UPDATE: OT: Selling a furnished house -- WWYD?

[babystuffbuff]

Thanks everyone for your good wishes. I should probably move this to the b!tching post now, because I just found out the job fell through. :( :( The guy who was going to leave so DH could take his place is staying. I am so F***ING SICK of this happening!!! This is the third time in the past year, and it is more heartbreaking every time. Now we are stuck in the middle of nowhere for probably another two years, away from all our family, away from all our little nieces and nephews who mostly only see us in pictures. :( :( :(

I'm just going to go and have a good cry and try to get over it. DH is at the doctor right now and doesn't know yet -- I'm not looking forward to telling him. Thanks again for all the nice thoughts.

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I'm just looking for a few opinions. We bought our first house in October and have done some pretty massive renovating and remodeling since then. We are almost done, except for some trim work. This is turning out to be a good thing, because all the scuttlebutt (sp?) around here seems to indicate that DH will be offered his "dream job" in a land far, far away in PA, and we would be moving within the next month. This is what we have been hoping for for the last few years, and we are praying that it comes through. The guy who would be his new boss is an old friend of DH's family, thinks DH is wonderful, and really wants to bring him to work there. Plus we would be near DH's parents, aunts and uncles, and brother, after three years far away from our families.

So we are looking at selling our beautiful, just-finished house that we put so much time and sweat into. DH's idea is to sell it furnished. The reasons for this are several:
1. It would mean much less "stuff" to move, and no really heavy large things
2. We would be living with DH's parents until we sold this place and found somewhere to live there, since we can't do two mortgages at once right away. If we had all our furniture, we would have to store it someplace at an added expense.
3. DH's new job would come with a pretty substantial raise, and he wants to "start over" and buy new furniture.

I am fine with this, as I am not particularly attached to any of our things, except our king-size bed, which was a wedding gift and which we would take with us (DH: "We can just buy a new one!" Me: "NO!"). It is true that it would make the move a lot easier. But who wants to buy a furnished house??? Don't people have their own things that they want to put in the house, instead of buying someone else's? We would definitely be sure to be very clear about which things came with the house and which ones didn't. It would mostly be the furniture.

So that's my (long-winded) question. I have been saddened by all the "lurker" talk lately, and I know that I am probably one of the lurkers, but if anyone wants to send good hiring thoughts our way, we would appreciate it.

Sarah

[JMS]

I didn't vote because my idea isn't listed in your poll. I would sell it unfurnished b/c as you said, most people have their own furniture. Additionally everyone has their own taste and you don't want your furniture to be a detriment to the sale of your house, KWIM?. What I would do would be to make it clear to prospective buyers that almost all the furniture is available for sale, separate from the house. Whatever isn't purchased by the new buyers could be sold before you move at an advertised moving sale. HTH... good luck!

[ellies mom]

I wouldn't buy a furnished house because we have our own stuff and it would cost $1000's to clear the former residence's stuff out. The only way I'd even consider it would be if money was left in escrow to pay for it.

I think the PP has a good idea. Let the people know that most of the furniture is up for sale (you may have the the perfect hutch for the space and I maybe interested in that one piece) and try and sell the rest. You can always include the appliances (washer dryer fridge stove) in the offer. We did when we sold our last house because we wanted new stuff.

[searchdog]

Not sure on the whole furnished vs. unfurnished thing, but wanted to wish you and your DH good luck I hope he gets the job!

[elliput]

I agree with PP. Have a moving sale. This is quite common with retirees who are down-sizing and military folks going overseas. You may find that there are some furniture items that are special to you which you would want to keep anyway (besides the bed).

Good Luck!

[kellyotn]

I wouldn't want a furnished house, sorry. When we bought our first house post-apartment living, I'd been dreaming of decorating it myself! I'm sure lots of women (and men) are the same. So, young first time buyers who want to decorate are out.

If the buyer is coming from their own house (ie, their apartment days are behind them), they'll have their own stuff. So, they are out.

I think the only was it'd work is if you find a first-time home buyer who happens to like and WANT all your stuff. A second-time buyer would have to get rid of THEIR stuff, even if they like yours.

Certainly cuts down on the potential market.... I guess, a young bachelor probably would like it. But, is it a young bachelor style?! lol.

Why don't you show it, mention that furnishings are negotiable? What doesn't get bought, list in craigslist and sell separately. I'd probably move it, but most of our stuff is an eclectic mix of antiques and new that is just me. I can't just go in a order all new at one time. I like the hunt. ;-)

Another thing that crosses my mind, is the new employer paying for the move? If so, then I'd just do that. When we moved from CA, the employer paid for the moving truck, but we wouldn't have gotten the same amount of money in cash to NOT have used a moving truck, KWIM?

