Staging a empty house to sell, it's it worth it?

[NotPerfectlyAdverage]

We are selling our three bed end of terrace in Kent. It's completely empty now and I was wondering if it's worth staging it? It needs a kitchen and bathroom and will be looking at a 280,000 - 300,000 sale price.

It depends on what you mean by dated. 1970s dated or early 2000s dated?

My 86 year old FIL bought a 3 bed bungalow last year - it was a probate sale and had been staged but just minimally - think beds, rugs, dining table, leisure cabinet, sofas, office desk etc I think it made a difference, he could immediately see how his stuff would work in it - and it just instantly felt more homely - and less like a deceased persons home.

We bought it in 2004. I was dated then. So probably 1990 dated. It's dark wood not falling apart. Just a bit meh. You could live with it. However there is a pan burn on the laminate worktop. It's the kind of kitchen you'd expect to find in probate house to be honest. Was good quality at the time, but that time was decades ago. The bathroom has a new bath and sink but the tiles was dated and have been painted white.

So are expecting a FT buyer to buy it. Or a trade type of flipper. The profit in flipping would be extremely tight or zero as it's got zero extension potential ( except in loft which has a very low pitch). I can't see profit there. Hence not wanting to do it either.

I wonder if it's worth getting staging quotes for two sofas, dinning table two double beds and a single? No idea how much that would cost. I need to find the floor plan from when we bought it.

Investors/flippers won"t be buying if there is no profit, FTB will be more affected by their lender"s valuation than cash buyers, and demand in Kent seems to be way down (like most places) so price will be key. I wouldn"t "stage" if it costs you money to do so, not really worth it in this market.

https://www.plumplot.co.uk/Kent-property-transactions.html

Where in Kent as that makes a difference - broadstairs v Tonbridge v Chatham etc

Medway which isnt desirable but its cheap compared to other towns 40 miles from central London so it will sell. 280 for a house with a drive and a garage that you can walk to station in under five minutes and be in Waterloo in under a hour or drive to A2 in 2 minutes. The house prices are down right now but that shouldn't affect us as you can imagine it's gone up a lot in 20 years. All three of the very local estate agents have said 280 as the starting price. Everything ĥas dropped in price locally. What is was worth 6-12 months ago was probably a fair bit more. I think we just need try it as it is on the market first.

If I was to stage it, I only be getting two double beds, a single, a dining table and two sofas to show that it's a two double bed house and has a large dining room. It's not sell lifestyle. Just to show what fits. It looks so small empty. I could even possibly get all the furniture off market place at a pinch. But then it's the PITA to transport it around.

We've currently got our first offer (low but will probably accept) on my late dad's empty bungalow in Kent. We've definitely had more interest since we did some work on it.

Many buyers just don't have the imagination. I bought bed frames for £10 on Marketplace and used airbeds so people can see how beds fit and it's amazing how many people are getting rid of tables etc - we just let people know what we were doing and suddenly had a dining table and chairs and a sofa! Have borrowed a couple of bits from the friend who helped me.

We looked at the area demographic and staged it accordingly. Personally I love a bit of 70s style retro and brutalist design features but have gone for bland and inoffensive.

Am hoping I'll very soon have the not great job of getting rid of it all!

absolutely no point staging a doer up.

Renovators stage flipped properties like show homes because they are selling that 'turn key' vision of you could move in and it will look exactly like this instantly. Any house that needs work the furniture is just going to look like something 'in the way' or 'left behind'.

We looked mostly at empty doer ups and probates and I much preferred empty as you can see everything that needs doing. Most the houses we offered on where empty.

I wouldn’t bother redoing the kitchen or bathroom, but I wouldn’t leave the house empty. Each room has to have a purpose. Go to the nearest charity furniture shop, or look on free cycle and get a few bits and bobs.

Honestly, I wouldn’t bother. Just get it on the market as it is ASAP and see what happens.

I’ve just sold my rental. Totally empty.

Needs new kitchen & bathroom but serviceable and ok for renting out again. Just tired.

Sold within a month. SW England.

What part of Medway as it really depends
Rochester for example is more likely to be owner occupier whilst Strood, Chatham and Gillingham for example you’ll pick up more landlords

I lived in Rochester for 20 years and bought and sold there and surrounding Medway
Ive sold non furnished in Strood and Gillingham to landlords, no staging. I’ve sold in Rochester to owner occupiers partly staged ie ‘looking like I’m moving out’ but still with some dec eg rugs, pics etc

I wouldn’t bother. I actually prefer viewing empty houses - sensible buyers will bring a tape measure to check where beds etc would fit anyway.
If anywhere needs painting I would do that in a neutral colour, and take out and ideally replace any old or stained carpet

In the circumstances I don't think it's worth paying for proper professional staging with all the artwork and soft furnishings and such but I do wonder if it is worth putting some furniture in as you say to demonstrate the size. If you're reasonably local I wonder if it might be worth hiring a transit van for half a day and heading over to the nearest British Heart Foundation or other charity furniture store and picking up the cheapest second hand set of basic furniture you can get. Then when the house sells either donate it back to the shop or sell to the buyer (sometimes the charity will even collect). Probably would cost max £1k including the van hire and fuel, and contribute to a good cause too?

If you chose to do this OP Demelza House ( local charity ) have a shop on Rochester high street

Why does not having a cooker make people uable to get a mortgage. I am going to put my DF empty house up for sale it doesn't have a cooker but has a gas point so one can be put in.

I would leave as is - Prospective buyers will be able to visualise what they can do with the space.

I have only ever bought empty houses due to lack of a chain and that they are cheaper.

Me too
I really hate chains 😁

You can add it virtually using AI

Dh sold his Dad’s house about 6 weeks ago (fil died in January last year). It needs a new kitchen and bathroom and was completely empty apart from carpets. We had it professionally cleaned and a gardener came and strimmed/tidied up the large garden (FIL had dementia and hadn’t lived there for several years but didn’t need to sell for care home fees.
It is in a good area with good schools and sold for about 20% over the asking price, which dh was astounded at. Location, location, location!
hope your house sells quickly for you x

I think it depends on what the local market for that type of house is like -- talk to estate agents and look at what has sold in the immediate area. I would only stage if absolutely necessary. Last time we sold, it was a completely empty house, just well-cleaned and with a few paint scuffs touched up, and it sold immediately for £30k above asking to a cash buyer. But we were pretty sure it would because the village was very sought after, and, while rather dated in decor (we'd only replaced some carpet/flooring, replaced kitchen worktops, repainted kitchen cabinets and painted it white throughout) , the house was well-built, solid and so didn't go to unnecessary effort.

I'd leave it empty. I think a random rug or painting stacked against the wall is more offputting than a clean slate.

One estate agent I knew kept some pieces of folded cardboard in empty houses, the size of a small double bed or sofa, and laid them on the floor to show how much space there would be around a piece of furniture, if people doubted the room sizes. I thought that was quite a good idea.

Edited to add, I would leave it spotlessly clean with shining windows, very tidy garden, well aired and with heating on low so it doesn't get that damp, sad smell to it.

For most mortgages (you can get specialist mortgages for total wrecks but they're more expensive) a house has to be 'habitable' - banks define this as having a roof, windows, heating, lighting, running water and facilities for cooking and washing - I think you'll be fine if there's clearly a kitchen area with power and gas connected, even if there's currently no cooker.