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I've only bought one house and it wasn't yet built when I bought it. During the house-hunting phase I looked at new and resale homes which were empty, staged, and currently lived in. I prefer empty.
I bought here when this subdivision was new and they didn't have a model of this house. I was lucky someone else in this community had a home like mine that was move-in ready but they hadn't closed yet, so the builder was able to let me see it. I liked meandering through the empty rooms and just getting a feel for the house itself; I often find the decor of a staged house to be somewhat distracting.
As for resale empty or lived-in homes, the main thing is 1) are they clean and 2) do they have any weird "home improvements" done by the prior owner that will cost money do undo/redo.
We're going to be moving from south TX to New England, so trying to maintain two households can be a big problem. We're not really comfortable leaving this house empty even though we live in a safe neighborhood, and our realtor has assured us that our house will sell relatively quick (once we clean and clear it out).
I've also been on a purging mode (it's really cathartic), and had forgotten just how much space we do have in this house. I guess I should have phrased my initial question as to whether a house with just the basic furniture for each room would be preferable to an empty one. Our furniture is still in really good condition, and I can get the sofa professionally cleaned (it's a toss-up as to whether the cats or my husband can make more of a mess) I really want to get as much stuff out of the house as soon as I can. I guess I want this chapter in our lives to be closed so we can go on.
I am getting so much sensible and common sense suggestions in this thread, thanks!
I'm still not really clear why you are ok leaving the new house empty but not this one?
But in any case, yes, I think a minimally furnished home is fine for showing - some people will say empty but if you are still living there, that's not really an option. Make sure to sell or store anything that is very large in scale - think about what a model home looks like, they may be somewhat elaborately furnished but everything is small in scale, to make the space look large and spacious. Keep a few larger statement pieces of decor but pack everything else. Make sure to take down any lighting, window treatments, wall shelving, etc. that could be considered a permanent fixture but that you want to keep. It's fine to replace a beloved chandelier that will go in your new home with something more pedestrian.
The other big thing would be to pare down as much as possible in terms of clothing, kitchenware, etc. And of course, having it all packed and ready to go means you have a minimal amount to do once you sell and are ready sign the papers and move on.
Hope you are prepared for the adjustment though - huge difference from Texas to New England! lol!
6 years ago we had a new home built before we sold our existing home. We had shown the old house fully furnished. We then moved a few things to the new house and were showing the old house partially furnished and staged with what was left. We then moved everything and were showing the old house unfurnished.
It was going to sell when it sold. I do not think it mattered how it was furnished. Our buyer did comment they liked seeing it empty as they could see everything. No surprises for them.
Empty works for me, too. I like to see where all the outlets and cable locations are, and if the house is fully empty and cleaned, including the garage, I want the access to see that, also. I do want the interior very clean, but contrary to what I read online, make sure the screens are in excellent shape and affixed to the windows after you have taken photos of the rooms without them.
Realtors make extra money when homes are staged professionally.
Like many purchases, a home is a lifestyle driven choice and ideally the current occupant's footprint in the house exudes the buyer's aspirations in life or this can be created through 'extreme staging'. Buyers like to buy houses that look happily lived in by people like them or who they aspire to be like. Put up pics of the kids graduating from Ivy League schools, happy pics of the handsome family in Paris and exotic locations, place prep school gear strategically around the home, horse riding stuff is great too, active and healthy looking photos of the family skiing, etc. Park nice European cars in the driveway. Put Ivy League degrees on the walls in the office. Stage pics of the 'family' in the kitchen of the home cooking together with all smiles.
There is some truth in the usual guidelines that the house should be depersonalised but in fact the best approach is to 'right personalize' it, creating the right aspirational persona for the target market.
Another vote for moving into the new place (or even the travel trailer?) temporarily, especially if you have pets. Do you have relatives nearby who will accommodate you? Airbnb?
I just need to let my realtor know that we still need to sell this one ASAP
Then the very best thing you can do is make the price very attractive relative to your competition.