[Karenn]

When we bought our house a couple of months ago, it was listed in the usual way. Then, after we made our offer, the sellers said that they were also selling all of the furniture and told use to let them know through our realtor if we wanted to buy any of it. So when we had our inspection, we also sort of went furniture shopping. In the end, we bought a sectional sofa from them that was perfect for the family room, but not the rest of the furniture, simply because we already have too much furniture of our own. :)

[dr mom]

Hope the new dream job works out for your DH, I am sending lucky employment vibes your way! (FWIW, I think the whole lurker thing has been blown totally out of proportion, and even if you were a lurker - and I totally don't think you are, not with well over 200 posts! - I'd *still* be wishing you luck)

I personally wouldn't want to buy a furnished house, because then what would we do with all our furniture? I could see renting a furnished house, but if you aren't in a position to carry two mortgages (if it doesn't rent immediately) and don't want to have to deal with the stress of being landlords, that may not be an option for you. I also like the PP's suggestion of letting prospective buyers know that the furniture is available for sale, and then having a big moving sale. How exciting to be able to start over with all new stuff! :)

[miki]

This was what I was going to suggest also. When we were house hunting, we were told by a number of seller's agents that if there were any furnishings we were interested in, they could be negotiated. It was usually in situations where the owners were retiring and scaling back the size of their home.

I think selling furnished is harder because people have their own stuff and their own taste. Another idea for where you could sell your furniture--if it's in good condition and shows nicely, maybe you could sell it to a company that rents furniture out for staging.

[Saartje]

Another thing to remember is that, since you'll be moving for work reasons, you may be able to get a tax deduction on moving expenses, which would make moving less expensive (and also make it less expensive to hire people to pack for you, which would make moving your things much less trouble). Just thought I'd throw that out there, since it may be something you'd like to look into. (Disclaimer: IANAL, and this isn't tax advice — just something to look into and see if you'd qualify for.)

[mudder17]

Yup, definitely sell it unfurnished, but make it clear all furniture (except the bed) are available for negotiation then have a moving sale for the rest of the stuff. If there's anything left after that, you can either take it with you or donate it to charity for a tax deduction.

Good luck on the move and the new job! It sounds like it'll be a great new opportunity for all of you. And no, I don't consider you a lurker, but it wouldn't matter if you were one. :)


Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 16 months & counting


http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_4_Kaya+is.png

[wendmatt]

I agree with pps. If you sell it furnished you are totally limiting your market. Let them know the stuff's for sale and what they don't want have a moving sale with.
Good luck, hope DH gets the job.

[Marisa6826]

First off, you're not a lurker. ;)

Second, I know that it's INCREDIBLY common to sell your house furnished in Florida. I think my Aunt has done it twice.

If there was something that she was particularly attached to, she replaced it with something comparable - and also some stuff was excepted from the 'bulk purchase'. It was specifically written into the contract that this would be acceptable. I know she keeps her china and silver, as well as family stuff. I was incredibly surprised to hear that people actually buy their towels, sheets, silverware, pot and pans, etc. with a house!

I'd be happy to hook you up with her if you'd like to discuss it.

-m

[emilyf]

In general, mortgage companies do not like to give a loan in which anything is changing hands besides the house itself. Whenever I have people who want to sell furniture it is handled as a separate transaction-the buyers pay w/a check and no mention of the furniture is on the sales contract. So that is probably the way to go. I do know that it is much more common in vacation/second homes though. I pretty much agree with the pps, it would be unusual to find a buyer who was interested in buying a furnished house as a primary residence.
Emily \r\nmom of Charlie born 11/02

[babystuffbuff]

Thanks everyone! It's great to get other ideas.

I kind of thought DH was crazy, too. :) I can't imagine buying a house that was full of someone else's stuff. I see the advantage of not having heavy things to move, and I definitely don't mind shopping for new furniture, but like everyone has mentioned, there are ways to get rid of the furniture without including it in the sale of the house. Now I can give DH something besides my own opinion to convince him. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know "those baby people" back me up. :)

No word yet on the job, I'll post an update when we have one. Hope it's soon...

Thanks again!

Sarah

[muskiesusan]

When we sold our last house, the buyers asked if we would be willing to also sell them most of our furniture. While the idea of buying all new stuff excited me, I quickly realized how expensive that would be and how hard; I wouldn't be able to go out and find stuff I absolutely loved in a short period of time, and I can't stand empty rooms. But that's just me, lol.

I think our case was unusual, however, since it was a recent college grad who had nothing. So, I think in your cause you should list just the house, mention to the buyers you are selling furniture as well, and also have a moving sale.

Hope DH gets his job!

Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[graciebellesmomma]

We bought a second/vacation rental home in Lake Tahoe and the 70 yr old woman we bought it from was moving from a 3 bedroom 2800 sq ft home into a one bedroom trailer home. Definite downsize!
She wanted us to buy ALL of her furniture except for one bedroom. We would have jumped on it, but it was very dated furniture and she was a HEAVY smoker. Not a good combo, even for a vacation rental. We declined purchasing any of it. She ended up giving us several things with the sale, basically so she wouldn't have to move it. We tossed much of it, but we did get a huge tv out of the deal and a leather sofa for the office. I think that if you let the buyers know that most of your furnishings are for sale that would give them the option to buy or not to buy. There were several things that we did want to buy, but those were the things that she took, of course!