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

[lecach]

BG: DH took a great new job in new town 2 hours away. We bought a home there already and closed on it last Friday. DH is currently living in that house with a mattrress and a tv while DS and I live here. We cant move there until we either sell our house here or I find a job there. Our house in current town is taking a while to sell.

I have a 2nd interview on Monday in the new town. If they make me an offer and I accept it, they would want me by the end of the month. Since our house here is still up for sale I am weighing the pro's and con's of moving all our stuff now and leaving the house empty vs taking only the bare necessities now. My husbands company will pay to pack us up and move us but they will only do it once. My preference would be to move everything now - maybe leave pictures on the wall and the kitchen table that we werent taking with us anyway.

Anyone have an opinion on which option would help the house sell best? If it matters, the walls and carpet are all in good shape (house is 4 years old) so taking everything wouldnt leave ugly marks on the walls or floors.

 

[Pakey]

We bought a rental property last year and all of the homes we looked at were foreclosures and were all empty.

The shows on HGTV that deal with home selling unanimously say it's better to have furniture in them when selling.

 

[golfgal]

For me it doesn't make a difference either way because we have done this enough to be able to look past things but I know a lot of people that like to see it empty. The biggest draw back to it being empty is people already know you moved and will probably lowball you more then they would if your stuff is still there.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

OK....

If you sell it empty, it is going to show every ding, painting problems, and imperfections including flooring. If you have dings in the floor after you move everything out now you have a problem. Flooring is a big deal.

How is the house shape? That is the key here.

You will need to paint the whole thing in neutral to get a quicker sale. And this can be an advantage. People do like a fresh coat of paint.

The advantage to minimizing the house to "display look" is that you it is more appealing and when properly staged, you can really have the buyers "see" their stuff in that house. And it looks better, more like "home".

An empty house can be good or bad depending on the shape of the house.

Oh and price range matters. Lower priced homes are probably not as much as a concern as something that is in the 300's and up. Your competition will always look better than you.

 

[taylor3297]

I would rathe see an empty house instead a house that has been staged. When I go into a home that has been staged, it doesn't feel like the people who live in their house really enjoy living in their house. It is more a show place than a home.

I know I am in the minority with that view but I am just sharing my opinion.

 

[Liberty Belle]

OK....

If you sell it empty, it is going to show every ding, painting problems, and imperfections including flooring. If you have dings in the floor after you move everything out now you have a problem. Flooring is a big deal.

How is the house shape? That is the key here.

You will need to paint the whole thing in neutral to get a quicker sale. And this can be an advantage. People do like a fresh coat of paint.

The advantage to minimizing the house to "display look" is that you it is more appealing and when properly staged, you can really have the buyers "see" their stuff in that house. And it looks better, more like "home".

An empty house can be good or bad depending on the shape of the house.

I agree. And, depending on the taste of the homeowner. If the things are outdated, or (and I'm sure this isn't the case in your home) cheap and tacky, it's better to be empty.

And, I also agree that a fresh coat of paint does wonders!

 

[bfeller]

We have bought and sold many houses (7) and there are pros and cons about furniture in a house in my opinion. I have found it nice to see a house with some furniture in it so I can get an idea size of bed in room and couch size in living room and/or great room. With that said, I don't like looking at a house that shares too much of the owner's personality. So if you could remove your personality (not saying you have a bad one) and just lightly decorate very neutral it does help. We have bought empty houses and I had to use my imagination for furniture placement.

Also, you should check with your homeowners policy before you empty your old house and move out. Some mortgages state that the property is to be your principal residence and would balk at any type of claim on an empty house. So check it out. We had this situation happen when we got transferred years ago. We wanted to move as a family to new location and put furniture in storage but it was a no go because of mortgage/insurance.

Hope your home sells fast and good luck on your next interview

 

[lecach]

How is the house shape? That is the key here.

You will need to paint the whole thing in neutral to get a quicker sale. And this can be an advantage. People do like a fresh coat of paint.
.

House is in great shape. People are surprised we have a child because the walls look perfect and there are no stains in the carpet. The wood floor in the entry way and dining area looks new. The only issue is the vinyl kitchen floor which has a stain from a bad reaction between the vinyl and the glue that was used. This will be an issue regardless and is right in front of the pantry and not hidden. We fully expect whomever buys it to ask for a flooring allowance.

Also, the house is still the builders beige so it's neutral already.

 

[hopemax]

I would rathe see an empty house instead a house that has been staged.

Me too. I feel with a house, with a lot of stuff in it, that I can't really see the condition of the house. Is there a messed up wall behind that big dresser? Is there a huge carpet stain under that desk, etc.

But I don't have problems visualizing furniture placement. I know on the HGTV shows, they say you should show off the functionality of your spaces. So you can show how you can fit a queen bed in that room, or that small room is large enough for the furniture that a child might have, etc.

Also, with an empty house, I KNOW there will be no problems with being able to move in. My parents first house...the seller had family renting the house. When my parents closed, had the keys they went over there, and the people hadn't moved out!

 

[Disney Doll]

When we were house-hunting, it didn't matter to me whether the house had furniture in it or not.

