Selling house vacant?

[Swimbikerun]

Does anyone have an opinion on this? Dreading putting house on market as have three small children. Wondering whether we could move to new house (renovation due to complete end of April) and then put current house on market. We could leave furniture here and take the 'excess'. (clutter) out. Or should we just bite the bullet, store the clutter and market property now....

We were trying to sell and had to move before it was a done deal. Solicitor advised that we would struggle to sell once it was vacant or would have to settle for any offer as people feel able to be very cheeky because they know you need the sale by that stage.

Hadn't thought about that. Assumed that people would be pleased with no chain... I'm going to have to market it while living here aren't I? Can barely keep up with housework as it is. Don't suppose anyone would like to come on and tell me that it will be easier to sell without three children living in it?

I would put the house on the market asap - just store the clutter as you say - its is bit of a pain but so long as a house is clean people can look past toys and stuff - maybe invest in a cleaner for a few sessions? and also an empty house in my view is a bit of a worry

I bought an empty house last time. And we're buying a house that's not far off empty. Prefer it vastly as no chain. And I would have assumed more pricey due to avoiding a chain. I can't be the only person that feels that way, takes all sorts. Alternative is to let yours perhaps? It also depends how much you'd be willing to pay for the getting your dream house and a potentially easier chain. If your empty house dropped say £10k is that a price you're willing to pay? When making considerations for what we're doing, I decided ease was so important to me at the moment that I'd happily lose out a bit financially and effectively pay for that ease.

Our house was empty (save for a floor lamp) when we viewed and bought it.

Far easier to get a good look without any furniture. No guilt about opening every single cupboard when there's nobody living there.

Getting a cleaner in to help is a good suggestion msdeerheart, would make things a bit easier. Is the empty house a bit of a worry because it feels unloved or smells a bit weird do you think?

Alice- we are not in chain as already have next property, so wonder if showing empty would confirm this to people, or make them feel we were desperate to sell? We would rent it, but would rather sell so we could afford to finish new house.
Sorry have to o as have snouty baby...

my thoughts was just that having done it the costs of running two houses is high so the sooner you are on the market the shorter that time is - and that having an empty house there is always a risk of something like say a water leak which might not be found quickly -

You are right. I need to get my act together and get it on the maket. Sure it can't be as bad as I am imagining!

When i was first living with my now DH. He had a small 2 bed bungalow and we were renovating a family house. We needed to sell it and my two boys had lots of stuff as young children do. We used a storage unit to moveout excess furniture and had shelves nearthe front for lots of the boys toys. They each had a big box for stuff at the house and once or twice a week we went to the unit and swapped toys. It made them appreciate what they hadand really enjoy playing with the bits they chose.

DH and I often joke that we should pack up all their toys into the garage and go back to choosing, it kept the house easy to tidy and they put away their own.

We're in the process of selling ours empty. Three small children, two bedroom house - even with ruthless decluttering you still need beds and chests of drawers and that makes rooms look poky. Never mind the fact that our children at least could not keep the place tidy for more than five minutes.. and the logistics of taking them all out when there's a viewing and so on. So we moved into rented - we're eating into our savings with two properties but the hassle saved is priceless.

We had an offer on our place within a few days (SE London). However the survey is dragging on due to some sort of bank bureaucracy, so the agent still has it on the market three weeks later. I hear about another viewing every few days and each time I think how wonderful it is that we have to do precisely sod all and just wait for the phone to ring. The agent has the keys so we don't even have to let EPC/surveyors etc in - zero effort.

Never occurred to me that people might think we're anxious to sell and offer accordingly. We had a very good offer as it happened, although that was a surprise to us and the agent but that was nothing to do with it being empty. When we bought the place it was empty and if anything I think we assumed that the sellers would actually be in less of a hurry to sell because they were already settled somewhere else. So people can think all sorts!

Having said that if you already have another house, it probably is better to get it on sooner rather than later! Maybe pop it on, get on with moving, then ask the agent if they'll retake photos etc once it's empty?

I sold mine empty. It sold within 3 weeks 5k under asking. Much, much easier than the stress of selling whilst in situ.

Well, feel a lot better. Will try and sell now. Then if not happening will move out. Just want it to be presented in the best way, and quite honestly I struggle to keep on top of things at home as well as the renovation project. Maybe once. Have taken some stuff out I will make my life easier. Thanks or all the replies, was driving myself and husband mad with the indecision.

We sold our last house vacant. We had the rooms repainted to freshen up the house and had the garden tidied up. We accepted an offer within a month. I think that it's easier to sell - obviously no chain and you can see the space. When we were viewing houses to buy, (whilst in rented - having already sold) chain sales would deter us slightly - having endured a short chain sale which took a protracted 9 months until completion.