Should I furnish my empty house for selling?
Should I furnish my empty house for selling is a common dilemma faced by homeowners, landlords, property developers and anybody looking to sell a property.
A quick straw poll of our photographers gives a resounding YES! We all believe that furniture makes a massive difference to how a property feels and subsequently its saleability and the price achieved. Let us explain why you should furnish your empty house before selling.
1. Spatial awareness doesn’t come naturally to most of us
However good we think we are at imaging things in a space, it’s really really difficult to do it accurately by imagination alone. That’s why loads of places suggest making sofas and beds out of cardboard boxes and paper to give you an idea of how they will work in a room before you buy them.
2. It’s not how we live
Most people don’t live in completely empty houses with nothing in them. So straight away it’s an unnatural environment for anyone viewing the home.
3. It makes it more difficult for us to imagine living there
We all like to imagine ourselves living in a house with all our things before we buy it. But it’s a lot harder for us to imagine our dining table when there’s none there to start with. Or our bed, or sofa, or wardrobe, or coffee table…(you get the idea)
4. It’s harder to tell how a room should (or could) be used
We all know a master bedroom needs a bed, some bedside tables, a couple of lamps and a wardrobe but where do they go and how does the room work with them in? And what about bedroom 3, is it big enough to fit a double bed or is it only really usable as a study? Without the furniture we just don’t really know. Sure we could bring a tape measure and mock up a double bed in the space in two dimensions but even then it’s hard to tell how much space it takes up in three dimensions and how the room feels with it in.
5. It’s nearly impossible to tell how large open plan spaces could be used
By their very nature, open plan spaces tend to be flexible and this creates real problems when working out how to use them. This is extended to the photographs and makes the spaces really difficult to explain undoubtedly leading to people ruling it out before even making a viewing.
6. Hardly anyone falls in love with an empty home
If you want to maximise interest and achieve the best sale price then you want people to fall in love with your home. (Nice) furniture and accessories play a key role in stirring up these emotions in viewers.
7. It can help to distract buyers from small problems
A sofa isn’t going to stop a buyer from noticing a hole in the ceiling, but it may just stop them from thinking the carpet is looking a bit tatty and the plastering isn’t very good on that wall. It’s pretty simple really. If your house is empty you’d better make sure that it is absolutely immaculate. With nothing to distract them, buyers will be looking at the quality and condition of flooring, paintwork, plug sockets, skirtings, doors etc. A house is never subject to more scrutiny than when it is empty.
8. It’s difficult to sell the lifestyle
An empty house is an empty house. It’s much more difficult to add value by selling a dream lifestyle when the house itself is lifeless.
9. It just looks better
A beautifully furnished home looks better than an unfurnished house. It looks better in the photographs and it looks better in the flesh. That’s going to attract more interest and stronger interest which both lead to faster sales for more money.
Hopefully you agree that the answer to the question ‘should I furnish my empty house for selling’ is a resounding yes. If you still aren’t convinced here are a few more photos from homes shot without furniture before returning to shoot them again once they have been furnished. If you are convinced on furniture in the photographs but aren't able to arrange to have them furnished, then consider taking a look at our virtual staging service.
