Staging an empty house - ideas please!

[Sharon in SC]

We hope to have our old house ready for the market by end of March. It will be empty and we cannot afford to rent furniture to try to sell it. Surely there are some creative ways to make an empty home look inviting?! Please share some ideas you've acquired either by having implemented them yourself or seen them implemented by others. I'm all ears!

[sassenach]

my only advice is to have it CLEAN. You can't hide anything when it's empty. Good luck,

[Vida Winter]

Strategically placed silk plants? A set of beautiful towels in the bathrooms, soap dishes with wonderful soaps. I would think that you could keep it to the minimum. I, personally, like to look at houses that are empty. The cleanliness is the key factor for me. I would make sure that everything is freshly aired and sparkling clean.

[StephanieZ]

Fresh paint goes a long way. White(s) are usually best for sale, although I love colors to live with. :)

 

The house we just bought was empty when we bought it.

 

It's 16 years old but I think they's put up a lot of NEW window treatments (neutrals: blinds upstairs and some lovely simple curtains downstairs) and had fresh paint everywhere -- although not all of it was JUST done, it all was recent enough and/or touched up enough to look brand new from first glance. The carpets and other flooring were likewise spotless although a couple years old. I think that fresh/clean look made a difference.

 

So, if you have time to do it, I'd paint as much as you can and make sure everything is spotless. Replace the carpet if it needs it. Of course, the house MUST smell completely clean.

[8filltheheart]

I am not sure. I do know that I think it was precisely b/c of how our house looked furnished that it sold so quickly. When the movers finished moving everything out, I walked around looking at how different it looked. It was just a plain house without the furnishings. The furniture in our living room made it shine.

 

Have you thought about maybe furnishing just the main living space? Perhaps seeing if you could find furniture at a yard sale? Maybe not move out just that room's furniture until it sells? Some people have zero imagination. The people that bought our house wanted to buy our furniture as well. (No way....I love my furniture! :) ) I would probably make the one room shine and place other small touches (like the towels, soaps, candles, etc that others suggested) strategically through the rest of the house.

[Jackie in AR]

I'm another one who prefers homes to be empty when I look at them. I can more easily imagine what my stuff is going to look like inside them. If you do some staging, make it very simple as others have mentioned.

 

I do want them to be sparkling clean.

[Claire]

I would recommend including a place where a couple and their realtor can sit down to write up a contract! This means 3 stools at a kitchen counter, or a small table and chairs. Whatever it is, make it as appealing as possible (centerpiece, curtains, whatever).

 

Here us a GardenWeb thread that discusses staging an empty house:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/realestate/msg1121113831165.html

 

and here is a page on how one realtor stages an empty house without bringing in a lot of furniture:

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Do-You-Stage-an-Empty-House?&id=828244

[Sweetpeach]

You can see everything, and that's what I love. No surprises.

 

My advice: fix the picture holes or any drywall problems by mudding, priming and touching up the paint.

 

Paint fresh any trim that looks sketchy, especially in high traffic areas.

 

Clean all light fixtures! Take them down, if you must, and really clean them.

 

Appliances, if they are being sold with the house, must be beyond clean.

 

No dust bunnies, no mismatching paint.

 

Leave hand soap,toilet paper and papertowel in the bathroom, for visitor emergencies.

 

Window dressings -- wash them. I hate walking into an empty house and smelling dusty drapery. Ugh. Dust your blinds, if you have them. I prefer an empty house to have no window dressings, unless they were custom for the house and look great. Get rid of cheapo blinds and fill the holes, repaint the window trim.

 

When there's nothing in the house, these little touches tell a buyer that you've gone above and beyond, you want to sell the house and you want it to be painless for them.

 

My two cents.

 

Tricia

[Sharon in SC]

I probably should have mentioned - we are painting the ENTIRE house (walls and trim), refinishing the hardwoods, and replacing all the carpet. It is at that point that I wonder what we can do to leave it "homey". I like the ideas of plants, towels/candles, etc. Leaving a room's furniture 'til it sells is not practical for us because we have to move everything out to make the painting and carpet replacement easier. I know that statistically homes sell better when furnished. I HAVE to believe that the intended buyers for this home will be visionaries and enjoy seeing it without my stuff so they can invision their stuff! :-)

[Sweetpeach]

I would recommend including a place where a couple and their realtor can sit down to write up a contract! This means 3 stools at a kitchen counter, or a small table and chairs. Whatever it is, make it as appealing as possible (centerpiece, curtains, whatever).

 

We've never, ever had a contract written up in the home we want to buy.

 

Not sure if I'd bother with a table - that's what a local coffee shop and an internet connection is for.

 

Good luck.

 

T

[JFSinIL]

just to give ideas how the room looks with, say, a bed and dresser, or a dining table, etc. Maybe get inflatable furniture - I saw on some HGTV show how an inflatable mattress covered with a bedspread looked exactly like a bed. A card table with a larger round or square bit of wood on top covered in a tablecloth - instant dining room table. Maybe rent just a few key bits from a rental place? Ask neighbors if they have furniture to temporarily "store"...???

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

We sold our house after moving. I agree with the bath towels in the bathroom. They help soften things up and make the house seem less echo-y. We had some nice black metal patio furniture. I put the table and two chairs in the dining room with a table cloth and simple centerpiece. I put other chairs here and there with maybe a blanket throw or throw pillow. In the kitchen I put a stack of really pretty cookbooks, a bowl of fruit, a herb topiary, and a decorative kitchen towel. I really don't think it takes much. I also would prefer looking at an empty, or almost empty house.

[Kathy in MD]

thing with a video is you don't need a lot of furniture to do it well. Just move the furniture from room to room :D

 

My friend couldn't sell an almost empty house. The realtor took what little furniture was left in the house and moved it around to make a video. It sold to someone moving in from out-of-town.

[Guest Lorna]

Fresh flowers and fresh fruit. We sold houses that when we bought them had been on the market for years, when we sold them they sold in weeks. I am convinced the difference was simply cleanliness and fresh flowers in each room and fresh fruit in the kitchen (choose aspirational exotic fruit, piles of lemons and limes). Be generous and luxurious. Don't skimp! It costs a bit but you certainly get your money back! You can also enjoy a healthy lifestyle with all that gorgeous fruit.