How Do You Keep a Vacant Home From Looking Abandoned?

Last month, I was previewing a home for a client in Roseville. On MLS, it looked beautiful. The home had been recently remodeled, the furniture was neatly placed, and all the lights were turned on in the photos.

I was expecting a pretty easy showing.

Then I pulled up to the property.

The lawn was overgrown, leaves were everywhere, and the mail was literally spilling out of the mailbox near the front door. Flyers, papers, leaves, and mailers covered the porch, and the electricity had been turned off.

So now I was standing at the front door using my phone flashlight to find the lockbox and the keyhole in the deadbolt.

Very glamorous.

Then I walked through the entry and immediately turned into some sort of Ninja Warrior contestant trying to block and dodge the spiderwebs.

At that point, it did not matter how nice the MLS photos looked. The house felt abandoned.

That is the problem.

A vacant home does not need to look occupied. But it absolutely needs to look cared for.

Buyers Start Judging the Home Before They Walk Inside

Sellers sometimes focus almost entirely on the interior: paint, flooring, countertops, staging, and photos. All of those things matter, but buyers begin forming an opinion before they ever step through the front door.

They notice the lawn, the landscaping, leaves and debris, flyers on the porch, overflowing mail, cobwebs, dirty windows, exterior lights, and whether the property looks secure.

If the exterior says, “Nobody has been here in months,” buyers may start wondering what else has been neglected.

And once that thought starts, it can be hard to undo.

The MLS Photos Are Only Part of the Story

The Roseville home was a great example. The listing photos were attractive, the lights were on, the house looked fresh, and the remodel photographed well.

But a buyer does not purchase photographs. They purchase the home they experience when they arrive.

When there is a big difference between those two experiences, buyers notice.

The pictures may say:

“Move-in ready.”

But the property can accidentally say:

“Good luck finding the lockbox in the dark.”

That is not the impression we want.

An Overgrown Yard Makes a Bigger Statement Than You Think

Landscaping does not have to be perfect, but it should look maintained.

An overgrown lawn or neglected yard can make buyers assume the home has been sitting vacant for a long time. Then their minds start going:

• How long has nobody been here?

• Is the irrigation working?

• What else has been deferred?

• Has anyone been checking the property?

Sometimes those concerns are completely unrelated to the actual condition of the house.

But perception matters.

A basic mow, edging, leaf cleanup, and shrub trim can make a huge difference.

Mail and Flyers Are a Dead Giveaway

Nothing screams vacant house quite like a mailbox overflowing with mail.

Add a few flyers on the porch and maybe a package or two, and now the property is practically announcing:

Nobody lives here.

That is not just a presentation problem. It can also become a security concern.

If you are selling a vacant home, someone should be regularly removing mail, flyers, door hangers, newspapers, packages, and advertising materials.

Ideally, mail should be forwarded or otherwise handled so it does not accumulate at the property.

The goal is simple: do not let the front porch become a bulletin board announcing that the home is empty.

Please Keep the Electricity On

If you have read my article about utilities in a vacant home, you already know how I feel about this one.

I show homes after work, and especially in fall and winter, it gets dark early. Walking into a vacant home with no electricity is not a great buyer experience.

In this case, I had to use a flashlight just to get through the front door. And once inside, the home was much harder to evaluate.

Buyers want to see rooms, closets, bathrooms, hallways, garages, appliances, and electrical fixtures.

They should not have to tour the house like they are in a true-crime documentary.

If the property is being actively marketed, I usually want the electricity on.

And Then There Are the Spiderwebs

This was the part that made me laugh later.

At the time? Not so much.

Vacant homes seem to have an amazing ability to grow spiderwebs in exactly the places you are most likely to walk through: across the entry, between shrubs, near the lockbox, and around the porch light.

I am convinced spiders know when a listing goes vacant.

A quick sweep around the front entry, porch, exterior lights, door frames, and walkways can make the property feel dramatically more cared for.

It is a tiny task, but it changes the experience.

A Vacant Home Should Feel Quiet — Not Forgotten

There is a difference.

A vacant home can feel calm, clean, bright, secure, and ready for the next owner.

Or it can feel like everyone moved out and nobody looked back.

The difference is often not a major renovation.

It is maintenance.

What Should Someone Be Checking?

If a home is vacant and on the market, I would want someone regularly checking:

• the front yard

• landscaping

• leaves and debris

• mail

• porch flyers

• spiderwebs

• exterior lights

• interior lights

• odors

• temperature

• toilets and sinks

• appliances

• windows and doors

• the garage

• the backyard

• pool or spa

• irrigation

• signs of water leaks

• signs of pests or trespassing

You are not conducting a full inspection every time. You are looking for anything that has changed.

The House Can Be Beautiful and Still Show Poorly

This is important.

The Roseville home was not a bad house. In fact, it had a lot going for it. It had been remodeled, and it looked attractive in the photos.

But the way the property was being maintained after the seller moved out took away from all of that work. And that may also be the reason why the house sat on the market while others sold.

That is frustrating because it is preventable.

If someone had mowed the lawn, cleared the leaves, emptied the mailbox, removed the flyers, swept the porch, cleared the spiderwebs, and kept the electricity on, my first impression would have been completely different.

The house itself did not need more remodeling.

It needed someone paying attention.

Your Vacant Home Does Not Need to Look Occupied

I do not think sellers need to pretend someone still lives there.

You do not need fake cars in the driveway. You do not need to leave coffee mugs on the counter. You do not need to make the house look artificially occupied.

You just want it to look maintained.

That tells buyers:

This property has been cared for.

That matters.

The Goal Is to Remove Questions

A buyer should walk into a vacant home thinking:

“I can see myself living here.”

Not:

“When was the last time somebody checked this place?”

Every unnecessary distraction takes attention away from the house itself.

Dead landscaping, overflowing mail, dark rooms, and cobwebs may be small things, but they create questions.

And questions can turn into hesitation.

Selling a Vacant Home in Greater Sacramento?

I’m Lisa Quaschnick, REALTOR® with eXp Realty of California, and I help homeowners throughout Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, and Yolo counties prepare, manage, and sell vacant properties.

If you have already moved, live out of the area, inherited a property, or simply have a house sitting empty, I can help you figure out what needs attention so the property continues to show well while it is on the market.

Because a vacant home does not need someone living in it.

It just needs someone paying attention.

For more information, read:

How Often Should Someone Check on a Vacant House?

Should You Leave Utilities On in a Vacant House?

How to Sell a Vacant Home in Sacramento: A Step-by-Step Guide

From vacant to sold, you’ll have someone local helping you every step of the way.