Selling an Empty House

SeasideSally

We're about to put our house on the market, and I'm after some advice about viewings.

We're moving into rented accommodation while we sell - locally at first and then two hours away - while we look for somewhere to buy. So, our house will be empty when it's on the market.

The house doesn't have central heating. It's a small cottage with a wood-burning stove (which is what we've used while living here), and we've had the odd free-standing electric heater on upstairs in bitterly cold weather. Obviously, we can't run the wood-burning stove when we're not living here. As we're moving into the colder months now, is a cold house off-putting to viewers?

Is it worth leaving the little electric heaters for the estate agent to turn on? Or will that highlight the absence of central heating? The cottage gets very toasty when the stove is on, but viewers would just see dinky electric heaters and they may think they'll freeze to death. I don't think the agent will agree to get on his knees to start a fire, and I'd worry about him burning the house down.

Is it best to turn the water off (in case of leaks when we're not here) or leave it on (in case someone tries the taps to see if they work)? Does anyone try the taps?

Is it worth getting someone to come around and tidy the garden regularly when we move away? Nothing much will be growing by the time we do, but there will be leaves to sweep up and that sort of thing. Is that something to be concerned about for viewings in an empty house?

Is there anything anyone can do to make a completely empty house look more attractive? It's in really good condition, as we've had a lot of work done over the years and kept up the maintenance, but it will just be an empty shell.

Not about viewings, but about the selling process and planning ahead. Do we need to leave a ladder here when we go, for any surveyor to get into the loft, or do they bring their own? Do we need to be here for that?

All help gratefully received, as I am terrified of all this and haven't even signed up an estate agent yet.:sad:

Linton

You must tell your insurer that the house is unoccupied and empty. They will have specific requirements regarding turning off water/gas/electricity and regular inspections and may want to charge extra. I think you should turn the services off anyway as the consequences of not doing so could be disastrous. Dont forget to put warning labels on the toilets! Viewers will not be surprised if the lights and taps dont work.

SmashedAvacado

when you live locally, leave everything on and come and turn on the heating a couple of hours before viewings.

when living further away, ask if the agents can do this for you

it will make a difference

trailingspouse

Yes, it will be cold - but people will be able to see that there's a wood-burning stove. Also, they'll be wearing their outdoor coats etc when they're viewing, so may well not even notice that the house is cold. I really wouldn't waste energy worrying about this.



Personally, I prefer to see a house empty - it's sometimes hard to see past a) the wall totally covered in elephant pictures or b) the bath full of dirty clothes or c) the room you can't go into because her teenage daughter is asleep and can't be disturbed (at 2 in the afternoon)... Yup, all true.



An electric heater on a timer might be a good idea, just to keep the air moving and stop the house starting to smell a bit fusty. Leaving the vents open on the double glazing (if you have double glazing with vents) might also help.


If you're only moving a couple of hours away, you could pop back say once a month just to check on the place, pick up the junk mail etc.

SmashedAvacado

We paid an agent to pop into our house when we lived abroad. it cost about £20 a visit and helped appease the insurers. To get top money for your property, you need to present it as well as possible. Some people will accept that it is not occupied but others will see you as more in need of a sale. Can you not dress it lightly to show how the rooms work.

AdrianC

SeasideSally wrote: »

Or will that highlight the absence of central heating? The cottage gets very toasty when the stove is on, but viewers would just see dinky electric heaters and they may think they'll freeze to death.

The last thing you want is for putative buyers to be misled into thinking something's there that isn't, no matter how daft they'd have to be to not notice the lack of central heating - because that'll just lead to a high risk of pulling out or knocking an offer back in the future.


People who are seriously looking at rural cottages aren't (all) daft. Many of them are well aware of the realities of wood stoves. I bet a rural agent has lit more in his time than you have...

SeasideSally

Linton wrote: »

You must tell your insurer that the house is unoccupied and empty. They will have specific requirements regarding turning off water/gas/electricity and regular inspections and may want to charge extra. I think you should turn the services off anyway as the consequences of not doing so could be disastrous. Dont forget to put warning labels on the toilets! Viewers will not be surprised if the lights and taps dont work.

I hadn't even thought about the insurance company! Yes, of course, they'll want the water off or for it to be checked every fortnight. Warning signs on the toilet... In case they explode?

AdrianC

SeasideSally wrote: »

Warning signs on the toilet... In case they explode?

In case a viewer uses them, finds they don't flush, then "forgets" to tell the agent...

SeasideSally

AdrianC wrote: »

The last thing you want is for putative buyers to be misled into thinking something's there that isn't, no matter how daft they'd have to be to not notice the lack of central heating - because that'll just lead to a high risk of pulling out or knocking an offer back in the future.

Oh heavens, no, I don't want them to not notice at all. I just don't want the absence of it to be the only thing they notice. That, and their little blue hands.

SeasideSally

AdrianC wrote: »

In case a viewer uses them, finds they don't flush, then "forgets" to tell the agent...

:shocked: People do that?! I'll definitely put up signs. There would be no toilet roll. Oh... no, I'm not going there.

SeasideSally

SmashedAvacado wrote: »

We paid an agent to pop into our house when we lived abroad. it cost about £20 a visit and helped appease the insurers. To get top money for your property, you need to present it as well as possible. Some people will accept that it is not occupied but others will see you as more in need of a sale. Can you not dress it lightly to show how the rooms work.

I hadn't thought about paying someone. That's definitely something to consider. Aside from anything else, it would put our minds at rest when we're a couple of hours away.

Dressing the house lightly isn't really an option. We'll be taking everything with us. Mind you, that might be a good thing, considering our eclectic, ornaments on every surface, Tudor oak method of decoration.