In fact, the internet is clogged with all sorts of advice on how to enchant buyers with a cheery blaze in the fireplace and the smell of cookies and cakes wafting from the kitchen.

The cheerleaders contend that only serious buyers will waste their time skipping all those fun holiday parties to go to open houses.

Better yet, there will be less competition, with most potential sellers calling it quits until at least January, or so the argument goes.

First, skip the cookies - everyone is onto that one now. And I'd spend more time making sure the front walk is clear of snow and that there is parking on the street than tending to that crackling fire.

I'll grant that there might be a small number of serious buyers out there, who are forced, because of a corporate relocation or some other pressing issue, to spend their December weekends hustling from one open house to another.

However, given the depressed market, you are more likely to run into tire kickers looking for a deep discount. And when they see your listing, they will think the only reason you've kept your house on the market is that you are desperate.

I found Elizabeth Weintraub's advice on About.com to be a helpful antidote to all the mush-filled advice out there.

A veteran agent, she is clearly speaking from experience. On her top ten reasons not to sell, No. 1 is that buyers will think you are desperate.

If you ask a real estate agent, "Should I keep my home on the market over the holidays?" an agent will tell you, "Yes, absolutely, because then you know buyers are serious." You know what I think about that? I'll cut to the chase. It's hogwash. If you don't have to sell between Thanksgiving and New Year's, take your home off of the market.