You’re probably thinking, “What’s the big deal about selling a home during Halloween – it’s not a major holiday”. That’s a very good point, but I’m starting to notice a trend that can affect your chance of selling if your house is on the market right now. More and more people are decorating their houses for Halloween. Sure, it’s a fun holiday (what’s not to like about a holiday based on dressing up and eating candy!), but are those fake tombstones really going to help you sell?

Last year a house came on the market in my area in the beginning of October. The sellers had done a nice job decorating the house for Halloween, but on top of the witches and other ghouls, they put bright yellow caution tape around the house. Now, this tape said “Happy Halloween”, but from the picture in MLS, it made the house look like a crime scene. Not only did the house come on the market looking like it was a CSI investigation, the listing agent never changed the exterior photo during the entire 6 months the house was trying to sell. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear that the house didn’t sell.

This morning, I saw another new house for sale here in Medford, MA only to see that same yellow caution tape again. The moral of the story: If you’re trying to sell your house, don’t sabotage your sale. Go easy on the Halloween decorations so your sale isn’t DOA.