Q: Christmas is my family’s favorite time of year, and we spent all of last weekend putting up our decorations. But when the real estate agent came to visit Monday, she said all the decorations would make it even harder to sell the property. What do you think?

A: Families don’t have to suspend all of their holiday decorating traditions because their home is up for sale, but they do need to show some restraint.

Too many decorations can turn off potential buyers by making a home seem cluttered or smaller, agents say. They also can draw attention away from some of the property’s more important amenities.

A tall, skinny holiday tree can emphasize a room’s height while keeping used floor space to a minimum. Make sure you hide your real presents because some thieves pose as potential buyers.

It’s fine to display religious symbols, but be tasteful. At one open house several years ago, the dining-room centerpiece was a 2-foot-high statue of Jesus nailed to the cross in a Santa Claus suit — with a battery-operated light that would make it turn from green to red and back to green again. Every visitor seemed offended, regardless of race or religion.

When the holidays are over, remove all the decorations within a couple of weeks. If you leave them up longer, it will remind buyers that the home has been on the market for quite a while.

I saw a TV report a few days before Thanksgiving Day from a little Texas town named Turkey. Do you know anything about it?

There are only a handful of U.S. communities named Turkey. The one in Texas is probably the most famous. It’s the place where Bob Wills formed the musical group Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys, and created the “Western Swing” sound that revolutionized country music.

We rented a small house in June. The fruit trees in our backyard are now full, but our landlord says the fruit belongs to him. We have taken care of the trees for six months and paid for their watering and fertilizer, so shouldn’t we be able to keep their fruit?

Yes, you probably can. A typical residential lease gives a tenant exclusive use of the property, which usually includes the right to harvest fruit from a yard’s trees or vegetables from its garden. Unless the rental contract states otherwise, the fruit is yours.