Nobody will argue that a home decorated for Christmas is beautiful.  However, nobody will disagree that a listing photo or video tour featuring beautiful Christmas decorations looks ridiculous and dated..... in April or July!

Of course, summer flowers and green grass also date photos, but that season technically can last for 6 months in many locations.  Even winter photos date a listing, but that season also lasts about 6 months.

Christmas is ONE DAY.  December 25.  In April, everyone will know exactly how long your home has been on the market.  Not to mention that it goes against all rules for staging a home to sell, as Christmas Decorations = CLUTTER!  It's a bit difficult to judge what a living room looks like and how spacious it is with a Sequoia tree parked in front of the fireplace!

Use common sense - if you're listing a home in the next four weeks, suggest to sellers that they WAIT to decorate until after photos and videos are shot.  If they've decorated, they may be willing to remove the decorations for the shoot, or just wait until after the holidays when you have a clean, undated home to photograph. 

With homes staying on the market a LOT longer these days, you can be pretty much guaranteed of a dated photo in a few months!  Don't think today - think tomorrow.

If you're shooting a walk through real estate video, 'changing out Christmas photos' isn't really an option, as it might be with still photography - the only option really is the reshoot the home.

After spending over an hour yesterday helping a Realtor 'undecorate' a $5M house for a video tour, I'm keenly aware of the problem......