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Selling an empty property

Covering Market, Trends, and Practical (but see LEMON-AID for Building & DIY)
MyNameIsUrl
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Selling an empty property

#114200

Postby MyNameIsUrl » January 30th, 2018, 10:14 am

Is it worth getting furniture into an empty property to enhance its appeal in agent's photos and on viewings?

Specifically on a 150k 2-bed semi. Companies who 'dress' properties seem to charge from about 3k, which may be more obviously worthwhile on a more upmarket property.

Some new furniture would need to be bought, and a van hired, though the bits and pieces such as pictures could be borrowed.

Does it make a worthwhile difference to speed of sale or price obtained?

gryffron
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Re: Selling an empty property

#114226

Postby gryffron » January 30th, 2018, 12:25 pm

In my (completely uninformed) opinion, it is better to view a house empty. The rooms looks bigger and less cluttered. And it is easier to visualise how your own furniture would fit in.

AIUI developers deliberately put "shrunken" furniture to make rooms look bigger. :o

Gryff

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Re: Selling an empty property

#114231

Postby Dod101 » January 30th, 2018, 12:50 pm

Better empty than try to sell with grotty stuff in it. That simply puts most buyers off. OTOH a 'well dressed' house will attract people to view which is fundamentally what you want. We once sold a tiny flat in Edinburgh in definitely a secondary location and it sold well and quickly, I am sure because my wife used her imagination and put in some nice lamps and bedding. Fortunately we had plenty to spare!

In my experience potential buyers do not have much imagination although if the buyer is a BTL merchant he will not care and will probably put in a low bid anyway but if it is a traditional buyer to live in the property I think on the whole that I would say it is worthwhile furnishing it with plenty of decent lighting and soft furnishings.

Dod

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Re: Selling an empty property

#114312

Postby Nimrod103 » January 30th, 2018, 5:39 pm

gryffron wrote:In my (completely uninformed) opinion, it is better to view a house empty. The rooms looks bigger and less cluttered. And it is easier to visualise how your own furniture would fit in.

AIUI developers deliberately put "shrunken" furniture to make rooms look bigger. :o

Gryff


I would agree (again completely uninformed opinion), with the caveat that the decor should be clean and newish. Without furniture, the stains or wear patches on the carpet and walls are much more obivious, and will make the property seem more downmarket and unappreciated.

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Re: Selling an empty property

#116898

Postby Tempi » February 9th, 2018, 2:32 pm

gryffron wrote: The rooms looks bigger and less cluttered.


IMHO (having been working on some design and build of houses, although not a qualified architect), where a room has no furniture in it, the rooms often look small as there is nothing to give any scale to the room.

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Re: Selling an empty property

#128555

Postby brightncheerful » March 28th, 2018, 12:31 pm

Not a good idea, imo.

Buyer impression of the calibre/quality of the furniture might not be favourable and could deter buying the property from you.

The less a buyer knows about the seller the more the buyer will focus on the property's attributes!

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Re: Selling an empty property

#129419

Postby Wizard » April 2nd, 2018, 9:38 am

I will have a couple of properties to sell soon (one new build and one complete refurbishment) so find this an interesting point.

I am sure that there are some potential benefits to furnishing a property, particularly given that many surveyors caveat their reports saying they have not moved any furniture. In one case I know of a young couple that ended up buying a property with a significant problem, it was not spotted at the survey stage because the seller had piled up a lot of furniture in the offending area (they said that it was being stored there) and the surveyor made no effort to inspect the area where the furniture was. I have also viewed properties myself where sellers have clearly tried to use furnishings to disguise things they do not want sellers to see, nothing that subtle but things like big mirrors covering up cracks, furniture moved to sit in front of damp areas, etc.

If you put this rather questionable use of furnishings to one side, then they key benefit I see is not about showing how a room may be used but rather the more emotional response of the potential buyer. I think the key is for the people viewing to aspire to live in the property, to give the impression that everything will be great if they can just live in that home. I recall hearing about a women a couple of decades back who made a good living 'flipping' flats in Chelsea, she would buy run down properties and then sell them on immediately for a big profit. The only difference was that when she had them up for sale she had deposited a sprinkling of designer items in the flats. For all I know this is an apocryphal tale, but most of those stories are based on a grain of truth.

The question comes down to how much does it cost compared to any potential benefit.

Terry.

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Re: Selling an empty property

#129420

Postby Wizard » April 2nd, 2018, 9:39 am

MyNameIsUrl wrote:Is it worth getting furniture into an empty property to enhance its appeal in agent's photos and on viewings?

Specifically on a 150k 2-bed semi. Companies who 'dress' properties seem to charge from about 3k, which may be more obviously worthwhile on a more upmarket property.

Some new furniture would need to be bought, and a van hired, though the bits and pieces such as pictures could be borrowed.

Does it make a worthwhile difference to speed of sale or price obtained?

What did you do in the end? Did you get advice from your agent? Have you sold yet?

Terry.

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Re: Selling an empty property

#129492

Postby Lootman » April 2nd, 2018, 1:33 pm

The so-called "staging" of a property can enhance appeal and price, but I think it is only worthwhile for a higher-end property, and not for the average terraced or semi. A professional's view:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-it ... 2016-05-04

To do it professionally may cost a couple of thousand - you are effectively renting the furniture for a few weeks and paying for it to be delivered, set up and then removed. Buying cheap stuff yourself won't do the trick unless you have a really good eye for such things.


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