Selling an empty property

[ELNino]

Any tips on how to do this?

My tenant moved out and left the place in a state. Her deposit is going on restoring with deep cleans and nrw carpets not covered in dog piss.

But how do I shift the house? Negative equaty by about £20,000 and two mortgages is going to be tough (pre DH house)

Are there different considerations?

try to put the basics of furniture in? or just clean and tidy might have to do

I would put some furniture in if you can. It's really hard as a buyer to picture your furniture in a room. I think it will pay off for you

I sold my late dad's house after it had been refurbished. There wasn't a stick of furniture in there but it was really clean & the rooms looked spacious. The biggest pain was keeping the garden looking nice as that was a potential selling point. We just kept the grass mowed and tidied up the shrubs & bushes.

People can imagine their own furniture in much better if the 'canvas' is clear with nothing to distract.

I tried to sell an empty house for nearly a year with no luck. We moved back in, dressed it properly and got an offer within six weeks.

Cab you move in?

Not sure I agree with that Itchyandscratchy. We have viewed several empty properties and it is very hard to visualise.

We once viewed an empty property but on the wall in the lounge was a framed letter which said "Dear viewer, This house is empty because we had to move for work but it has been a very happy family home." It then went on to say a bit about why they loved the house so much and what they would miss most. We didn't buy it but it was a nice touch!

Maybe that's just me then! I find it harder when there's other people's stuff in the way

Empty houses can look bigger and people aren't distracted by your stuff, so it can be an advantage. Maybe try selling it empty first and consider adding furniture if that's unsuccessful. Also make sure someone is checking on it regularly, removing post and keeping the garden tidy so it doesn't look neglected - offputting for viewers and maybe a risk of squatters.

My house sale fell through last year just when we were moving out so we left it empty and remarketed it at a slightly reduced price. I just hoovered and left it clean. We got a new buyer immediately.

Make sure your insurers are aware it's empty. Also your council tax may be affected if it's unoccupied but furnished. My council charges nothing for 6 months for an unfurnished unoccupied house but if it's furnished but unoccupied they charge 90% of the usual council tax. I think they assume that people are lying about not living there.

We are viewing to buy at the mo and I'd much prefer to see an empty house tbh. However we did view one that hasn't been lived in for two yrs and vendor clearly never visits to check on it. That wasn't nice, the worst cobwebs I'd ever seen, post piled up, thick dust etc. As long as you keep on top of it then it should be fine

You could try a halfway option - put basics like a bed in the bedrooms, sofa and dining table etc. It gives an indication of what fits.

People always get the scale of furniture wrong. Odly, a room can look bigger or smaller when empty. Our old house looked huge empty, our new house small (and we double check plans and measured to make sure sofas really fit!). With furniture (from our old house) the new house looks bigger than our old one. The rooms seem to hold all the stuff and look the same size. Whereas in old house, furniture made the rooms look much more crowded.

If you can't afford to put in sofa/bed/table, suggest masking tape on floor outlining a standard table, sofa, double mattress (and a sheet to explain with standard sizes of things). Make sure your EA always has tape measure at viewings and encourages viewers to measure out where large objects would go.

Bear in mind that if the property has a bed then you are liable for all of the council tax; in my experience anyway - the council would only give 'vacant house' discount when I was selling an empty house if there were no beds in the house - i.e. if it couldn't be slept in.

Council tax exception is no longer offered!

I have a dinner room table, so will put that up. Have some lovely leafy plants that can be taken over.

I can't really afford beds or sofas. What about little things like voiles and tall candles?

Have managed to do one room up today. That was the easy one.

We pulled back the carpet, which was covered in dog piss, to discover nice floor boards. Would this be a nice feature and are they hard to restore? The wood looked nice against the celing hight beautiful brick fireplace.

I'd just keep the carpet off and not do anything. if the buyers want to strip the floors then they can do themselves. I would hate if someone had literally just done something that wasn't my taste and I had to redo it straight away. it feels like such a waste

I do have the deposit from the tenant for destroying the carpet.

Would you paint very dark areas white or a white hue? Any light increasing tricks? Old victorian house.

I sold my gran's house after she moved into a home - we just cleaned it to within an inch of its life (scrubbed walls, ceiling, paintwork etc) and did any minor repairs that needed doing, plus kept the garden tidy if not exactly to my own standards. It sold very quickly.

Are you a flat, do you have flats above or below you? Does lease have any stipulations against wooden floorboards? If not, then I'd leave them exposed (though by sure how you will charge your tenant as you are meant to be replacing them and deduct the cost of the replacement). Don't put lampshades on bulbs (darker) especially in hallway but maybe put in a squirrel light bulb (google them) for a trendy and brighter lighting. Hang mirrors where appropriate to maximise light/brightness.

I love viewing empty properties - so much easier to visualise where to put stuff, not harder. Why not try 'empty' first, and ask around in the meantime for furniture to borrow in case that doesn't work? A surprising number of people have stuff in their garage they don't want to get rid off or are trying to ignore ...