Short answer
No, it's not too late. Start an auction campaign in the first week of November, auction in the fourth week, sell unconditionally on the day, and you can settle before 20 December. You just have to make the decision now.
Every year around this time, sellers ask me the same thing: "Have we missed it? Should we wait until the new year?"
If you want to be sold and settled before Christmas, you haven't missed it. But there's not much room left. Once your home is on the market, Christmas is only five or six weeks away. The sellers who make it are the ones who decide early and pick the right method.
A real example: sold in November, settled before Christmas
A couple of years ago I listed a home in Redwood in November. It sold on 27 November and settled on 20 December. Done and dusted before Christmas.
I'm doing the same thing right now. This week I listed a home in St Albans. The vendors are decluttering and doing a few touch-ups, and we'll probably go to market in the second week of November with a three-week auction campaign. Once it sells at auction, we can settle before Christmas.
What the market looks like going into summer
The market is looking pretty good right now, all over Christchurch.
- First-home buyers and families are active. A lot of them are looking in school zones so they can move before Christmas and be settled before the new term starts.
- There are more listings in November than in December.
- The good suburbs are moving really well.
The mistakes sellers make
1. Deciding too late
This is the number one reason people miss out. Every week you wait comes straight off your campaign, and there's no getting it back before Christmas.
2. Picking the wrong method of sale
If you want to sell before Christmas, auction is the best method. On auction day you sell unconditionally, so there's no waiting on a buyer's finance or building report.
You can go with a deadline sale, but the campaign has to be short. The deadline should close after two weekends of open homes, around two weeks after you go live. That's because a conditional offer takes another two to three weeks to go unconditional. A longer deadline campaign and you run out of time. (If you're weighing up the two, I've written about auction vs deadline sale in more detail.)
What to do now, week by week
When a seller calls me, I give them a campaign calendar so they can see every step and every date. Here's a real one I've just prepared for a Woolston couple who need to be sold by mid-December. I gave them two options, an auction and a deadline sale.
Both options start the same way: two weeks of pre-market
- Sign up and get ready (22 October to 4 November). Listing paperwork, AML and the contract to your solicitor. You declutter and we check styling and paint touch-ups.
- Buyers hear about it before it goes public. Over those two weeks, the buyers in my database get calls, a "coming soon" email, texts, a private preview and a personal message. By go-live, interested buyers have already reached out.
- Photos and video (3 November), then final proofs.
- Go live on a Thursday (5 November). Trade Me and the signboard go up, database calls start, and social media launches the next day.
Option A: auction
- Open homes over three weekends, plus optional midweek open homes.
- A vendor report every Monday and vendor support every Tuesday: a week-one check-in, then the auction review meeting, then the reserve meeting.
- Auction day: Thursday 26 November. Sold unconditionally under the hammer, with plenty of time to settle before Christmas.
Option B: deadline sale
- Open homes over two weekends, plus midweek open homes.
- The deadline closes on Tuesday 17 November at 4:00pm. We review the offers together the next day and the home goes under offer.
- Sold on Wednesday 2 December, two weeks after going under offer, and well before they need to be.
Settlement is then agreed with the buyer. For the Redwood home, it was just over three weeks from sale to settlement.
How this fits the Sam & Co. Method
This is smart launch systems, pillar 4 of the Sam & Co. Method. Nothing about the campaign is left to chance. Buyers are warmed up before the home goes public, it launches on a Thursday, and you know from day one what happens every week right through to sale day. When the deadline is Christmas, that plan is what gets you there.
Want to be sold before Christmas? The plan starts this week.
Send me your address and I'll map out your before-Christmas campaign calendar, auction and deadline side by side, with every date. Free, no obligation. Or call me on 020 451 5077.
Get my before-Christmas planCommon questions
Are buyers still looking for houses in December?
Yes, some buyers are still looking in December.
Can I sell now and settle in the new year?
Yes, of course. Settlement only happens when both solicitors, the seller's and the buyer's, are available. If they're both back at work in mid-January, you can settle once they've been in touch with each other.
What happens if my home passes in at auction close to Christmas?
The next step is a deadline sale or putting a price on it. If we're only one or two weeks away from Christmas, the best strategy is to price it sharply so we can find a buyer before Christmas.
About Sam Singh
Sam is a Christchurch listing specialist with Harcourts Gold, selling across Christchurch and Canterbury, and the creator of the Sam & Co. Method. He speaks English, Hindi and Punjabi.