10 REASONS WHY EMPTY HOUSE DON’T SELL EASILY

“  …If a recent poll indicates that selling a house is more stressful than bankruptcy, divorce and even the death of a loved-one, imagine how much more nail-biting selling an empty home must be?!  ”

HOME STAGING PORT MACQUARIE, NSW

If you are thinking of putting your residential property up for sale on the mid-north coast NSW and are considering showing it empty take a few minutes reading this blog.  Then contact DESiGNiNG Divas who will be able to give you an accurate estimate of the cost of physical home staging your home for sale. It is likely to be one of your better investments decisions. 

Reason 1: Empty homes don’t sell easily because they lack that emotional connection… an empty house doesn’t have any imagination nor feeling, which normally turns a house into a home! … an empty property is nothing more than a series of rooms, consisting of four walls and a ceiling, put together under one roof, while a furnished property immediately becomes somebody’s home.

Reason 2: Empty homes don’t sell easily as buyers have no point of reference… buyers struggle to picture how their furniture would be set up when walking into an empty room. Contrary to popular belief, empty rooms don’t look bigger but actually smaller.

Reason 3: Empty homes don’t sell easily as buyers tend to focus on the negatives …

if there’s nothing in the room, one tends to focus on the negative elements. Why would any buyer in his right mind get excited about the negative aspects of a home? Unless of course they’re looking for a bargain, in which case the level of their offer will reflect that thinking.

Reason 4: Empty homes don’t sell easily as curb appeal will most likely be lacking… … buyers are looking to upgrade their lifestyle and an empty house with poor curb appeal doesn’t necessarily exude that stylish homely feeling!

Reason 5: Empty homes don’t sell easily as people first try to sell the home vacant … “You only have one chance to make a first impression?” It takes a person on average 5-10 seconds to have made up their minds and walking into an empty home isn’t that appealing to getting them excited about the property!… it immediately reminds me of those sellers who are adamant that the estate agent must “test the market at that extra higher price to see if there might be someone interested.”

Reason 6: Empty homes don’t sell easily as price seems to be the only marketing strategy… a property has a particular set of marketing factors: the price being the most important one, location is another big one, and finally, presentation and marketing (promotion) … With no clear emotional elements available to influence the buyer’s decision, any adjustment in price will be on the downside.

Reason 7: Empty homes don’t sell easily when staging is considered a cost…

how many homeowners are aware of the upside potential of staging? How many agents are convinced that staging adds dollars to the net bottom line for the seller? …most agents are more likely to suggest a price reduction a couple of weeks into the marketing of the property than initially going for the staging option [professional staging costs a lot less than a price reduction] …staging has a 4-fold effect: it draws more traffic to the property, it enhances the buyers’ visualisation of the property’s potential, the property is likely to sell at a higher price than an empty home and last but not least, the property will sell faster!

Reason 8: Empty homes don’t sell easily as they’re hard to differentiate from the competition…  a buyer has decided to look at a particular housing market …. Just like the other 94% of home buyers, they go online to one of the popular property listing portals… problem for those selling empty homes: ….your interested buyer has numerous other listings open with exactly the same-looking empty living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms etc? Unless your empty home has a particular feature, should any potential  buyer prefer your empty home over the other?

Reason 9: Empty homes don’t sell easily due to less buyer traffic… less buyer traffic coming to listings of empty homes. Open houses would definitely not be attracting too much buyer traffic.

Reason 10: Empty homes don’t sell easily as there’s perception of desperation… as they enter an empty home, interested buyers must be wondering why that particular house is empty. At some point, the thought of there being more room for negotiation enters their minds…. [especially if the property has been on the market for a long time and has already seen a price reduction]

[Edited extracts, with some comments, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-reasons-why-empty-homes-dont-sell-easily-xavier-de-buck

 Some agents and vendors think VIRTUAL STAGING is the solution. Sadly not, In fact it could be detrimental. 

Click the link to a recent blog on the Designing Divas website: 

https://designingdivas.com.au/virtual-staging-versus-real-staging-home-staging-mid-north-coast-nsw/