There are so many reasons you may want or need to sell a house fast. You’re downsizing, relocating, divorce or separation, financial difficulties or you may have inherited the house. 

Whatever the reason we’ve got all the info you need on how to sell the house fast, once it’s already empty. 

1. Top five ways to sell a vacant home

2. How to stage an empty house for sale

3. Pros and cons of selling an empty house

Top five ways to sell a vacant home

There are lots of ways to sell a house, but some are better choices for a house that’s already empty.

1. A cash house buying company
This is a quick easy way to 100% guarantee a sale. There are usually no costs, no estate agent fees and no commission to pay. Particularly helpful for those who have a pressing need to get a quick house sale. for example, behind on mortgage payments, need to relocate or have a house requiring a major overhaul. Solicitor bills are often paid for too. And you can have the money in your account in up to 30 days.

2. Property auction
You can’t guarantee a sell or even a price with a property auction. And the auction house will take a percentage. But you could also get lots of interest and get more than you bargained for. This method involves a little bit of luck. Allsop have been the leader in the UK’s property auction market for many years and according to them they consistently sell over 80% of all properties entered into our auction.

3. Estate agent
A typical estate agent will be able to arrange viewings and most of the process for selling your house. Having one sole agent will also mean you can negotiate a better fee for solely using them. Movewise estimate that high street agents only sell around 50% of the properties on their books.

4. Multiple estate agents
If you’re out of contract you can hire multiple agents to help sell your house (if you’re in contract, it will depend on your terms and conditions). More agents, in theory, will reach more potential buyers. It will mean they may need to worker for you to make sure they’re the ones who get the sale. But it does mean they will charge higher fees. And agents can be hard to manage.

5. Reduce the price
This one may seem like an obvious one, and sometimes we don’t always have the luxury of reducing the price but if you want to sell an empty house fast, reducing the price can attract a whole new pool of buyers. 

If you’ve tried these ways, or maybe you just want some more options, the advisory has a detailed article with more ways you can sell a home here: https://www.theadvisory.co.uk/house-selling/

How to stage an empty house for sale 

Normally with furniture in a house it’s easy for a buyer to imagine themselves living there. But with an empty house they must imagine it all themselves. Which gives you a small disadvantage in some cases. 

Because the inside is empty you need to make sure the outside is well finished, tidy and appealing. 

Here are some things you can do to help make the outside of your house look attractive.

Make sure the house is clean and smells nice. Airing it out before a viewing or open house is always a good idea. 

There are some things you can do to the inside to stage it for a sale.

When you view a house, you want it to feel warm and homely, which you can help create by having the heating on a couple of hours before a viewing. 

Pros and Cons of selling an empty house

There are lots of pros to selling an empty house and a few cons too if you’re weighing up whether it’s best to empty a house before trying to sell it, you can consider the following.

Pros

• You don’t have to do a lot of work to make the house sellable.
• The person buying the house has a blank canvas to do whatever they wish.
• The rooms will potentially look larger and brighter without furniture.
• A vacant home means there is no one to arrange a viewing around.
• This also means there’s no fear of having a tenant return mid viewing.
• It’s easy to keep a vacant home clean – there’s nothing to dust, no one to drop crumbs that need to be cleaned up etc. 

Cons

• You will have to get rid of the furniture if you haven’t already.
• People may find it harder to visualise living in your house.
• It’s harder for a person to form an emotional attachment with an empty house.

What next? 

Now it’s time to think about how you want to sell your empty house, and more importantly whether you do want to keep it empty. 

Make sure it looks presentable from the outside and clean on the inside. Have a look at local estate agents. Speak to your local auctioneers. Check with your current estate agent if you can hire multiple estate agents. Get in contact with a buying company. Be sure to explore all your options.