Selling an empty house

[cjnix29]

Anyone have any advice on this? We are relocating for DH's job, and have found a new house. We have been debating whether I will stay in the old til it sells, or packing it all up and moving to the new. But I have heard bad things about selling an empty house....you get less money, takes longer, etc. Anyone successfully done this?

 

[twinsplusone]

That is how we sold our house. We closed on the new house and stayed in the old for about 6 weeks. The old house didn't sell for 4 months. I don't think it had anything to do with it being empty. Just the market at the time. We bought both of our houses when they were empty. First one due to a divorce, second one due to owner moving into a nursing home. Although, I've heard the same thing about houses selling better not empty. Didn't bother me buying an empty house. I personally liked it. I wasn't distracted by what was in the house.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

It took us 7 months to sell our empty house, but we were actually quicker than many houses in our neighborhood. Our neighbor around the corner took over a year and they were living in it. It is really going to depend on the price you are asking. An empty house is move in ready which is also a good thing! Our buyers needed to get a contract on a house that day and needed to move in the house within a month!

 

[ashleyd725@hotmail.c]

Four years ago when we were almost all of the houses still had people living in it and then the one we actually bought was empty, and we bought it the day it was listed
I liked looking at the empty house better just gave me a feel that I could see the actual house and not see furniture that could be hiding stains on the floors nor anything crazy like that...
That kinda sounds weird now! haha
But I def liked looking at the empty houses the best!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

We sold our house empty and it took 90 days.
What I would do is use some glad plug in's to keep the house smelling nice. They say scents such as baked cookies or pies in the home can influence a buyer. Try the new glade holiday scents. Just don't over do it. One plug in per floor would be fine.
Not sure where you are but one important thing to remember!!! Now that the cold weather is here it is important to keep the furance on to avoid frozen pipes. I would set the furance on a low temp. I would rather pay to heat the empty house than pay a plumber to make a repair. Not to mention the repair cost to all the other things the water could damage such as the floors, wall, ceilings, ect.

 

[clutter]

I purchased an empty house the weekend it came on the market, and sold an empty one within 30 days.

I (personally) think an empty house shows better than a furnished one. Definately better than an over-furnished one. If you have all of the paint colors, get some more, if needed, and run a quick roller over the walls. Voila! It looks fresh. I did it this summer, so I kept my lawn service at the old house. It was close by, so I could go and check on it. I also left my LR/DR furniture behind because those rooms had cathedral ceilings and would have looked barren without some furniture in it.

As for selling for less, I've never heard that one. I got in a bidding war for the house I bought, empty. If a house is not well furnished, it could sell for less because it sits so long. One house I looked at sold much later and for much less than it should have because it was so heavily furnished you couldn't see it!

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I'll let you know! My empty house has been on the market a couple of weeks! I'm hoping it sells fairly quickly!

 

[Darcy03231]

We bought an empty house, after looking at 100s of houses. It was the only one that was empty! I have to admit I was put off by some of the decor/furnishings in some of the other homes we looked at, so it was hard for me to see the "bones" of the house. I loved the ours from the moment I stepped in the front door, even though it was empty.

 

[rsschneck]

We were in your situation 2 years ago right when the housing market crashed in our area. Hubby relocated with his company. He moved and DD and I stayed for 4 months while trying to sell the house. Finally I just said we were ready to move and within 30 days we had an offer and closed. Our house was spotless and I had removed a lot of our personal photos etc. during the house selling process. We have a lot of Disney artwork and such and I think people could not see beyond our belongings to picture themselves in our house. Our home looked better and sold very quickly once it was empty. The other plus side to an empty house is that a buyer can really see everything (paint, carpets, hardwood floors, etc.) and it is move in ready with a fast closing timeframe.

Good Luck!

 

[ceecee]

We sold our empty house in 3 weeks. Both of the houses we have bought were also empty. Personally, I didn't like going through houses that had people's stuff in it, especially photos! Call me strange but it was like it couldn't be our house since it already belonged to someone else. We also looked at staged houses, which were obviously staged.

 

[cjnix29]

Thanks for all the advice! Our house is priced great, about 10,000 less than anything in the neighborhood. It's a great house, we can sell for less because we bought it bank owned and got a steal. Plus our relo company has offered to pay buyers closing costs! I just can't take it anymore! We have painted in the last year, new carpet, etc. So I think I will just make sure everything is sparkly clean. I will admit I think an empty house actually makes rooms look smaller, but the bedrooms in our house are huge, so that probably won't be a problem. I'm debating leaving small things to "pseudo stage" the house. We will be about 5 hours away, so we won't be able to check on the house often, but my parents can come over every couple of weeks if necessary, they are closer. We will have to get someone for snow removal if it doesn't sell before it starts falling, but hopefully we won't have to worry about that!

