How to Sell a House Full of Furniture Easily

It is never easy selling a house after the death of a parent, a spouse, or another family member. Every piece of furniture, photograph, and book likely holds memories you’re not so sure you want to let go of—and, possibly, a few you can’t wait to hand off. Even when you’ve inherited a home from an estranged relative, distant friend or long-time business colleague, the mixed emotions that get stirred in with your new obligation toward someone else’s property are hard to make sense of.

When it comes to our emotions, it doesn’t always matter whether you once lived in a house, live there now, or never stepped foot inside. Selling a home is fraught with stress.

One of the easiest ways to reduce the load you feel on your shoulders is to offload the home as-is, including everything inside—furniture, photos, books, etc. Depending on how you go about it, it can also be one of the most compassionate choices you make.

That’s what we’re here to illustrate today: not only how to sell a house full of furniture, knickknacks, and even junk, but how to do it so that it lowers the stress you feel while, possibly, helping in the lives of others.

How to Sell a House Full of Furniture

If you haven’t already been thinking about how to sell a house full of furniture, the concept can come as a surprise. Even when the idea has been percolating for some time, it’s not unusual to have trouble really wrapping your head around it—especially when the contents of the home, furniture or otherwise, do have some personal value. 

You may just be asking whether buyers exist who actually want to purchase a house as-is, furniture and all.

But, you might also be questioning if that choice is an appropriate one to make when it comes to diligently honoring the memories others have made.

Of course, taking the time to sift through every piece and deciding what to do with each may not bring you peace of mind, either. That’s assuming you even have the time and energy to devote to the task. If you work full time plus have a family to raise and your own home to care for, appropriately dealing with the sale of another property and all of its contents will be difficult at best. The fact of the matter is, it may be impossible.

Here’s how to make things easier:

List Home on the Market with an Agent

Believe it or not, there are buyers out there who are willing to take a house with furniture and other items. If all or most of the items are in good shape and the pieces are included with the purchase, your chances are even greater that you’ll find a willing buyer. To help, it’s not a bad idea to list the property on the market with a real estate agent. Their expertise in marketing homes, then negotiating deals, can move you closer to getting the price you want and the terms you need.

This option can slow down the sale, however, and it may not unfold as you’d ideally prefer.

It takes time to get a house ready for market, hold showings, then finds the right buyer at the right price. Depending on the shape the home is in, your pool of traditional home buyers can be quite small, too. For example, if in addition to the furniture you’re trying to sell the house with mold issues, most buyers won’t bite—not without some financial concessions, anyway.

It will cost you to list the home with a real estate agent as well. You may have to pay as much as six percent in commissions to your agent in addition to other closing costs not paid for by the buyer. And, these fees don’t include any personal costs you may have incurred to take time off of work, travel from out of town, and remove and transport the items you actually do want.

Sell Directly to a Real Estate Investor

As an alternative to listing the house on the market with an agent, you could sell your property directly to a California real estate investor. Investors are much more likely to take a home as-is, even if it has major problems like mold or is filled to the brim with furniture. They’re usually able to pay in all-cash as well as close in anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks, too. After all, it’s their business to buy and renovate fixers. Working fast in less-than-ideal situations just comes with the territory.

This option also comes with a couple of issues, however. You will still have to find a reputable investor to sell to and the sale itself could still cost you.

You may need to use a real estate agent who works with investors, for example, to find one who is well known and well-regarded in the community. It’s also possible that an investor you find on your own will want to work with an agent if they’re not comfortable handling all aspects of the transaction. You may still have to allow inspections, hold showings, and fork up some cash for commissions or closing costs, too.

Even when the sale does fall smoothly into place with an investor you come to know and like, there is still the issue of the furniture and other items that have been left in the home. A good real estate investor will take them. They just may not take care of them in the way you would. They may not give you the time and space you need to sort through your emotions as you sift through the items either.

Take What You Want, Leave What You Don’t

To make the process of selling a house full of furniture as easy and as stress-free as possible, Sell Your House Direct can take a property off of your hands as-is, fast, with cash. We’re comfortable with all aspects of the transaction, too. So, not only will we take a home that might also need major repairs, we’ll take it without the help of a real estate agent.

We don’t charge any commissions or fees, either.

Additionally, we want the experience of selling a property to be as fulfilling as it can be—even for a house that’s cluttered with stuff. That’s why we give our clients the time and space they need to take whatever they want from the home and simply leave the rest. We’ll even help you move the items that have meaning, whether it’s a big couch or small mementos, into another home or into storage to pick up later—for zero commissions and fees.

And, what you don’t take will get into good hands through great causes. We proudly partner with local estate sale services and charities, like Habitat for Humanity. Estate companies will either sell the furniture and donate the proceeds to veterans or gift the furniture directly to them. As a disabled veteran-owned company, taking the extra step to care for others is something we’re very passionate about. Doing what we can to take care of you, too, during this difficult time is at the heart of our business.