Effect of empty house vs. furnished house when selling house? (expensive, offers)

[VickiR]

Originally Posted by meh_whatever

Nope. They are there to sell people on an idea. Otherwise, they'd be sitting there empty.

Excellent answer and correct too!!!

Vicki

[RobE]

As long as the rooms are well defined in the home as to what their function is supposed to be, having an empty house would be no problem for me as a buyer.

In a lot of newer homes, the quest for an open floor plan often conversely leads to a clunky flow and makes it hard to know just what to do with a certain space. That is when you have problems as a seller. Even staging often won't fix that since you can tell the stager was running on fumes there in conceiving an idea for presenting the space.

One other thing: in really large homes, it sometimes seems as if the seller wanted to skimp on expenses for the staging and that results in the furniture being completely overwhelmed by the sheer size of a given room. So my advice there is to go all in with staging or just leave it empty. Half measures are worse than nothing.

[RedZin]

Originally Posted by VickiR

Excellent answer and correct too!!!

Vicki

Thanks.

I'm not in real estate, but I am in marketing. I know when I'm being marketed to!

[fivekitten]

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 $.

Staging is supposed to appeal to the masses, (or target market), whereas furniture choices made for living (interior design), are decisions based on your personal preferences.

[hueyeats]

Originally Posted by fallingwater

The only house I bought that was furnished was this last one. I prefer homes to be empty. I like the spaces to be completely open so I can look for defects. This makes sense to me but after watching many house hunter episodes on HGTV, I have come to the conclusion that people can be morons. Some people need a home to have furniture so they understand what room is what. I just watched an episode a few days ago where a couple looking at a house were baffled by what one of the rooms was meant for. The realtor was kind and overly patient and explained it was the dining room and the large chandelier hanging from the ceiling was meant to hang over a dining room table and also the room's location next to the kitchen. I swear I could never be a realtor. I have zero patience for stupidity.

Anyway, staging I think helps those with no vision and also helps hide problems. After we moved into our house, I noticed a few things that were hidden by the sellers furniture. If I were to sell again, I would stage because if House Hunters is any indication of buyers out there, then staging is essential letting people know what room is what.

Exactly that!

That different POV...
When buying, most probably wants home empty to see defects more clearly.
When selling... seller most probably wants to draw eyes away from the defects so it makes buyers get that "I'm home" feeling to try & successfully sell their home well & get premium bucks.

People will do what is best for them & what is smart for them to do.

[accufitgolf]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

60 year old 3BR 1BA house, fresh paint inside, new wall-wall carpets, approx. $300K price range, no mortgage

I've been preparing to sell for quite some time, getting rid of some junky furniture, throwing stuff out, packing non-essentials. Ended up with two completely empty bedrooms, now both partially filled with neatly stacked boxes. Bedroom furniture is average plain furniture (throwing away bed when I move, keeping the oak dresser and end stands). Living room upholstered couch and chair aren't good enough to let my dog barf on, but I let him anyway. At bare minimum I'll either have to get slip covers or maybe buy something cheap on Craig's list, or rent couch/chair. Dining room oak table and chairs are nice. I don't want to buy new couch/chair because I'm going on the road for several months, storing my stuff, and anyway I don't know what would look nice in my next house.

Here's the question: I almost wish I could just throw away bed, couch and chair, put the rest of my stuff in storage, and end up with a completely empty but nicely painted and newly carpeted house. Or I can do something about the couch & chair and live here while the house is being shown.

One broker told me it was no problem if I wanted to store my stuff, leave the house empty and get out of town, that it wouldn't affect the time necessary to sell it or the price I ultimately get. Yet I've always heard that prospective buyers like to see what a house looks like with furniture rather than totally empty, thus the furnished new model homes.

Staging in a big way isn't really an option because it would cost too much to fill this house with nice rental furniture. Either way I'm already going to have two empty bedrooms (or partly filled with boxes). And also, I have conflicting advice from my prospective agents: one says please move the packed boxes to a rental storage unit, the other says it's no problem at the level it's at now (neatly stacked and organized, room at least half empty).

It would be so painless showing the house if I could leave it empty and take off camping. Both brokers say selling and closing is no problem at all via phone/fax. The neighborhood is nice enough that I don't have any serious worry about leaving it vacant and unattended. All the houses around me are occupied and it's a nice family neighborhood.

Advice? Okay to show the house empty or should I stay here and wait for the sale? Should I completely empty those unused two bedrooms or are some boxes okay?

No matter what else, I personally would not read past the one bathroom listing part so I think this is going to be your main stumbling sales point, not empty, not new carpet, etc.

Now if all else is OK like price, condition, location, etc., I think being empty and appearing spacious might help someone like myself think well maybe we could remodel, rebuild inside, add a bathroom, etc.

My opinion and most certainly worth what you paid for it if not more....LOL

[joe moving]

It's probably normal in that area to have 1 bath. It's very normal here.

[AnywhereElse]

Originally Posted by Racelady88

As a buyer I much prefer houses that are empty.

To the point and I agree. We usually will only view houses that are empty and I know many people that feel the same way. I like to envision my things in the house, the house will appear larger empty too, a plus to the seller. Maybe it has to do with the fact that since it is empty, the seller is probably ready to deal and you know there shouldn't be a hassle about the move out/move in date. I want to know what is under the sofa or the bed, I know the kinds of things that happen in a house!

[luv4horses]

One reason to have at least a couple of pieces of furniture in each room is that it provides a reference of 'scale'. For example, most bedrooms look 'small' to folks who cannot imagine the dimensions of a bed in there. Perhaps you can borrow some stored furniture pieces from friends, just for the sales period, and meanwhile move your stuff out.

[nikitakolata]

I am actually surprised by how many people want to see houses empty. I'm also surprised at how many have said they will only look at a vacant house. IMO, that would be really limiting as a buyer. I'm currently trying to sell my house, but it can't possibly be empty because I still live in it. I'm not so desperate to move that I would buy another house before selling this one, so maybe that makes my house less desirable (since we aren't totally desperate) but it also means that we may be here for a long time to come, so we are still maintaining the property well. How well do you think most vacant homes are maintained?

I wonder if this has to do with the relative cost of a house in an area. Around me, if a larger/more expensive house is vacant it means it probably is a short sale or foreclosure. People really tend to beat up foreclosed houses and take out anything in them of value (bathroom mirrors, appliances, light fixtures, I've even seen flooring removed). The other main reason upscale houses are vacant is if they are brand new. Most of the houses in the same price range as mine are occupied or brand new. I don't see how anyone could really afford to leave before selling unless they intend to walk away from their mortgage though.