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Anyone else sell their furniture before you list the house?


Bentspoke

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We were going to have one last garage sale that was just furniture, then I came up with a plan. I built a bed frame so that I can take our RV queen out of the trailer, and use it in the house, until it sells. This will allow us to sell everything early, and sell a mostly empty, clean house. I don't even have a dresser right now, I'm using a plastic box. If our couches sell, we'll be sitting on our camp chairs in the living room. lol A lot of my stuff is already in the trailer. Did I mention we are doing this, and there is no second guessing.

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I am no real estate expert, but I was told that houses tend to sell better when they are furnished, but not crowded. If this were not the case, why do developers always put furniture into their show homes?

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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I'd leave it furnished to sell as my first choice, empty it and live in the RV as my second. I'd hate to think what the buyer is going to be thinking if he sees you living out of boxes but I'd bet it has the word "low-ball" in there somewhere.

First rule of computer consulting:

Sell a customer a Linux computer and you'll eat for a day.

Sell a customer a Windows computer and you'll eat for a lifetime.

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We are a couple of weeks away from putting our condo on the market. We also have been advised to leave some furnishings so prospective buyers will see a "home" not an empty box with white walls. So we will stage with minimal bedroom furniture, dining room table and chairs, sofa and love seat, and a bit of wall art. When we sell, what hasn't been promised to our kids we will offer to the purchaser or sell on Craigslist.

 

We can hardly wait to hit the road.

What a long, strange trip it's been. :lol:

 

2011 Newmar Bay Star 2901

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I am no real estate expert, but I was told that houses tend to sell better when they are furnished, but not crowded. If this were not the case, why do developers always put furniture into their show homes?

We have made many military moves with associated sales of our homes and we have always been told the same thing. Buyers need to get a sense that their stuff will fit in the house (hard to visualize when it is stuffed with all your stuff) but they also like to see nice things that accent the house...or so we have constantly been told.

Larry

Ex-Navy / Retired Coast Guard CWO w/ 34 Years Total Service.

Goals: 2022 - Retire from my CG civilian job, sell our house, and begin full-timing.

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I agree with others. We have our house on the market & have been told by the so called experts to pare down the furnishings & lose the personal stuff. It's costing me money for storage but I trust they are right. Right now I plan to auction all at once, after the house sells. Not sure where the OP lives, but you may run into zoning laws that won't allow you to live in your RV on site for any length of time.

Todd

“…nothing so liberalizes a man and expands the kindly instincts that nature put in him as travel and contact with many kinds of people.” – Mark Twain

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We, too, staged our house to sell. We sold as much as possible before hand and left just basics and simmle things to make the house feel like a home to somebody walking in. It worked, we sold in 8 days. Then the rest of our stuff flew out the door on Craig's List.

 

If you want to sell your stuff, you could always just rent some basic furnishings so the house looks lived in and homey. We, too, were often told a house sells faster if furnished.

Carol

The Simpsons

Fulltimers from Va. Beach, VA

2008 37' Hitchhiker, 2008 Dodge Ram 3500

blog: cas32.blogspot.com

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We plan to sell everything and live in the RV in the driveway when listing the house. While it is technically not legal where we are our place is quite secluded and we live in a "mind your own business" neighborhood. If the cost isn't excessive we'll hire a staging company to bring in furniture for showing. We do plan to list at a "sell it fast" price. A lot to do between now and then. Do we ever have a lot of stuff!

1994 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WB40

Full-timers since 2016, domiciled in Crestview, Florida

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Our house was empty when it went up for sale. Had sold everything in it thru garage and an estate sale at the house. The house sold in four days. Also the first real estate agent said "since the carpet is dated it would be better to put new in before selling". Needless to say we sent him down the road kicking pebbles! Personally if I were buying a house I'd want it empty to see the flaws. And Kirk I know what you are saying about developers and putting furniture in, but they usually have "partnered" with some outfit in the furniture business to try to ramp up sales.

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Generally a house will show and sell better if it is furnished and de-cluttered.

 

When sold our S&B, it was fully furnished, but most of the large furniture was already sold. Friends and neighbors had spoken for most items and were told that after the house sold and we were moving into the trailer, they load up the items.

 

One place we sold after we moved out was staged. Lots of people just cannot envision a place without some furniture in it. A bare room is looked as hopeless.

 

Ken

Amateur radio operator, 2023 Cougar 22MLS, 2022 F150 Lariat 4x4 Off Road, Sport trim <br />Travel with 1 miniature schnauzer, 1 standard schnauzer and one African Gray parrot

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A used furniture store will often be happy to rent you some furniture to fill up an empty house, you don't want a lot since that can make the place look smaller but a minimal amount to make things liveable and a small bed (no bigger than queen) makes it look more like a home.

