Knowing What To Do With A Vacant House Is Hard. We Know How To Make Selling One Easy.
Why To Sell An Empty House
There are plenty of reasons to sell an empty house. Maybe you need to sell an empty house you inherited, are trying to sell an empty house you’ve renovated, or have decided to sell an empty house rather than rent (or continue renting) it out. In any of these cases, choosing to sell rather than hold the property off-market or convert it to an income property is the most guaranteed way to make money from it. So it makes sense that about one-third of real estate deals involve a vacant home. What’s more, vacancy makes showings, open houses, and closing dates more flexible, which can make real estate agents more likely to show a vacant property (and move it faster when it sells), especially in ultra-competitive markets. That’s also why the chances of being able to sell an empty house are generally a little better than the odds of being able to sell an occupied home (though that’s not the case in every market). Given this information, it can be tempting to believe that how to best sell an empty house is just to keep it empty.
Why Not To Sell A (Totally) Empty House
There are definitely good reasons to sell an empty house (rather than an occupied property). But homeowners trying to figure out how to best sell an empty home right now are destined to run up against some hard financial facts about the current real estate market.
Specifically — though they’re more likely to sell — vacant homes sell for about $11,306 (or 7.2%) less than comparable occupied houses and spend almost an entire extra week on-market. What’s more, when compared to professionally staged houses, choosing to sell an empty house looks even worse, with staged homes selling up to five times faster and for about 17% more than unstaged (but still occupied) homes.
That’s because listing without staging an empty house is a bit like looking at yourself naked in the mirror; it’s much easier to see every little flaw! So it is much harder to imagine how the space would look or function furnished when it is left completely empty. And as many as 77% of buyers really do struggle to visualize how their furniture and their life will fit in when sellers forego staging an empty house. The truth is, buyers don’t know what to do with an empty house any more than the seller does!
The Best Way To Sell An Empty House Is Fast & Staged
To sell an empty house, it’s critical to:
- Move it quickly so you can minimize your overhead and maintenance costs and also reduce the risk of property damage and market depreciation; and
- Appropriately stage the empty house, so buyers are more likely to recognize (and submit offers that reflect) its actual value.
Together, these strategies bring down the barriers to attracting buyers that keep people from being able to sell an empty house. Moreover, they balance the costs and risks of continued ownership against the returns you’re likely to get from different active sales strategies. For example, though staging an empty house does have an upfront cost, it tends to yield returns of 50% to 500% depending on which rooms you stage and what decor style/aesthetic you choose (a professional stager can recommend the best strategy). The average returns on staging an empty house, though, are pretty impressive: for every $100 spent, you can earn about $400 back in savings and profits.
Moreover, staging, pricing, and actively/aggressively scheduling open houses and showings can help you sell an empty house quickly. This is important because, when you don’t sell an empty house quickly, it becomes a target for property crime and may depreciate as high-value comps expire. What’s more, you may need to do extra work to keep pipes from freezing in a vacant house during the winter and do extra research to figure out what temperature to keep your vacant house during summer months to save money without losing buyers.
How To Best Sell An Empty House: The Easy Way
When you work with The Exceptional Home team, you can expect your dedicated real estate agent to take exactly the steps described above. That’s because we know what to do with an empty house to get it sold fast, for the most competitive price possible. Get an instant free home valuation estimate and check out our hassle-free, comprehensive listing process to learn more about how we can help you sell an empty house the easy way. Then contact us when you’re ready to get started!
