Homeowners sometimes find themselves in a situation where they have a vacant property they need to sell. This could be a newly-built house or one that a tenant just moved out of. It could also be that the owner has bought a new home and moved out of the old one.

This is the question, when you find yourself in this position, should you stage the home before you try to sell it? This question is important because the route you take determines how quickly you can sell the house.

What you should know about selling vacant houses

These days, it is fairly uncommon to find a property that is being sold vacant, and there are good reasons for this. As a rule, Onsite Management Services says, vacant properties are harder to sell than occupied or staged properties. And this often has nothing to do with the price or quality of the properties. Instead, the reason lies with the different ways that prospective buyers view a staged or occupied home versus one that is vacant. Here are a few reasons why vacant homes are harder to sell. 

Empty rooms appear smaller than they are

It is hard for buyers to correctly guess the proportions of a room when it is bare. Most of us will underestimate the size of an empty room. This is because pieces of furniture in a room give us a frame of reference for measuring the room. For this reason, buyers will assume that a vacant room is smaller than one with furniture. This is true even when the vacant room is bigger. 

Empty rooms show their flaws

Décor and furniture deflect buyer’s attention away from any flaws a room might have. Rather than focus on the room’s configurations, buyers evaluate the overall effect created by the furnishing. In an empty room, however, there is nothing for a buyer to focus on. Their scrutiny is more thorough and they are likely to fixate on minor issues. 

Empty rooms lack personality

When surveying an empty house, the buyer finds it hard to imagine what the room would look like if it were furnished. There is nothing about the room to spark their imagination and evoke emotions. As a result, they experience the property as a house and not a home. Since emotions are a big part of how people make buying decisions, this is a big problem.

Empty homes are harder to market

Selling an empty property forces the owner to build their marketing strategy primarily around the price of the house. It is hard to make a good presentation when the home is vacant. By staging the house, the seller introduces emotional elements that can be used to promote it. But, when a house is vacant, the marketing strategy is limited to location and price.

Empty homes are hard to differentiate

At any given time, there are hundreds of properties on the market that are similar in size, design, and price. When confronted with a choice between two comparable houses, buyers will go with the one that has the greater emotional appeal. A vacant house puts itself at a disadvantage in this regard. Even if it has better features, there is no way to make them shine. 

Why you should stage a vacant home

Rather than tell buyers about a property, staging allows you to show potential buyers the best things about a property. When a home is staged, its owner does not have to do a lot of explaining to convince buyers. That’s because the evidence of the home’s potential is right before the buyer’s eyes. Here is how staging helps sellers overcome the deficiencies of a vacant home.

Display desired lifestyles

Staging a house helps you show buyers that the property matches what they envisioned for their dream home. Without staging, the house is nothing more than a structure of wood, cement, and plaster. Staging gives the house it’s identity and personality. 

Maximize spaces

Regardless of how tiny or awkward the rooms in a house are, staging can make the most of them. The spaciousness of a room is more about how furniture, décor, and paint are utilized, rather than its actual dimensions. 

Looks much better in listing photos

The first place most buyers will encounter a house is on the internet. Staged homes are not only visually appealing; they are specifically designed for the internet. These pictures are highly sharable, which means that a lot more people are going to see the listing. 

Increases a home’s perceived value

The final sales price of a property is determined by the value buyers place on it and not what the owner asks for it. Staging a home increases its perceived value because buyers are already emotionally attached to the property and therefore willing to pay more for it. 

So, should you stage a vacant house before trying to sell it? Yes, you should stage it!