Selling an empty property - furniture in photos or not?

[squashyhat]

I will shortly be putting my late Father's house on the market. We have cleared the contents except the furniture. It's old fashioned but is it better to have the estate agent photos with it in or not? People on property shows talk about 'dressing' a house for sale but I'm not faffing about with flowers etc. And we will clear it if the new owners don't want it.

Yes

No photos suggest rotten flor boards damp etc

At least if it’s clean and liveable you’ll get more viewers

I'm not saying no photos - just whether we should show furniture or empty (but clean and liveable) rooms

With furniture if it’s nice furniture and you want a quick sale. If it’s old person furniture and manky carpet I’d ditch the furniture.

I’m selling my mums house under similar circumstances. We’ve gone with no furniture. It was so old fashioned and to be honest made the house smell like a very old person. Much better empty and spacious.

There isn’t a one size fits all approach because how you market a home will depend on who the prospective buyers are (which is really an educated guess anyway). If you think the house is likely to appeal to developers or investors, empty might be best. If you are expecting to sell to a family then I would avoid photographs of an empty house because I think it’s generally more appealing to showcase a particular lifestyle and how the space can be used. Other people will have different opinions.

The other reason that I personally wouldn’t market a house empty is because I think it signals that the vendor could be looking for a quick sale and it might therefore affect offers.

I like to see beds in bedrooms as it tends to give a better idea of size and how they fit but generally I don’t think it matters too much.

I'm so sorry you lost your dad.

I would take the furniture out. I think it looks so sad when there's just old people's furniture there. I'd take it out and clean up but leave it otherwise.

Empty but clean as i suspect it is a house that needs complete modernisation.

I would say the opposite. I’ve recently sold my dear departed Dad’s house and I left it furnished. The furniture was quite decent as it was all bought new, and under my watchful eye, when DP’s bought the house just ten years previously. DF though didn’t bother with much other than furniture so I did a bit of ‘staging’, bringing cushions, throws, lamps and some nice bedding from my own house while the house was on the market. I have to say, it looked really warm and welcoming and sold quickly. Once I cleared the house in preparation for completion, it looked very sad and empty and not half so appealing.

Some houses like this just make you think an old person has just died there. Makes me sad but I'd still view it. Some people may be put off though.