Top Tips For Selling An Empty Home

Selling an empty home is much different than selling a home that people are living in. Nanaimo real estate agents will tell you there are more unique challenges to selling an empty home that owners don’t face when living in their home for sale. Fortunately, there are also some things you can do to sell an empty home fast.

Here are some top tips for getting an empty home in Nanaimo BC sold quickly and stress-free.

Challenges of selling an empty home

There usually aren’t a lot of problems when an empty home is first listed on the market for sale. But the longer it takes to sell, the more potential problems the owner will face.

Here are some of the typical challenges of selling an empty home and what to do about them:

Empty homes can be crime magnets

Criminals and vandals are experts at locating vacant homes. Vandals might decide your home is the perfect canvas for graffiti. Thieves often target vacant home to steal things they can sell, such as appliances and even heating and cooling units.

To avoid problems like these, first install a security system if you don’t have one. Then, enlist one of the neighbors to keep an eye on your house. Finally, purchase some inexpensive automatic timers to have inside lights come on at night and music to play throughout the day.

Stage your empty home

To keep your empty home from feeling vacant to buyers, consider staging your home. You don’t have to fully decorate the home. Simply include some larger pieces of furniture and artwork on the walls to make it easier for potential buyers to imagine living in your home for sale.

Maintain your empty home

Empty homes always require more maintenance than a home someone is living in does. That’s because routine daily things don’t get done when a house is empty. Toilets should be flushed weekly and water should be run in all of the sinks. In the summer periodically turn on the air conditioning, and in the winter turn on the heat, to keep the systems operating properly. Check your empty house after a heavy storm to make sure there’s no wind or water damage that could make mold grow.

Tips for selling an empty house

According to top Nanaimo real estate agents, empty houses can start to all look alike to buyers. Here are some top tips to make your empty home sell fast:

• Turn utilities on: Buyers want to see what the inside of a home looks like. That’s difficult to do when the power is off and lights can’t be turned on. Don’t forget to leave the water and gas turned on too.
• Use high-quality photos: Pictures are worth a thousand words when selling real estate, and that applies to empty homes listed for sale. Top tips for taking professional photos of your empty home include using a wide angle lens with lots of light, taking extra photos of the kitchen, and including exterior photos of the yard and garden in all of your real estate marketing material.
• Secure your home: In addition to attracting petty theft and vandals, empty homes can also attract squatters. The last thing you want when someone is showing your home is for them to find a stranger living there. Security systems, garage doors locked from the inside, and keeping keys in a tamper-proof lockbox are some of the best ways to secure an empty home for sale.
• Repair things fast: Little things like broken light fixtures, overgrown landscaping, and a slow drip in the kitchen sink can turn buyers off fast. To keep from losing a sale from something simple, make sure that small repairs are completed quickly.

Selling an empty home is challenging, but it can be done. By following these top tips for selling an empty house, you’ll be able to avoid problems, attract buyers, and get your empty home in Nanaimo sold fast.