 

[clutter]

We have bought and sold many houses (7) and there are pros and cons about furniture in a house in my opinion. I have found it nice to see a house with some furniture in it so I can get an idea size of bed in room and couch size in living room and/or great room. With that said, I don't like looking at a house that shares too much of the owner's personality. So if you could remove your personality (not saying you have a bad one) and just lightly decorate very neutral it does help. We have bought empty houses and I had to use my imagination for furniture placement.

Also, you should check with your homeowners policy before you empty your old house and move out. Some mortgages state that the property is to be your principal residence and would balk at any type of claim on an empty house. So check it out. We had this situation happen when we got transferred years ago. We wanted to move as a family to new location and put furniture in storage but it was a no go because of mortgage/insurance.

Hope your home sells fast and good luck on your next interview

I'm in total agreement.

Seriously, I think you could consider leaving it partly furnished. Leave a bed and dresser in one room if you can live without it. Maybe a couch in the LR or Fam Room. I just did that. I bought a house and moved, then put my house on the market. I left my living room and dining room furniture and a few wall pics. Just the basics. The LR/DR was huge with cathedral ceilings and would have looked funky if it was empty. I left some pics on the walls (nothing personal) in the rest of the main floor and emptied out the upstairs (small bedrooms and bathrooms, so they looked bigger). Touched up any paint that wasn't repainted. Sold in 3 1/2 weeks. The additional moving cost was not that much and well worth it.

Good luck with the interview.

p.s. I would't wait for the request for the floor credit. Go to your local flooring store and see what they have that you can replace it. There is one store by me that keeps certain neutrals in stock. They can replace carpet immediately, and more importantly, cheaply, if you pick one of the two stock carpets. I'll bet they have it in vinyl, too. Ask around or spend some time calling some floor places. If you know roughly how much you'll need (usually comes in 12 ft widths, so measure the length, multiply by 12 and that's the rough square footage you'll need) you can call a dozen flooring places asking if they can do something in neutral with this much square footage. Someone may jump on it.

 

[C.Ann]

I much prefer empty.. Too easy to hide flaws - some of which could be serious - if the house is full of furniture and such..

 

[LilyWDW]

Here's the thing...

No matter which one you pick, you will lose buyers because they prefer the other one. The big keys are to have everything pretty neutral and to clean out the clutter. If you keep it furnished, reduce the number of pieces in some rooms as too much furniture can make the place look smaller.

Good luck.

 

[tvguy]

A brochure I got from the National Association of Realtors says it's best to have furniture.
They also suggest the seller NOT be home (which is odd because almost all of the 30 houses we looked at by appointment had the owners home).
They also suggest the home owner bake something just before the appointment so the house smells good!

 

[JessicaR]

My preference is to see the space empty and envision my things in it. I never liked seeing a house with all its furnishings because I have a hard time looking beyond that.

 

[java]

Instead of assuming a flooring allowance I would fix it now. A minor problem like that can turn people off right away. jmho
Oh and I vote leave furniture for now.

 

[Bethenny]

It's really going to depend on the person looking at the house. Some people can't place their furniture in their heads without some sort of guide. Others are better at visualization. We looked at both scenarios and trust me, whether or not there was furniture had absolutely NO bearing on how much we liked the house. There were so many other factors involved.

Even if you move out and stage the house, people still know if you're living there or not. So the issue of low-balling is moot. Besides, people have the right to low-ball, it won't matter if they think you're desperate or not.

I will say that I did take notice if a house already had window treatments (even if just wood blinds). I didn't want to have to go out and buy window coverings right away.

Good luck!!!

ETA: we were going back and forth between offering a flooring credit or not. We decided to go ahead and replace the carpet. It was a huge PITA, but worth it in the end. Besides, it was about $1000 less than what we were planning on offering for the credit.

 

[golfgal]

Instead of assuming a flooring allowance I would fix it now. A minor problem like that can turn people off right away. jmho
Oh and I vote leave furniture for now.

I agree-a lot of people don't want to bother with fixing things. There are some really cool vinyl floors that look like tile now too. I have a friend that has some in her kitchen and I had to touch the floor to see if it was real or not.

 

[penn19]

House is in great shape. People are surprised we have a child because the walls look perfect and there are no stains in the carpet. The wood floor in the entry way and dining area looks new. The only issue is the vinyl kitchen floor which has a stain from a bad reaction between the vinyl and the glue that was used. This will be an issue regardless and is right in front of the pantry and not hidden. We fully expect whomever buys it to ask for a flooring allowance.

Also, the house is still the builders beige so it's neutral already.

I would rather see empty. I can't see past peoples clutter (not that you have clutter!).

I just have to tell you that your MIL rocks if she got your kid bacon for Christmas!!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I will say I am another one to say to fix the kitchen floor. The thing is that you will have buyers that DO NOT want to mess with it.

Also it gives the buyer the impression that "maybe there are other things that need repair".

In addition when we look at homes we name them by their imperfections as a memory jog, and we would name your house "stained kitchen floor house". It is really not the name you want people to go away with when they see your house.

Put in a cheap vinyl and be done.