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ncamy_gw

Need advice on selling while moving

18 years ago

In three weeks we are moving out even though our house hasn't sold. I need advice on what furniture I should remove from the house and what I should leave. The original plan is to leave almost everything.

We have bought a new mattress which is being stored and I have a twin bed in storage that my daughter can sleep on. We were planning on taking the sofa bed from the upstairs den as well as the trestle table from the loft. I also have several tall bookcases and a chest of drawers in storage along with a ton of folding tables and chairs. My daughter wants to take her love seat from her bedroom, but I don't want it to leave a 'hole.' We'll take the TV from the bedrooms and from the closed cabinets. We have a non-working washer and dryer plus an older computer that we will leave behind to stage the house. Obviously I can't leave live plants. Should I substitute some fake greenery?

I think we'll be fine in the rental house with our temporary furniture. The hardest part for me will be living without art on the walls. If you look at the 'tour' photos you will see that we have added a large painting in the living room. (This was my mother's day present!) Could I go back to the smaller pictures that were there originally or will the house show better with the larger painting that better fills the space?

We're only moving two hours away and will be coming back at least every other weekend. Any advice?

Here is a link that might be useful: listing pictures

Comments (8)

  • 18 years ago

    Amy, sorry I have no moving advice, but I want your house! LOL! It's gorgeous. I can't imagine it will last long.

  • 18 years ago

    I would remove as much as you can while leaving the house looking furnished. There's no reason to have "extra" stuff around, since it will only make the place look less roomy.

  • 18 years ago

    We just did this too, this past weekend. We took everything of a personal nature (clothes, books, papers, etc) and left most of the furniture. We completely emptied the closets, dressers, desks, miscellaneous drawers and shelves. We took most of the kitchen stuff out of all the cabinets, except for things I don't use often, like the big Christmas platters and serving bowls. I did leave my glass-front cabinets staged. I also removed live plants from inside the house and didn't replace them with anything. I wish we were only 2 hours away from the house we left staged! We're going to have to fly back periodically to check on the place.

    I think the more you remove, the better your house will show. I'd take your DD's loveseat, and the pink loveseat in the MBR. Take down all the papers off the walls in the computer area, clear out kitchen cabinets and counters, if you haven't already. As for the art in the LR, take it with you - neither the new piece or the old ones are really large enough to make an impact in that large space, so I think it would look better with nothing there for now - let the buyers imagine something. Don't even leave an older computer for staging - it might just look like clutter. Is that some type of exercise equipment in the loft area? Take that too. Take all or most of your books, including the books in the kitchen.

    Good luck! Your house is lovely.

  • 18 years ago

    We just sold an elderly relative's home and everyone involved agreed on a couple of things. The rooms looked so much bigger when we removed half of the furniture (for staging.) Then the rooms looked small when all of the furniture was out. I think it's a good idea to leave some furniture, but probably a little less than you normally would live with.

  • 18 years ago

    I love EMPTY houses.

    If you insist on leaving things your entire house does not have to be full. The people viewing will "get it" if a bedroom is empty. Actually, I would completely empty your daughter's room and paint it a nice, neutral color.

    As far as the master bedroom goes, it would benefit from removing the couch and a chair at minimum. Looks crammed right now.

    You can completely clean out the kitchen and bathrooms. Maybe leave some paper hand towels (the nice folded ones) and a small container of hand soap with a waste basket in the bathrooms. Some of the best advice ever given on this forum was to leave this and one roll of toilet paper in one bathroom only. If someone uses the facilities, it will keep any possible mess to one bathroom. A nice cookie jar or bowl with (nice) fake fruit in the kitchen. Replace the kitchen table with a smaller one if possible.

    Absolutely take out all the art. Make certain the walls are patched and painted. Leave NOTHING of "walkable" value. Do not leave an older computer. Do not leave books, knick knacks or anything you would care about if it is stolen. Empty the family room. If you feel the need to leave furniture, the couch, coffee table, and a few chairs should work.

    The folks we purchased our current home from had their dining room table and four chairs in the dining room... and nothing else. (The rest of the house was completely empty, this was the ONLY room with any furniture.) Take out the hutch and whatever else is in the room and leave the table and a few chairs.

    Empty the attic. People will exaggerate in their head the amount of usable space and that will work in your favor.

    I'm not sure why you would leave non-working appliances. People may get the idea they convey and are in good working order and he disappointed to find out later that they do not.

    If there are any rooms without overhead lighting be sure to leave a lamp in that room for evening viewings.

    Make sure you contract with a cleaning service if you do not already have one whether you leave the house empty or with furniture. Empty houses get dusty too.

  • 18 years ago

    Wow! You have a lovely home! It looks very clean and well maintained.

    You may have a few too many photos on the listing website. Doesn't leave anything to the imagination as people will have seen the house thru all the photos.

    I agree with whomever said not to leave old appliances. They will not only possibly disappoint buyers that they don't convey, but they may also be a signal to the buyer that they will have to spend money buying new if they are that old. Best to remove them completely as it's recipe for them to possibly ask for you to buy them new appliances.

    Definitely remove about half of the furniture. The masterbedroom does look a bit cluttered with the two clashing couches.

    Overall, gorgeous home!

  • 18 years ago

    To clarify, the reason we wanted to leave appliances and a computer was to give the impression that the house was still being lived in. I was even going to leave "milk" and food in the fridge! Houses in our area where the seller has moved out tend to get lower offers. We definitely will be emptying all the cabinets, drawers and closets. We also planned to take everything from the attics, garage and crawl space. By the way my husband thanks you for suggesting we get rid of the pink sofa in the bedroom. I'll list it on craigslist right away!!!

  • 18 years ago

    Hi Ncamy,
    People will know that the house is not being lived in anyway. When you empty out the cabinets, closets and drawers, houses get that hollow echo-y sound. Plus, a serious buyer will look in closets and open cabinets.
    Leaving furniture, however, is a good way for buyers to get a good perspective of the size of the room and how their things would fit in. Plus, it's just more welcoming. (Our agent was hoping we would leave the furniture when we moved out b/c she said that houses with furniture in them sell better than empty ones.)
    Your home is beautiful, and I'm sure it will all work out.
    Best of luck with your move!