Home for sale? Living in it is no holiday

On Christmas afternoon, after a morning spent opening gifts around their fake tree, the Dittmaier family will start packing up their Wedgwood home.

Christmas should be about the only day when it's safe to make a mess, Kristen Dittmaier explained last week.

"It will be extremely unlikely that someone will want to see the house," she said.

Living in a home while trying to sell it is inconvenient any time of year. The holiday season can add parties, presents and visits from friends and relatives to that mix.

Dittmaier, who put her house on the market Nov. 11, has to get her children, ages 7 and 9, out of the house in the morning, then make sure beds are made and sinks clean before leaving herself. She takes the family dog to work, but drives back home to pick up their two cats when she gets word that prospective buyers are on their way.

If buyers are coming by in the evening, the whole family gets the house in order, then trundles off to the library, Starbucks or Dittmaier's brother's house.

Amy Leahey, who had her former Vashon Island house on the market over the holidays last year, said she and her fiance (now husband) would sometimes drive down the road and park.

"You just kind of sit there in your car and keep warm, and you position yourself so you can see when the person actually leaves," she said. "You're, like, parking behind the bushes and spying on your own driveway."

Agents did not always give the required 15-minute notice of a visit, Leahey said.

"We had a couple times when the Realtor would call either from the end of the driveway or right up next to the house."

Leahey recalled one morning after a party when dirty dishes were still out when an agent called to say they'd be over with buyers in five minutes.

Having their home on the market over Christmas prompted the Dittmaiers to buy a fake tree so they wouldn't have to clean up needles constantly, limit the number of ornaments and put away the children's artwork and Santa pictures.

"I wanted people to come in and be able to envision their own Christmas," Kristen Dittmaier said.

They also scaled back their holiday baking and entertaining.

"It doesn't feel quite like it usually does," she said.

Vicki Browning, whose Bainbridge Island house is on the market, left her Christmas decorations in storage at the advice of her agent, Eileen Black of John L. Scott Real Estate.

Personal decorations and religious items, such as their Nativity scenes, could make it harder for buyers to envision themselves living in the home, said Browning, the broker at John L. Scott's Bainbridge Island office.

Black brought in more neutral decorations.

"It's like living in a hotel now," Browning said. "It's not our stuff."

Many people pull their house off the market around Christmas to avoid such fuss, but agents advise against that.

"By the holidays, the people who are out there looking are the serious buyers," Black said.

There's also less competition than there will be in January and February, when more new homes tend to hit the market, and houses look nice at Christmastime, agents said.

"Everybody wants to kind of picture themselves in their home during Christmas," said Teri Herrera, an agent in John L. Scott's Bellevue Main office. She once sold a house on Christmas Day.

Janeen Nelson listed her Issaquah home with Herrera the day after Thanksgiving. Although Nelson has three adult daughters living with her and isn't typically a neat person, she said the experience has been good.

"I love having my house in the shape it's in," she said. "Once you initially clean it up, it's easy to keep it that way."

Browning said keeping her house in showing order hasn't been much of a change for her.

"I've always just had a routine," she said. "The first thing you do when you wake up is make the bed, and the last thing you do before you leave the house is make sure the newspaper is in the recycling and the dishes are in the dishwasher."

Some sellers travel over the holidays, making it a particularly convenient time to have their home on the market.

The experience has been more of a hassle for Grady and Gretchen Dittmaier, ages 9 and 7. They've had to limit play dates and completely cut out sleepovers at their house.

"I haven't been able to make messes that much," Grady said.

"I haven't been able to play with my Polly Pockets," Gretchen added.

The family is building some unique memories this year, Kristen Dittmaier said.

"We'll look back one day and go: 'Remember the Christmas our house was on the market?' "

VACANT FOR CHRISTMAS

Even a vacant home can take advantage of the Christmas spirit.

Sue Carette, a Windermere Real Estate agent on Vashon Island, threw a holiday party for 34 guests in one of her vacant listings two weeks ago.

It was a combination open house and gratitude lunch for agents and a way to show off the home, Carette said.

"They could feel that the house was very warm and livable," she said.

Carette put up decorations, prepared turkey, potatoes and pies and put on holiday music.

The owners, who raised a family in the home, threw Christmas parties every year, Carette said.

"When I went to hang the Christmas lights, the nails were already there," she said.

Carette left the decorations up, with the lights on a timer, and kept a CD player there with her Christmas mix playing throughout the day.

"There are shoppers out there," she said. "When they walk in, I want it warm and feeling good."