 

[SPBendersky]

Look at it logicaly. If you were buying a house that was empty you might offer a lower price due to the perception that the owners needs to cashout as soon as possible because they are sitting on more than one house. Remember in this market people are gong to offer the bare minimum. On the other hand an empty house is easy to show clean, and people can imagine living there better. It also is great for people who need to or want to close quickly. No waiting for people to move out and delayed closing. Think how you need to address it and then drive the road to achieve the best solution with the time frame you have.

 

[lecach]

Our house has been on the market since July 2. It was furnished until September 27 when we move out. We had new kitchen floors put in, had the holes in the walls spackled and painted. It looks great. We even lowered the price. It's still for sale. I dont think empty has made much of a difference either way.

 

[C.Ann]

Mine was empty.. Listed Thanksgiving weekend - accepted an offer January 20th..(A few years ago..)

That was pretty darn fast - considering the house was definitely on the small side, on a dead-end road at the bottom of a very steep hill, and railroad tracks just beyond the end of my back yard.. My lot was pretty small there too..

If people are interested, they'll make an offer - empty or occupied.. Personally, when I look at houses, I prefer that they are empty.. Makes it easier to visualize how furnishings will fit and owners aren't able to hide problem areas and defects by placing furniture and/or appliances in front of it..

Good luck with whatever you decide - and good luck with the move!..

 

[cjnix29]

Thanks for all the advice. We are definitely just going to let it be empty. The stress of being apart, having to be ready for a showing on a moment's notice, worry about getting the pets out....yuck! too much! Plus, with DH coming home each weekend (he has already started his new job), and temporary housing we are paying, it doesn't make much sense to stay. Fortunately, with our relocation package, if the house doesn't sell by the end of February, our company will buy it. So there is an end in sight. Atleast now, I am not as concerned with leaving it empty. It's in good shape, only seven years old, and has new paint, carpet, appliances, new patio...etc. Plus, the rooms are good sized, even empty, so there is little chance people will think they are smaller. So if someone low balls us, we don't have to take it, as we know we have a guaranteed buyout. At the price we are at, we are pretty low to begin with, as mentioned, lower by far than anything else in our subdivision....and with 4 BR, 2.5 baths, it's a big house for the money. So....we'll keep our fingers crossed, but lessen the stress by moving away. We will just have to arrange for snow removal, if it gets to that, and keep the utilities on. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[smokeyblue]

We sold our house empty and it took 90 days.
What I would do is use some glad plug in's to keep the house smelling nice. They say scents such as baked cookies or pies in the home can influence a buyer. Try the new glade holiday scents. Just don't over do it. One plug in per floor would be fine.
Not sure where you are but one important thing to remember!!! Now that the cold weather is here it is important to keep the furance on to avoid frozen pipes. I would set the furance on a low temp. I would rather pay to heat the empty house than pay a plumber to make a repair. Not to mention the repair cost to all the other things the water could damage such as the floors, wall, ceilings, ect.

Using scents is a terrible idea. We looked at a house and they had an apple spice candle burning. My dad could hardly breathe and I got severely nauseated. We were there for about 3 minutes and left.

 

[disykat]

I agree about the scents. We pretty much turned around and walked out of any house with strong scents. I think what you want is for them NOT to notice odors - no pets, no stale air, but maybe anything mildly pleasant - emphasis on the mild. In general, candles, plug ins, etc. are NOT mild, they are very strong.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

Anyone have any advice on this? We are relocating for DH's job, and have found a new house. We have been debating whether I will stay in the old til it sells, or packing it all up and moving to the new. But I have heard bad things about selling an empty house....you get less money, takes longer, etc. Anyone successfully done this?

I think the most important thing about selling a house is to make sure that it's clean, doesn't smell (due to animals, smokers, etc., and all needed repairs are done.

The most important thing of all is that it's priced right for the market.

(People watch too much HGTV...)

 

[shortbun]

We sold our empty house in 12 days. That was this past April and we sold it for asking price. It was immaculate and had kitchen and bathroom updates so the buyers new they were getting unused space. One thing-we had theives break in and steal the copper plumbing right after the closing. They took the a/c apart and shut off the water to steal the rest of it. Our homeowners paid but it was a huge hassle when the new owners walked in the next day and had no water.

 

[snowmanlover]

(People watch too much HGTV...)

DH told me, I watch too much HGTV when I insisted we remove the wallpaper from the kitchen since we are getting ready to put our home on the market in the Spring!