Empty or staged house

jaylockwood1978

Hi all,

I'm selling my property that I've currently been letting out on an unfurnished basis so it's going to be unfurnished when it goes on the market. After great advice previously, I'll redecorate throughout and put new flooring and update the the bathroom but should I beg/borrow furniture to make it look more homely for viewings.
Might help hide some imperfections and show that the two bedrooms are actually both doubles!
If I'm staging the house does it need to be done fully, or would just putting a double in each bedroom be ok and maybe a sofa and table in the living room?
Also should I go to the expense of fitting curtains or blinds? The tenant fitted her own blinds and not sure she'll be taking them with her. She replaced the awful ones I had previously which have now been binned.

Thank you :-)

Slinky

What is the housing market like in your area? Is stuff selling quickly or is it languishing? If it's a popular area, it'll sell whatever way you present it. If it's a slower area, a bit more effort may be required.

TBagpuss

Who do you think your main market is likely to be? f you are most likely to be selling to another landlord then staging is less likely to be important.

ancientofdays

If I came to look at it, I think I would rather see it unfurnished than with just a minimal amount if furniture. Staging is all very well but a few pieces of furniture can just look rather sad to me.

jaylockwood1978

Yeah that's what my initial thought was. Either stage it fully or not at all. One if the doubles is quite small so it's hard to imagine a bed in there until you see it though. I was the same when I bought the house. I'd imagine it'll be first time buyers. It's only a small house so not something you would upsize to.

rach_k

I would definitely put double beds in the bedrooms - I always find it hard to imagine how things will fit in a bedroom, particularly if it looks like it might be a squeeze. Maybe a (smaller) sofa in the living room to show the size there too, but I wouldn't bother with dining tables or anything like wardrobes, as long as everything is clean and bright.

getmore4less

if the blinds are good then it may be worth tying to keep them, as removal will leave make good work, even if it needs a gesture to the tenant.

Good clean neutral blank sheet is probably better than a collection of random furniture.

If there are similar/same properties that have been for sale a collection of references/or their photos that show the room in use, many will have researched them anyway so know what rooms can take.

empty rooms nothing hiding or make good work for a new owners where furniture&wall items have been removed.

Red-Squirrel_2

Definitely put double beds in. The first place I bought had an odd shaped bedroom and you would assume from looking at it that you couldn't fit a full sized double bed, I certainly did.

I got my tape measure out though and realised a king size would fit easily, it was a complete optical illusion! I got that flat for well under asking price and made a great profit on it 5 years later and I think the lack of a bed was a big contributing factor in it not attracting offers.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I would seek the advice of local agents who know the market. A decent floorplan with clear measurements in imperial and metric will help an unfurnished property.

Arranging the rental and moving of temporary bits of large furniture sounds like an immense hassle.

gwynlas

Staged definitely, have made up a bed from boxes and an old mattress before in order to show as double room. Gumtree can be your friend.