Paying the price for holiday spirit

Homes all around are starting to light up for the holidays. But now more and more people are leaving it up to the professionals to decorate their homes.

“You got a lot more people that are busy,” said John Leastman, of “Holiday Lighting by Groundscapes.” They don't have the time to do it (because) husband and wife are both working."

Leastman has worked in the holiday lighting business for the last ten years. He says people in the upper class used to be the only people to hire professionals, but now working class and elderly people are hiring others to light up their homes. And Leastman says most people who hire him would rather he was the one going up the ladder.

“You've got safety reasons,” he said. Not only that, the clips that we use, you can't just go and buy them, so they're not going to get the professional look (if they do it themselves.) When we're done, every bulb is spaced exactly 12 inches.”

The Lights, garland, wreaths and bows all come at a cost, and that depends on just how festive you want your home to be.

“Our average I would have to say (people spend) between 800 dollars and 1,200 dollars,” Leastman said. “I've done them as much as 8000 dollars."

That includes the cost for decorations, the service to put them up and take them down and storage for the rest of the year. The cost could be minimal for someone who may be trying to beat out the neighbors.

“Especially once (neighbors) actually see them on,” he said, “once you turn them on that night they're saying I want my house to look like that. What can I do to get better than that?”