schedule is determined by her clients, who are deciding to take a breather this year.
“I am not trying to avoid the holidays, it is just the circumstances,’’ she said. “My buyers are putting things off until after the first of the year.’’
By contrast, Neda Vander Stoep of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Back Bay office puts off open houses until after the holidays, though she might do a “preview’’ for brokers.
Open houses aimed at commuters in the 5-7 p.m. time range are another option, said Vander Stoep, a director on the boards for the Greater Boston Real Estate (GBREB) and Greater Boston Association of Realtors.
“I personally hold off on open houses during the holidays,’’ Vander Stoep wrote in an email. “There’s no harm in holding one but you certainly can’t expect a lot of traffic.’’
But Leavey, the Natick broker, contends it’s not the amount of foot traffic that counts during a holiday open house, but rather the quality of it.
“The number might be down but the quality is higher,’’ he said. “The people coming out on those weekends tend to be more serious.’’
This Gloucester colonial is one of many listing with open houses the weekend after Christmas:
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