Why Your Empty House Won’t Sell

Shauna Lynn Simon

Beyond The Stage Homes

While it is possible to sell an empty house, it is rare. If you have ever tried to sell a vacated house absent its furnishings, you have likely experienced this frsthand - numerous buyers passing on the home and feedback that makes no sense to you. What do you mean the bedrooms look small? The living room isn’t an awkward layout! Since you have lived in the house, you know how great it looks when it’s fully furnished and decorated, and you understand how each room should be set up. The trick is to help your buyers to understand this.

Unfortunately, the ability to visualize space is a skill that not everyone has. Only about 10% of your prospective buyers have this ability to properly visualize a space beyond what they see in front of them. This means you could miss out on 90% of the potential market when listing an unfurnished home. Vacant/unfurnished homes will often take much longer to sell than an adequately staged home (staged homes sold 9 days faster than the average days on market according to RESA®’s 2021 survey). Not only does furnishing a home help buyers understand the optimal placement for their furniture, but it will also allow them to connect emotionally. Home Staging is an effective sales technique that integrates decorating with marketing and creates an experience for home buyers. It’s not enough to furnish the home - the house needs to be effectively merchandised to sell the experience of living there.

Home staging achieves this by clearly defning the space, demonstrating the scale of each space, and creating an emotional connection.

Clearly Defne the Space

Start by ensuring that each room is clearly defned. This means showing buyers the intended purpose and use of each room in the home, whether it’s a bedroom, an offce, a dining room, or a gathering room. Defning this intent, and showcasing this one used for the space, will allow buyers to fow more easily from room to room when viewing the home, without having to stop and think in each room about how they would utilize the space.

Why Your Empty House Won’t Sell

Demonstrate Scale of Space

Have you ever ordered an item online, but when you received it, you realized that it wasn’t quite the size you thought it was? The online site probably gave you the dimensions for the item, but you didn’t fully understand its size from the photo provided. You take a commonly known object and place it next to the item that you’re trying to show the size of. Now let’s apply this to your empty property. Vacant rooms appear smaller than they are to prospective buyers, both in person and in photos. Since 97% of these buyers are viewing your property online (National Association of REALTORS® 2020 REPORT), showing that a king-size bed with nightstands fts in a primary bedroom, for example, will provide your buyers with the perspective they need to feel confdent that their furnishings will ft the spaces.

Create an Emotional Connection

Buyers want to feel a personal connection to the home, which means ensuring that it is ready by completing necessary updates and repairs, as well as furnishing and decorating the home to highlight its greatest features. This ensures that buyers can easily fow from room to room without distraction. In an empty house, each space requires additional time (and energy) to discuss the proper use, the size of the room, what will ft, what won’t, and where everything should go. For the 90% of your buyers that do not possess the visualization skillset, this can feel overwhelming. Professional home staging will help eliminate buyer uncertainty and ensure that the property spends the least time on the market, thus reducing carrying costs and the need for price reductions.

SOLD

Fully rented Triplex situated in the HEART of Uptown Waterloo! Walking distance to Uptown, Vincenzo’s & Belmont village, this 2 storey home appeals to both investors and home buyers looking for a mortgage helper. Unit breakdown – 2 beds upper unit with new 4 piece bath, 2 bed main foor unit with 4 piece bath, large kitchen, 2 separate entrances, deck, and 1 bed basement apartment with 2 entrances. 2 driveways to accommodate 5 cars and a common laundry. Updates include new sewer & water line (2021), newer windows on main & lower level, new roof (2019), bath upper unit (2022). MLS®

TOO LATE! BEAUTIFUL CUSTOM 2 STOREY HOME ON DOUBLE LOT!

Located in Deer Ridge, directly across from Protected Forest (GRCA), as well as Siding & Backing onto Settlers Grove Park, this home is surrounded by nature & beauty and offers amazing views through every window!

Solid Gold Realty (II) Ltd., Brokerage

Independently Owned & Operated 519.888.7110 Cari hewick

BROKER

cari@soldoncari.com www.soldoncari.com

Solid Gold Realty (II) Ltd., Brokerage

Independently Owned & Operated 519.888.7110

Renata

plecity

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BROKER

renata@renataplecity.com www.renataplecity.com

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Ken Cameron

Broker of Record

TEAM

Jennifer Cameron

Broker

Call if you are experiencing a mental health crisis ~ 24/7! 911 or 1-844-437-3247 or TTY 1-877-688-5501

Gabriele Koch

Sales Representative

YOUR UNFAIR ADVANTAGE

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BUILD YOUR DREAM HOME!

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