When I sold my last place, I told my agent that IMO it would benefit from light staging even though I am not a fan of staging (it's often so overdone it makes me uncomfortable). The house needed something in it to give life and definition to the rooms. My agent was of similar mind and said she worked with a stager who added very light touches only -- mostly artwork on the walls and small tables and chairs; no sofas, beds, etc -- and who my agent paid out of her commission. That said, the biggest factor in the house selling within a week was that when my realtor suggested an asking price in the high $300K range, I said I'd like to list for $5K lower. The buyers came in at $5K over asking () because they realized the house was a bargain and didn't want to lose it.
And anybody who complains about scratches on the oven, etc, is just fishing for bargaining chips.
All else being equal, a professionally staged home is going to be more inviting to more buyers and will command a higher price than one that is empty or not professionally staged. This is why all production homebuilders and most smaller ones have at least one professionally staged model in every community that they build. The biggest ones employ their own interior designers who's job it is to plan the ideal floorplan, options, and interior design of every model they build. Decades of research has gone into this and some people make a pretty decent living off of it. I work in the industry and know several of them that do this type of consumer research.
yep, both cats and dogs. I can't leave them in boarding kennels near our new home (I've looked), so the group will be relegated to one room which I know I can keep clean(ish) - tiled floors help a lot. This way I can load them into our travel trailer and do a few practice dry runs around the area while the house will be shown. I DO like the idea of finding a professional stager (never really thought of that). We keep our house relatively clean, but will admit that we also may not realize/smell any odors coming from all the soft materials in our house (furniture, bedding, etc).
Having pets when the house is being shown is a no no. There's a few reasons. Odors....I own pets and swear my house has no odor from them. Then I go away for a week and come home and my house smell like a wet dog....LOL Some people are afraid of pets. Someone could abuse them....and that would be HORRIBLE. They may also be accidentally or not accidentally let outside. So you will need to pick up their food bowls and tuck away the litter box when there's showings. You'll also need to take the pets with you. It's VERY challenging having pets and living in a house that's for sale. We always felt it was easier to move into the new house. We leave some key pieces of furniture so it doesn't look vacant.
You will need to store the boxes somewhere. No one wants to view a house with boxes all over. You also don't want them in the photos people see.
Stagers can you your furniture or you can rent furniture through them for a small fee.....far less than buying furniture!
Personally, I'd move with the pets and let the stager and realtor handle it. That's what we have done and it worked well for us both times.
Like many purchases, a home is a lifestyle driven choice and ideally the current occupant's footprint in the house exudes the buyer's aspirations in life or this can be created through 'extreme staging'. Buyers like to buy houses that look happily lived in by people like them or who they aspire to be like. Put up pics of the kids graduating from Ivy League schools, happy pics of the handsome family in Paris and exotic locations, place prep school gear strategically around the home, horse riding stuff is great too, active and healthy looking photos of the family skiing, etc. Park nice European cars in the driveway. Put Ivy League degrees on the walls in the office. Stage pics of the 'family' in the kitchen of the home cooking together with all smiles.
There is some truth in the usual guidelines that the house should be depersonalised but in fact the best approach is to 'right personalize' it, creating the right aspirational persona for the target market.
Actually, you need to declutter. Few pieces of art. These pics you mention sound like something in a pile at Marshall's or TJ Max. Ivy League? Paris? Equestrian? Where on earth do you live that this would work? I live near Cornell and this wouldn't even work here. Sounds pretty snooty.
I think this may vary depending on the market. Just to share my experience last year with selling my condo. My agent strongly recommended staging. So I moved all my stuff into storage, except the clothes I'd need, a coffeepot, a few dishes and pans, a cot and my computer. They moved in the staging furniture. I didn't sleep on their bed; I used the cot. And I stashed away my personal items every morning so I could vacate at a moment's notice for showings.
The furniture was in an odd arrangement--you wouldn't live with it that way. My agent said that that was for two reasons: (1) so the photos for the listing would capture the unit at a good angle, and (2) to focus the eye toward the unit's best features.
Did it work? Well, we put the unit on the market on a Thursday afternoon, and asked for offers by 2:00 Tuesday. By Tuesday, we had 14 offers, half of them all-cash, and all but 3 for over asking price. A bidding war ensued, and I wound up selling for $90,000 over asking price.
Now, I happened to be selling into a hot market, but the only other unit in my building with comparable success was one that, after my experience, retained my agent and used my stager. I therefore believe that staging made a huge difference in my case.
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) because they realized the house was a bargain and didn't want to lose it.
