Do Christmas Lights Help When Your Home Is on the Market?

If you are selling a house in Nashville between Thanksgiving and New Year, someone will tell you to put up Christmas lights. Someone else will tell you to keep the house neutral and leave the decorations in the attic. Both have a point. Here is a plain look at Christmas lights and home value, from a company that has been hanging lights in Middle Tennessee for more than 20 years.

Lights do not change what your house is worth

Start with the honest part. A string of lights on the gutter does not add a dollar to your appraisal. An appraiser looks at square footage, condition, the lot and recent sales nearby. Nobody writes a higher number because the roofline glows.

So if the question is whether Christmas lights raise home value in the strict sense, the answer is no. What they can affect is how the house feels to a buyer who drives past at 5:30 in the evening in December. That is a different thing, and it matters more than people expect in winter.

What lights can actually do for a winter listing

They solve the dark house problem

In December it is dark in Nashville before most people leave work. A lot of buyers do their first look by driving past after dinner. A house with no exterior lighting reads as empty, and an empty looking house at night can feel neglected even when it is in good shape.

Clean white lights along the roofline show the shape of the house after dark. Buyers can see the gables, the porch and the scale of the place. Porch lights alone do not do that.

They help twilight photos

Many listing photographers like a dusk shot, with the interior lights on and the sky still blue. A neat roofline in warm white can make that photo stand out on a listing site where every other house is a flat daytime shot. If your listing goes live in late November or December, ask your agent whether a twilight photo is planned. If it is, lights can be worth it.

They signal that someone cares for the house

A tidy, even install suggests an owner who maintains things. It is a small signal, but buyers pick up on small signals.

When Christmas lights hurt a listing

Bad lights are worse than no lights. A buyer looking at a house for sale is already scanning for problems. Here is what they notice.

• Sagging strands. A line that droops between clips looks sloppy and draws the eye to the gutter, which makes people wonder about the gutter.
• Dead sections. Half a roofline lit and half dark looks like something is broken.
• Extension cords across the yard. Orange cords running over the lawn and up the porch steps look like a trip hazard and a wiring problem.
• Staples or nails in the fascia. A home inspector may note the holes. Even if they do not, a sharp eyed buyer will see them.
• Too much. Inflatables, every color at once and flashing patterns make it hard to see the house. You are selling the building, not the display.

If your options are a messy DIY job or nothing, choose nothing. A clean, dark house with good porch lighting is fine.

What a buyer friendly display looks like

Keep it simple and keep it about the architecture.

• One color. Warm white is the safe choice. It flatters brick, stone and painted siding, and it photographs well.
• Trace the roofline. Follow the main eaves and gables so the outline of the house is clear from the street.
• Light the entry. A wreath or a lit garland around the front door draws people toward the door, which is where you want them.
• Wrap a tree or two, if they are good trees. A mature front yard tree is a selling point. Lighting it shows off the lot. Skip it if the tree is scraggly.
• Hide the power. Cords should run along edges and out of sight.

Less is more here. Remember that some buyers do not celebrate Christmas. A restrained warm white roofline reads as seasonal and welcoming. A full themed display can feel personal in a way that makes it harder for a buyer to picture the place as theirs.

Protect the roof and trim

This matters more when you are selling than at any other time. You do not want an inspector writing up damaged shingles or holes in the fascia two weeks before closing.

Our crews use clips sized to the roof edge or the gutter lip. We never put staples, nails or screws into fascia, trim or shingles. When the lights come down, nothing is left behind. If you hang lights yourself, use plastic clips that fit your gutter or shingle edge and do the same.

Also watch the weather. Middle Tennessee winters bring cold rain, the odd ice storm and wind that pulls loose strands off a gutter. A strand flapping off the eave during a showing is not the look you want. Check the display after any storm.

When DIY is fine

If you have a single story ranch with a simple, low roofline, you can probably do this yourself. Buy one color of LED lights, measure the eaves, use proper clips and keep it neat. That is a weekend job for most people.

It gets harder on two story homes, steep pitches and houses with many gables, which describes a lot of homes in Brentwood, Franklin and Belle Meade. Ladder work on a steep roof in December is where people get hurt. If you are already busy packing, staging and keeping the house showing ready, that may be the job to hand off.

The timing question when you are moving

Sellers often worry about who takes the lights down if the house sells in December. With us, takedown after the holidays is part of every install. We also store the lights in the off season, so you are not packing a box of tangled strands on top of everything else. There are no contracts and no long term commitments, so a one season install for a house you are leaving works fine.

So, is it worth it?

• Worth it if your house is listed in late November or December, you get evening drive by traffic, or your agent plans twilight photos.
• Probably not worth it if the house is under contract and only waiting on closing, or if the listing goes live after New Year.
• Not worth it if the only option is a rushed, messy job. Skip it.

Lights will not add to the sale price. Done well, they can make a winter listing look cared for and easier to see after dark, and that is a fair reason to do it.

Getting a quote

You do not need to schedule a visit to get a price. Call us at (615) 595-9686, describe the house and what you want lit, and we can quote you on the phone. A site visit is available if you would like one or the property is large or unusual. You can also use our quote form.

Every install includes design, custom cut commercial grade LED strands, installation by insured crews, in season maintenance with a 24 hour service guarantee, takedown and storage. See how it works, read more about residential installation, or check our pages for Brentwood and Franklin.