Effect of empty house vs. furnished house when selling house? (comparable, Realtors)

[Lovehound]

At this point my tentative plan is to leave my reasonably good looking furniture in place, master bedroom, dining room, office, and living room except either replace upholstered chair and couch (rent or Craig's list) or slip cover them. I'm going to move all the boxes from the two other bedrooms to the garage and leave those two bedrooms totally empty. Noting that opinions on this topic are all over the place, my solution is somewhere in the middle, okay furniture for the most part, staged couch and chair, empty two bedrooms, a little bit for everybody and the easiest for me to achieve.

[chet everett]

The key is really CLEAN!

I cannot tell you just how many pretty decent house turn off buyers when they spot some filth in the bathroom or get a whiff of pet odors or cigarettes. And lots of so-so houses that are SPOTLESS get offers much sooner than you would think becuase "we can start fresh".

The key staging of rooms you have listed will really help buyers that are not as skilled as the masters of visualization this forum attracts.

[Wwanderer]

I haven't read the whole thread, but will give my opinion. (We just bought a furnished condo in Florida, waiting to close, and we had our house here at home staged professionally several years ago.)

Often a bit of money put out for staging pays you handsomely in the offers that you get. So think about that. Sounds like you've come up with a compromise that works. No furniture is better than shabby furniture.

As for the furnished versus empty controversy, for some reason, empty houses look smaller. I don't know why, but it's true. I know, logically, that you should want it empty to imagine it full, but it's easier to imagine it in use when it's furnished. That goes especially for the living room/dining room. Not so much the bedrooms.

And I agree that it must be very clean. If there's some little rusty tap or something that can be replaced for a little money, do it. Nothing worse than rusty bathroom fixtures.

[Dressy]

Lovehound! do not through away beds from the bedrooms! Just leave them very neatly and simply covered under simple colored spreads. Take away headboards.

I agree that most of the antics and personal stuff does not look good, but a simple bed (without a too sofisticated headboard), is better then an empty bedroom, especially a small one. It really makes the house feel warmer and feel like "your house". Put nice simple light curtains or shades in the bedroom, may be a monotone rug, if you have hardwood floors.
Overall I do not like staged housed, but empty bedrooms do not look good.
It is like taking away a gass or fridge from the kitchen. Seriously!
Bed is what makes a bedroom a bedroom. Just like range and stove make a room a kitchen.
Please do not spend too much money on staging!
Just remove some of the stuff that make space look crowded and busy. Leave simple and clean things.

[Dressy]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

People do it every day. Unless you have a very nicely decorated house with matching furniture that compliments the style and decor, it could be a disadvantage.

Staging companies provide very nice upscale furniture to realtors all the time. I don't know where you live or what your experience is, but this is not considered unusual in large cities and upscale properties.

I certainly would not keep my furniture in my house if I were trying to sell it and I would not show it vacant either.

20yrsinBranson

The only mistery remains is how are all those owners of upscale homes wind up having their house stuffed with crappy furniture, so when they sell the house they have to dump it and then stage the house for extra $.

[RedZin]

Originally Posted by Dressy

The only mistery remains is how are all those owners of upscale homes wind up having their house stuffed with crappy furniture, so when they sell the house they have to dump it and then stage the house for extra $.

They bought it because they liked it/it suited their needs? Not everyone entertains constantly. Even people in "upscale" homes. They have kids, pets, a life. Things aren't always flawless.

[RedZin]

I'd rather see an empty house than one with stacked mattresses on the bedroom floors.

I loathe curtains and dated window treatments.

[Dressy]

I was speaking about beds and not matresses , and dated curtains were not mentioned at all. Simple curtains look far more better then bare windows especially if windows are not in the "upscale" condition, as well as empty small (not upscale bedroom looks better if there is some bed in it . otherwise it looks like a closet.

[RedZin]

Originally Posted by Dressy

I was speaking about beds and not matresses , and dated curtains were not mentioned at all. Simple curtains look far more better then bare windows especially if windows are not in the "upscale" condition, as well as empty small (not upscale bedroom looks better if there is some bed in it . otherwise it looks like a closet.

I just don't like most average tastes in window treatments, I reckon. I've been in some great houses that were staged, though. Of the ones that weren't, I preferred whole sets of furniture and pictures on walls, etc to the ones that look like homeless people were squatting there (regardless of how tidy they are).

I admit, I've been looking at more upscale homes.

Most of them have plantation shutters or wood blinds.

[lawmom]

Here is a link to a place on the market in my neighborhood. We actually rented it for about 4 months until we found out the owner was losing it to the bank, so I am familiar with the layout. I think the staging that they've done for it is helpful in this case. Typically I don't care too much whether a place is empty or not, but I can certainly see the benefits of a place that's been emptied out of the owners stuff and staged with simple, tasteful pieces. Unless you're like my parents -- minimalists and everything neat as a pin at all times, that's different.

119 Pine Street, Portland, ME - MLS# 1006259 - Victorian - Multi Family Home - NewEnglandMoves.com