If your house is currently on the market, selling is probably pretty high on your list of New Year’s resolutions. After the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it may be wise to take a step back and evaluate your home-selling strategy.

Although January is not the peak-selling month for real estate, your house is not necessarily doomed to sit on the market. Homes do sell in January. In fact, according to the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University (www.recenter.tamu.edu), 10,731 Texas homes sold in January 2008 and 10,418 sold in January 2009 — that’s more than 21,000 combined sales — hardly a small number.  Here are some tips in preparing your home for sale in the new year.

Show some color; let in the light
During the winter months, it is important to make your landscape draw people inside. Use seasonal color in your gardens and pots such as pansies, camellias or flowering shrubs. These plants thrive in the colder weather and will help you avoid having a bare yard during the winter months.

Another tip to make your house more inviting is to let as much natural light in as possible and turn on the lights when showing. Both of these tactics will brighten up your house to sell.
Move on from holiday clutter

If your children insist their new toys must be spread throughout the house, you’ll have to convince them otherwise. Maybe you have some poinsettias that have seen better days, or all the boxes from your new surround-sound audio system are still cluttering the living room. Get rid of the clutter—after the holiday season, it’s time to clean up and clean out.

All those new presents and toys must be stored in a proper place. Holiday decorations need to come down both inside and out. Tasteful winter decorations, like wreaths, may be used, but the giant reindeer sitting in your front yard should probably be moved into his cozy home in the attic. You might consider renting a short-term storage unit for items you plan to move to your new home in order to help eliminate clutter.

Get the word out
Don’t forget to tell everyone you know that your house is on the market. If you’re on a social network, like Facebook, you may consider posting this information—you never know who your friends and acquaintances might share this information with.

Listen to an expert
Finally, there are many ways to entice buyers, but you may have to get creative with the marketing of your house. It is important to listen to the advice from your San Antonio REALTOR® for ways to get the word out to more potential buyers. San Antonio REALTORS^® are experts in selling and will be able to offer you plenty of tips to make your house more marketable.

With help from your agent and a little creativity on your part, you’ll be able to make your New Year’s resolution to sell your home a reality—even in January.
For more tips and information about buying and selling real estate in the San Antonio area, I invite you to visit the property search section of SABOR.com, the Voice for Real Estate in San Antonio.