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Nope, you're not. I'd rather see empty rooms as well. I see more potential in an empty room than I do in one that's furnished.
As for what I'd do if it were my house -- depends on the situation. If I needed all my furniture elsewhere and was renting furniture just to show the house, forget it. Why should I go to that expense just because people can't use their imagination?
Because you want to sell your house and many people have no imagination.
As a prospective buyer I prefer seeing the home furnished. While searching pictures on the re sites, it gives me hints about who lives there. Likely my neighbors will be the same. Empty rooms don't give me as much information about how I would fit in, if the people around me will be my kind of people or not. If I see empty, I may not be inspired to look in person.
When we bought our condo, I had a very difficult time imagining how the furniture could be arranged in the living room. Because it has french doors on two sides and a fireplace and a pass through bar, all the furniture had to be floated since there is really only one normal wall. Not being able to imagine how it could work was off putting.
We will be selling soon and will have it sparsely furnished to help the imagination challenged.
As a buyer I prefer empty. A staged home may look nice but I always feel like it's a tactic to make the space look better than it is - stagers manipulate things to cover up flaws, visually alter size, etc., and it distracts from the actual house; plus since it's not like the furniture will stay, it requires more effort on my part to mentally "remove" everything and visualize my own furniture in the space. Furniture and accessories are all transient, I don't get why buyers care about these things at all. What I really want as a buyer is to see the complete picture and the true condition of the home, not be distracted by all the gloss on top.
Of course, as a SELLER, if your place does have flaws and things that you would rather have covered up or distract buyers from, staging or strategically positioning furniture may be a good idea ))
I am actually amazed that so many people claim not to be able to imagine how a house could be furnished whether its staged or empty.
How in the world do these people buy furniture for any house they live in?
One of my guilty pleasures is to watch House Hunters. When they show the house that was chosen 3 months later, I like to look at furniture placement. It is almost always the exact same layout as it was with the previous owner's furnishings. Sure, some rooms may lend themselves to being setup in the identical way. Afterall, how many ways are there to arrange a dining room? But seeing master bedrooms and living rooms with furniture in the exact same arrangement confirms what I already believe about that show and house hunters in general - they lack creativity.
[quote=SunBeachFun;32810020]One of my guilty pleasures is to watch House Hunters. When they show the house that was chosen 3 months later, I like to look at furniture placement. It is almost always the exact same layout as it was with the previous owner's furnishings....quote]
That is because in many instances the 'new' owners have already bought the property and moved in, so you see a 'staged' viewing, and then their 'actual' living arrangement. I spoke with a realtor who sold a house which was featured on that show. The buyers bought the house, moved their furniture in, then moved the furniture back out for the show, and then moved their stuff back in for the 'after' pictures.
Those shows, as with many 'reality' shows, are not what they seem to be.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kletter1mann
Because you want to sell your house and many people have no imagination.
Correct this. Many realtors advocate having the place empty for your showings, but most people don't have the imagination necessary to know how they can 'fit' their furniture into the new space. There is a reason model homes have furniture; for the less creative, it shows you what the 'house' will look like as a 'home'.
Empty house = desperate seller. Right or not, that impression is more poignant than 'here is the space; figure out how you will use it for YOUR things.' Mind over matter.
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