 

Someone buying a house would prefer empty but folks buying a home seem to like to see space that looks lived in.

 

We never did a bunch of painting or carpet changing, we touched up stuff that looked bad though. If the paint or carpet was pretty bad we'd put a painting/carpet allowance in our sales package so the buyer would be able to get it done in their colors before they moved in or just pocket the money and feel like they got a great deal.

First rule of computer consulting:

Sell a customer a Linux computer and you'll eat for a day.

Sell a customer a Windows computer and you'll eat for a lifetime.

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We sold some of our stuff then redistributed what was left to make the place look more spacious and to give people an idea of what they might do with all those rooms. (We turned the sunroom into a reading room and the 2nd bedroom into an office, etc.) Turned out the people who bought it bought it for the empty basement--they wanted all that craft room with the lights we had hung over the huge model railroad we dismantled before listing. The fact that I had labeled which now visible outlets that were 20 amp instead of the standard 15 amp was a selling point. You just never know what a buyer is going to decide is important.

 

Linda Sand

Blog: http://sandcastle.sandsys.org/

Former Rigs: Liesure Travel van, Winnebago View 24H, Winnebago Journey 34Y, Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion van

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We sold some of our stuff then redistributed what was left to make the place look more spacious and to give people an idea of what they might do with all those rooms. (We turned the sunroom into a reading room and the 2nd bedroom into an office, etc.) Turned out the people who bought it bought it for the empty basement--they wanted all that craft room with the lights we had hung over the huge model railroad we dismantled before listing. The fact that I had labeled which now visible outlets that were 20 amp instead of the standard 15 amp was a selling point. You just never know what a buyer is going to decide is important.

 

Linda Sand

Good idea, I have a 220 V circuit set up for a welder I was thinking of marking, in case the realtor does not mention it.

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A

You just never know what a buyer is going to decide is important.

 

Very true! We had a house on the market for more than a hundred days. We finally got an offer and sailed through to closing with no issues. Once the papers were signed, checks handed over, etc. I asked the new lady of the house what it was that made them want our house out of dozens of others they looked at. She said when she smelled the jasmine that we had growing up and over the front picture window she instantly had a flash back to her youth and knew she wanted the house before the realtor even got the key out of the lock box. Two three-year old plants that I'm sure we're Home Depot specials was all it took...go figure.

Larry

Ex-Navy / Retired Coast Guard CWO w/ 34 Years Total Service.

Goals: 2022 - Retire from my CG civilian job, sell our house, and begin full-timing.

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We got rid of a few pieces before we listed just so it wouldn't be cluttered. We listed the house and before the day was over it was sold. We now had 30 days to sell, give away or donate to Goodwill everything that was left. We 're now living in our 36 ft 5th wheel and will be heading south this fall. I guess it's whatever works best for you.

Don

"Growing older, but not growing up!"

Don & Margot and Kelsey our

12 year old Yorkie

2008 Chevy Silverado 2500

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We got rid of a few pieces before we listed just so it wouldn't be cluttered. We listed the house and before the day was over it was sold. We now had 30 days to sell, give away or donate to Goodwill everything that was left. We 're now living in our 36 ft 5th wheel and will be heading south this fall. I guess it's whatever works best for you.

Don

It also is the market, the price range, neighborhood, schools, etc. No two of our home sales were similar so, as they say, YMMV!

Larry

Ex-Navy / Retired Coast Guard CWO w/ 34 Years Total Service.

Goals: 2022 - Retire from my CG civilian job, sell our house, and begin full-timing.

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We did make sure our personal items were at a minimum but we left both our PA & FL house furnished when we sold them. To me, they just gave a homier look BUT, everyone has to do what works for them. Good Luck. Hugs, Di

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Good idea, I have a 220 V circuit set up for a welder I was thinking of marking, in case the realtor does not mention it.

I used a red Sharpie and wrote right on the outlet cover. If they didn't want to see the marking all they had to do was replace the cover.

 

Linda Sand

Blog: http://sandcastle.sandsys.org/

Former Rigs: Liesure Travel van, Winnebago View 24H, Winnebago Journey 34Y, Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion van

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

We are selling everything. If we end up having to use a realtor, they can stage to their heart's desire.

If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never again think a negative thought. ^_^

 

Tow vehicle - Custom 2015 Freightliner M2/106 -Cummins ISL with Allison 3000 transmission, Reading service body

Residence: 2015 Airstream Classic

 

 

 

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Each part of the country is different in sales and demographics; and this speaks to what sells and how long it takes. We are getting ready to sell in a fairly robust market but you can never tell what buyers are looking for. Here's hoping for a fast sale for both of us! :rolleyes::rolleyes:

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