Retirement communities find spry holiday sales

TAMPA, Fla. – Dec. 12, 2013 – Tampa-area practitioners who specialize in selling homes in retirement communities report that sales are typically brisk around the holidays, and this year is no exception.

Gary Ward with Century 21 Beggins Enterprises in Sun City Center reasons that home sales pick up in December as baby boomers nearing retirement visit their moms and dads for Christmas and are drawn in by the warmer temperatures. “December is the start of our season here,” he says. “In the ‘normal world’ of real estate, it’s April because of the tax returns people can use for downpayments.”

Ward reports that agents throughout Sun City Center and nearby Kings Point sold 58 homes in November. This month, he anticipates sales will climb by nearly 50 percent.

Flo Vachon, a practitioner with Keller Williams Realty South Shore in Sun City Center, urges her senior-citizen sellers to decorate with fall and winter themes – chrysanthemums at the entryway, wreaths on the front door, and seasonal items inside.

“Not everyone celebrates Christmas or Hanukkah, but the seasons are a good way to decorate without making the home look too much like you, the seller,” Vachon says. “The goal is to make buyers comfortable and able to picture themselves living there.”

Source: “Holidays Heat Up Home Sales in Retirement Communities,” Tampa Bay Online (12/04/13)