Selling a house - does it make a huge difference if it's full or empty?

[lecach]

To be fair the stain on the floor is really small. In fact when we pointed it out to our agent she said she wouldnt even worry about it. My Mom who is in the house all the time never even noticed it until we pointed it out. So it's not like some ginormous stain or anything.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

To be fair the stain on the floor is really small. In fact when we pointed it out to our agent she said she wouldnt even worry about it. My Mom who is in the house all the time never even noticed it until we pointed it out. So it's not like some ginormous stain or anything.

Then why were you going to allow a flooring allowance? Either the floor looks good or it does not.

Flooring is one of the things that is a big deal with buyers. In fact it is the first thing we weigh. Buyers will note every imperfection and if the house is empty, your house will be defined by your imperfections.

Here is my list of the big 3...

Flooring
Roofing
Age of A/C & furnance

Now I will be willingly to compromise on 1 thing when buying. However if it hits 2, I am done. I will not take a hit for flooring and roofing or A/C/furnance.

 

[lecach]

Then why were you going to allow a flooring allowance? Either the floor looks good or it does not.

Flooring is one of the things that is a big deal with buyers. In fact it is the first thing we weigh. Buyers will note every imperfection and if the house is empty, your house will be defined by your imperfections.

Here is my list of the big 3...

Flooring
Roofing
Age of A/C & furnance

Now I will be willingly to compromise on 1 thing when buying. However if it hits 2, I am done. I will not take a hit for flooring and roofing or A/C/furnance.

We're not necessarily offering an allowance. We're just thinking that a buyer might ask for one after the inspection. Our agent has had numerous other agents through and no one even noticed the stain. It's light and about the size of a salad plate.

Our house is only 4 years old so the roofing and AC and Furnace are all in good shape and only 4 years old as well.

 

[lecach]

By the way, here is a link to our listing. The stain in question is in front of the fridge and wont even show on a photo its so small and light:

http://www.fmrealty.com/site/property/listing.asp?fmrealty=active&mlsID=1734568&rNum=D26082

 

[jksgrammy]

First, I want to offer you the very best wishes in selling your home in this market.

Second: I would DEFINATELY take advantage of moving as much stuff as possible since you are getting a moving allowance, but as you mentioned, you only get it once. You will NOT believe how much it will cost to move any furniture you leave behind.

Third: Agree with previous poster - check with your insurance agent to make sure their are no issues in leaving your house "empty".

Wishing you the best in this new chapter in your lives!!

 

[golfgal]

Your house shows really well with the furniture in place. I would leave it there a little longer. Even if you do start the job, can you live in the new place for a few weeks with minimal furniture. Get a card table and some chairs, bring your pots and pans and dishes and live there for a few more weeks. If after a month your house still hasn't sold, move the rest of your stuff. Also, I am surprised your realtor has it listed at at even $250,000. I would list it at $149,900-it will show up on more searches and will be the "top" of the budget for those with a max of $250,000 (which your house won't show up in if they are looking up to $250,000.

 

[golfgal]

First, I want to offer you the very best wishes in selling your home in this market.

Second: I would DEFINATELY take advantage of moving as much stuff as possible since you are getting a moving allowance, but as you mentioned, you only get it once. You will NOT believe how much it will cost to move any furniture you leave behind.

Third: Agree with previous poster - check with your insurance agent to make sure their are no issues in leaving your house "empty".

Wishing you the best in this new chapter in your lives!!

Most insurance companies have a provision for empty houses-usually you have to pay extra for that.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Since it is only one thing then you can let that go. Yea, they are going to say something and you expect it.

In this market you can certainly sell a 4yo house empty. Just make sure you keep the pics with furniture on the web.

Have you gone to your competition homes and see what they are selling and price?

As you know, price is what is going to sell your house.

Is the neighborhood finished yet? That makes a difference.

How many showings have you had? How long has it been on the market? Are you upside down on the loan?

We are going to try and sell this house in 5yrs. So we will be going on house #5. Hopefully the last house! We want the basic walk out ranch.

Totally agree with listing it at 249,900 or whatever the MLS realtor listing is. Take off that 250,000.

 

[lecach]

Also, I am surprised your realtor has it listed at at even $250,000. I would list it at $149,900-it will show up on more searches and will be the "top" of the budget for those with a max of $250,000 (which your house won't show up in if they are looking up to $250,000.

I am hoping you mean $249 and not $149 . We had originally thought of listing it at $249,900 but our agent suggested the even price. The $250 price is based on the way the search engines in this area work. In our area the majority of the buyers start their search online. The choices when people do an online search are even numbers - $240-250, $250-260, etc. By putting it at $250 it hits both of those searches. If it was at $249,900 then the people searching in the $250-260 range would never see it.

 

[lecach]

Have you gone to your competition homes and see what they are selling and price? Of course we have . We are right in the middle - not too high, not too low. We're listed below the amount it appraised for last year

Is the neighborhood finished yet? That makes a difference. Yes - it's been complete for over a year now

How many showings have you had? How long has it been on the market? Are you upside down on the loan? More showings than some but not a ton. July was dead - no one was looking. We have been on the market since July 2. We are not upside down - we owe much less than we are selling it for.

Totally agree with listing it at 249,900 or whatever the MLS realtor listing is. Take off that 250,000. See my answer to Golfgal about the price - it's based on extensive research about how people search for homes.

 

[Disney Doll]

Nice house. You already don't have a lot of clutter! I'm jealous!
Looks good with furniture, but would be OK without...lots of openness to the house. Nice size yard too.
Maybe you could leave the furniture for a while more...as a PP said, if you have to move to the new place, try living there with some minimal furnishings.

Kitchen floor stain wasn't noticeable in that picture...I probably wouldn't worry about it. A small stain on the kitchen floor would not be a deal breaker for me to not buy your house. You should have seen the kitchen floor I lived with when we first bought our house!

 

[Bethenny]

Oh your house is very cute! I think it would show great with or without furniture. And like someone else said, the people can see the furniture in the pics. The price is fine. Anyone who is smart enough will look above their price range anyway. You can always negotiate down (or attempt to). I kept my price at 225k and I had no shortage of showings.

As for the stain, I would leave it. That's not going to be a deal breaker. Someone might ask you to fix it and then you do. I would be hesitant to put in brand new flooring unless something was really bad. I, as a buyer, would not want to "pay" for a cheap fix. I would rather get a price break and buy whatever flooring I wanted. I took notice of houses that had brand new cheap carpet. Because I knew the price was inflated because of that.

 

[golfgal]

Oh your house is very cute! I think it would show great with or without furniture. And like someone else said, the people can see the furniture in the pics. The price is fine. Anyone who is smart enough will look above their price range anyway. You can always negotiate down (or attempt to). I kept my price at 225k and I had no shortage of showings.

Actually a smart homebuyer does NOT do this because they will be tempted to overspend because 25,000 can make a HUGE difference in amenities and square footage.

 

[Bethenny]

Actually a smart homebuyer does NOT do this because they will be tempted to overspend because 25,000 can make a HUGE difference in amenities and square footage.

Alright fine. I was smart enough to not be tempted to buy a house I couldn't afford. I still looked at houses above my price range because you never know what you could negotiate for or when the price might drop. I would think other smart homebuyers would be the same way. I guess if some people can't handle that then too bad for them.

 

[Bethenny]

Oh and to go back to the original question for a second. We sold our old house before we bought a new one. So when we were looking, we did take note of houses that we suspected we could have a quick closing period. For example, one house was completely filled with furniture, toys. The closests were FULL. The basement was FULL. That actually factored into our decision because we were afraid that person wouldn't be able to close in 5 weeks.