Preparing house for sale

dangerd

I'm preparing my house for sale and have cleared it of most of the furniture, painted it and put in some new flooring. It was looking bright and fresh until I put what little furniture I have left back in. The furniture is a bit dated and I feel the house looks far better and bigger with no furniture but the auctioneer thinks I should put the beds back in and the kitchen table and units to make it more homely. Any advice on this. I'm not convinced it looks better with the furniture I have and I cant afford to buy anything new.

I'd prefer to see furniture if viewing a house even if it wasn't great. It makes it much easier to judge the size of rooms etc particularly bedrooms which are much easier to judge with a bed and wardrobes rather than an open space.

dangerd

Thanks Terrell Chubby Microcomputer. Its a big enough house but I can see how that would make sense

Rew

Put the furniture in, dress it up nicely with what you have, there is a reason builders dress up show houses, it helps sell.

DavyD_83

Personally, I'd prefer it without furniture.

When viewing our house it was the completely empty; all furniture gone, carpets stripped out. Not saying you should go to this level, especially if you've just painted and floored. Some people like a blank canvas to stamp their own identity on.
I would have liked to have a bit of a foundation in place like you have, but unless coming furnished, I'd prefer if the furniture wasn't there

If not going to be keeping the furniture that is in it, I'd prefer not to be influenced/limited by the existing use of the space.
It's hard to imagine where you would like to put a couch in an empty room when there is a couch sitting there.

Pretty sure this is something you will get very mixed views on.
Also difficult to know what effect each level of decoration has on market value versus the cost to get there

HeidiHeidi

I agree with the other poster - went to see a place the other day and one bedroom was completely empty - was very hard to tell if a double bed would fill the room, or be a comfy fit.

You can cover beds/sofas and the like with nice throws or spreads if they're really tatty (I'm not saying your furniture is tatty!).

I definitely think that the benefits of having basic furniture there to give a sense of perspective outweighs the disadvantage of it not being spanking new or trendy.

dangerd

Its funny anyone I know who is looking say they prefer an empty clean bright house. I guess this might just be an individual thing.

denismc

When I was in Australia years ago I worked for a furniture rental company that rented to house sellers.
When people were selling their property they would remove all their own furniture and rent furniture for a couple of months while the house was for sale.
There are home staging companies here that offer a similar service, an interior designer will pick furniture that shows off your property. Once sale is agreed the furniture is returned to the rental company.
Maybe be worth a look if you are struggling to sell.

dangerd

Thats an interesting option denismc although by budget is blown already on renovations but I might be able to borrow furniture if its needed

seamus

It's always hard to say. If the house is in need of a lot of work, then I would always prefer to see it empty so I can what needs to be done and what can be done. When it's clear that stuff needs to be done, but there's furniture everywhere, you wonder what's being hidden behind the furniture.

But if the house is nice and clean it's much easier to get an idea of what it would feel like being lived in when you see furniture about the place.

So in short, if you're advertising it as "ready to move in" condition, I'd put the furniture in. If you're advertising it as "having a lot of potential", then leave it empty.

Showhouses in new estates will always be fully furnished.

Atlantic Dawn

Depends on the house if it's in a high demand area the less furniture in it the better, if it's in the middle of nowhere with little chance of sale then make an effort and make it look like a homely house.

TeaBagMania

Looks like this is going to be one of the glass half full \ half empty threads

A roommate I had ages ago was selling his house and I just happen to have a pot of potato soup cooking on the stove, everyone that looked at the house commented on the aroma of my potato soup, never really thought about it but it definitely added a warm homely feeling for people visiting

Just a thought

dangerd

Teabagmania I'll be throwing a loaf of bread or cupcakes in the oven so

TeaBagMania

Blueberry muffins are my fav

PhoenixParker

You don't need to go overboard, but as others have said some furniture helps to give people a better idea of room sizes.

A bed in each room, a kitchen table with chairs and a sofa with coffee table and 1 unit will give most people a good idea of what will fit in each room and help them to better picture their own furniture there.

Consider buying a few bits second hand if you your own stuff is really tatty. You can always resell them for pretty much the same price once the sale goes through. Alternatively a clean new bedsheet to cover a mattress, a decent table cloth and a throw with a few cushions will dress up what furniture you need.

Also make sure you have a decent floor plan with dimensions on it. Most people have some idea of what a "decent sized room" is versus something that's tight.

dangerd

Thanks PhoenixParker. The furniture I have left is not so much tatty but dated but I think I an borrow a few pieces. The house itself is a great size with loads of extra rooms that modern houses just don't have. I'm actually upset I have to sell but its just the wrong location

Zzippy

seamus wrote: »

Showhouses in new estates will always be fully furnished.

Beware that developers often use smaller furniture that is 3/4 the size of standard furniture, to make rooms appear larger. Went to view an apartment with someone years ago and he sat in a chair, I nearly had to crowbar him out of it as he got stuck!

dangerd

Are curtains considered fixtures and fittings? The auctioneer told me that if I put up curtains they are considered part of the sale of the house? Do you have to sell them?

HeidiHeidi

dangerd wrote: »

Are curtains considered fixtures and fittings? The auctioneer told me that if I put up curtains they are considered part of the sale of the house? Do you have to sell them?

You can or you needn't.

You just need to make it clear from the start what you want to take and what you will leave.

dangerd

Thanks HeidiHeidi. I'm going to borrow as much as I can to dress the place so making it part of the sale is not an option

HeidiHeidi

dangerd wrote: »

Thanks HeidiHeidi. I'm going to borrow as much as I can to dress the place so making it part of the sale is not an option

I'd be shopping around for a new estate agent if he's telling you things like if you put up curtains you have to sell them!! :eek:

dangerd

HeidiHeidi to be honest I'm not over the moon with any of the estate agent I've met. I put the house on the market four years ago and had a very negative experience with the auctioneer. I'm not convinced with this one either but everyone I talk to seems to have the same experience.

TeaBagMania

There should be an exclusions section in the contract for anything you want to take with you after the sale

Parchment

As a buyer - I think its good to have a minimal amount of furniture in the house, items that show what you used the room for. I hate seeing clutter when I view a house as its hard to see the room properly and judge the size.

Also clean! there is nothing more off putting than bad smells etc when viewing a house. A recent house we viewed smelled so strongly of sour milk we nearly ran out of the place!

Rew

TeaBagMania wrote: »

There should be an exclusions section in the contract for anything you want to take with you after the sale

Inclusions, vacant possession indicates that everything must be gone unless otherwise stated.

riclad

i Would have just the basic amount of furniture ,you want the rooms to look big , no clutter,
think do i need this ,
put away family photos, ornaments ,many have 1 picture, mirror on a wall.
Walls ,ceilings , painted in certain colours make the room look big.
Rooms full of tables, chairs, large sofa,s make the rooms, look small .Think
is there any old clothe,s ,books, furniture can give to a charity shop.
Theres a program on itvBe property brothers ,every day 7pm.
all about selling house,s ,it has good advice in it .
re presentation of rooms .
Even its a bit over the top .

The last thing you need to do is get more furniture ,unless its replace old
furniture thats there .
And its smaller ,more modern.
before a viewing ,put away books,newspapers ,laptops into a press .
basic advice every room, should be clean ,
windows cleaned .
doors cleaned . radiators cleaned .
bathroom,sinks cleaned ,

Cortina_MK_IV

Garden? We had conifers (?) maybe 5ft high just off the patio and the EA told us to cut them and clear the garden which we did. The back garden was big so it did open it up to show the length of the garden... Keep the front tidy too.