Selling my house - is having it empty that much better?

[corkboard]

@Caridwen

We once went to look at a really nice house but we were halfway through the door when the smell of cat urine hit us and my husband wouldn’t even walk through the house.

The same thing happened to me- I smelled it as soon as we walked in, but in my case it was a dog.

I looked at one house that was just disgusting- it was empty, but the owners clearly didn’t lift a finger to clean it at all when they moved out. Grime on the walls, grease on the stovetop, dustbunnies in every room, pubes on the bathroom sink- disgusting.

How do they expect a place to sell, looking like that?

[teela_brown]

@rackensack

Essentially, what you’re trying to do is give prospective buyers no reason to latch onto something in the decor as the reason they don’t like your house. Personal photos, knick-knacks, hobby items, etc. all are much more likely to harm than help, because buyers may find themselves reacting unfavorably toward those items without even realizing that’s what they’re reacting to – they just have a vague negative feeling about the place without being able to say why.

We once looked at a house that I suppose was very nice, but the owners were ultra-religious and had crosses and bible quotes hanging everywhere. They also had photographs of their bullet-headed, pale and eerie-looking children staring down at us from unexpected places. It really put us off from buying the house.

I sometimes still have nightmares about that place.

[koeeoaddi]

@PunditLisa

I cannot stress the importance of having freshly painted walls and unstained carpeting. When I house hunted years ago, I could not believe the number of people who put their most expensive asset on the market without spending a dime to spruce it up. We even toured one home that had bird shit all over the floor.

Would you sell a car without vacuuming it out and washing it? Then don’t sell your house without cleaning it from top to bottom. And put a fresh coat of paint on the walls.

The house we eventually bought was empty. It didn’t present a problem to us. Other homes that had crap crammed into every nook and cranny did.

House hunter, here. I agree with PunditLisa’s post. I like to tour an empty house, because it’s easier to visualize my own junk in it, problems aren’t hidden by stuff like area rugs and strategically placed furniture and it doesn’t feel so much like I am in someone else’s home (that is, it’s easier to imagine it as my own).

YMMV, but I do not like to tour heavily staged homes. I feel like I’m being manipulated – and in this declining market, a overly staged house has a whiff of desperation about it.

If you have to live in the house you’re selling, box up all the memorabilia, the clothes you’re not using and the other assorted crap. Just have it clean and pleasant. Leave the art up, and don’t box up the books and plants unless they’re taking over the place.

Good luck and Og speed. We call our next house “The Final Resting Place.” We just sold a house and we never want to have to sell another one.

[control-z]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I’ve already removed all personal photos and most of the clutter, but it’s still a smallish house with plenty of stuff in the closets, and my daughter has a “Barbie Room” in the spare bedroom that hasn’t been cleaned up yet.

My house isn’t in bad shape at all, and all the rooms have off-white carpets and walls (I’m so sick of keeping white carpets clean, my new house is all hardwood floors…)

Based on what I’m reading I might repaint everything except the bedroom and bathroom that I already repainted. I don’t smoke and no pets, so there shouldn’t be any objectionable odors.

[Cat_Whisperer]

@McNew

<snip>I looked at one house that was just disgusting- it was empty, but the owners clearly didn’t lift a finger to clean it at all when they moved out. Grime on the walls, grease on the stovetop, dustbunnies in every room, pubes on the bathroom sink- disgusting.

How do they expect a place to sell, looking like that?

I looked at a house once that had renters in it - same deal - filthy from top to bottom, and the renters were there while I was looking at it - lounging on the grimy couch in a grimy way. I actually offered on that place, but way under the asking price due to the condition it was in, and the owner came back with his asking price - not negotiating at all. I wonder if he knew the condition his tenants had it in, or just didn’t care.

[kiz]

The house next door has been on the market since last summer. Never mind that the owners – who’ve since moved to a distant suburb – did everything feasible to make it presentable. New roof, new paint, new windows, new heating system, nary a knicknack or furniture anywhere…no nibbles. They’ve lowered the price 3 times since August, and still no takers.

Hubby and I know the owners, and they graciously let us see the house upon completion. We didn’t notice any major defects. We could easily picture moving our stuff in there. The deal breaker for us would be the lack of yard space. The house is on a corner lot and professionally landscaped. What little yard there is is smaller than a postage stamp.

In other words, it may not be the house itself as it is the surroundings.

[Nava]

@robby

I’ve always heard that what’s best is for the house to have furniture in it, but there should be no clutter. Model homes, for instance, generally are furnished.

Full closets are not good. Potential buyers will see this as “not enough closet space.”

People won’t open furniture that’s not being sold with the house, but they will open those which are: kitchen cupboards, built-in closets, the fridge if it stays.

Many people have problems visualizing volumes, that’s why it’s good to have some furniture. It shold be as little as possible: again, clutter gives the impression of “small”, but there should be a sofa set, a coffee table, beds.

The visualization problem is more frequent in women; SiL is one of those. She can’t read maps, including floor plans, and she can’t guess the size of an empty room. She visited my house once. One of the rooms was still completely empty. She mentioned that “your living room is so large! A pity that third bedroom is so small” My brother looks at her and says, “excuse me, how big did you think it was?” “Oh, about half the size of the other small one” Brother looks at me, I say “exact same size. And my living room is exactly as big as yours, even the same shape. I just happen to have a lot of space in the middle rather than a huge table and a relatively thin sofa instead of a fat one.”

[Cat_Whisperer]

@kiz

<snip>In other words, it may not be the house itself as it is the surroundings.

You mean people might be turned off by the huge power pole and guy wires in our backyard?! Damn! (I’ve started calling it our “power pole feature.”)

[Molly_Polly]

You don’t want the house exactly empty. I rent apartments and the question everyone has is “will my queen size bed fit in here”
So I got a free queen size mattress from one donated to the Salvation Army that was too ripped for them to resell. Propped it on milk cartons and threw a sheet and pillow over it.
Now nobody asks that anymore.
I also put a couple of slim chairs and a potted plant in the corners of the empty living room so they have some clue how big it is. You can’t judge a blank wall unless you see something of a familiar size next to it.