Many people think it’s cleaner and simpler to move out of their home before selling it while others find themselves doing it by default, because they have already found another home. But selling an empty home should be avoided where possible.
Few empty houses have charm. And few prospective buyers are good at visualizing a house’s charm potential. Empty houses usually take twice as long to sell and often sell for less. After all, people don’t buy houses they buy homes. In other words, when they walk into a property for sale, while their heads are looking at features and benefits, their hearts are engaged only when the atmosphere makes them feel at home. If their hearts aren’t engaged, the fact that the features of the property add up on paper rarely makes a sale.
Empty houses make it hard for people to do decide whether their furniture will work. Without chairs or sofas to indicate size and scale, how can they make the translation from their current living room to the one they are looking at? If there are, say, two two-seater sofas, buyers can quickly make comparisons with their own living room without resorting to time-consuming measurements when they are simply trying to form their early impressions. Uncertainty makes people lose interest, especially when the house isn’t sending out lifestyle vibes that engage their emotions.
Above all, when the house is empty, prospective buyers tend to focus on negative details. Chips or cracks are obvious when there are no paintings, furniture or window coverings to take buyers’ attention and camouflage imperfections.
If you have to move out, it’s worth contacting a home staging company (which are readily available these days) whose services include moving in furniture and accessories to make a house look like a home. The costs will be worth it in the long run, as the house will sell faster for a better price.