Marketing an empty second home or holiday let comes down to one core problem: bare rooms kill click-through rates, and buyers scrolling Rightmove or Zoopla will skip straight past a property that looks cold, unloved, or hard to imagine living in. The practical fix is to combine strong virtual staging with honest, compelling copy and a portal listing built around how buyers actually search for a second home or holiday let, not just a generic residential sale.
Why second homes and holiday lets are a harder sell when empty
Second homes and holiday lets attract a specific kind of buyer: someone making an emotional, aspirational purchase. A coastal cottage or rural retreat is being bought as a lifestyle, not just a roof. Empty rooms strip that lifestyle away entirely. Unlike a primary residence where buyers can overlay their own furniture in their minds, a holiday let needs to feel like the destination it is, right there in the portal photos.
Vacancy is also structurally common in this segment. Owners frequently live elsewhere, properties may have been between lettings, or a probate case has left a cherished family cottage sitting empty for months. None of that is unusual, but it does mean agents marketing in coastal and rural markets face this challenge regularly and need a repeatable answer.
Info
According to the NAR 2025 Profile of Home Staging, 83% of buyers' agents say staging helps buyers picture a property as their home, and 49% of sellers' agents reported that staging cut time on market. For lifestyle properties like holiday lets, where the emotional appeal is everything, those numbers carry even more weight.
Step-by-step: how to market an empty second home or holiday let
- Start with the lifestyle angle in your copy, not just the spec. A three-bedroom cottage near the Cornish coast is not just '3 bed, 1 bath, off-road parking'. Lead with proximity to the beach, the south-facing garden, the open fire. Second-home buyers buy the story first. Give them the story before the square footage.
- Get the photography right before anything else. Empty rooms photograph poorly regardless of how good the light or the lens is. Bare floors create harsh reflections, and vacant rooms look smaller than they are. If the property is truly empty, arrange a professional photography session once you have staging in place, virtual or physical.
- Use virtual staging for every key room. Virtually staged images show furnished, dressed rooms that match the property's character — a coastal feel for a seaside let, a warm country look for a rural retreat. Every virtually staged image should be clearly labelled 'virtually staged' to meet portal, ASA, and CMA guidance on property marketing. This is not just a compliance point; it is also the honest approach that you can stand behind with your vendor and your buyer.
- Use a before/after reveal tool in your listing. A slider that lets buyers compare the empty room with the staged version is far more engaging than a static photo gallery. It answers the question 'what does it actually look like empty?' honestly, while showing buyers the potential. This kind of interactive element keeps buyers on your listing longer, which matters on property portals where attention is scarce.
- Write a dedicated description for second-home and holiday-let buyers. Mention permitted use, any existing holiday-let income history (if the vendor consents to share it), council tax band, broadband speed, and proximity to key amenities. Buyers of a potential holiday let want to know whether the property stacks up commercially as well as emotionally. Do not bury this information at the bottom of the listing.
- Prepare social-ready versions of your best staged images. Second-home buyers are often influenced by what they see on Instagram and Facebook before they ever visit a portal. Cropped, mobile-optimised images of a beautifully staged living room or kitchen give you content worth posting, and the reach you need to find buyers who are not yet actively searching on Rightmove.
- Use the right portal categories and keywords. On Rightmove and Zoopla, make sure you are listing under both residential sale and, if applicable, commercial holiday-let categories. Tag the listing with relevant location descriptors: 'coastal', 'rural', 'countryside', 'seaside'. Buyers of second homes often search by feel as much as by location boundary.
- Be upfront about the empty status with your vendor at the valuation stage. Set expectations about why presentation matters more, not less, for a property that is vacant. Vendors with a second home are often emotionally attached and may be reluctant to spend on staging. Showing them the data on staged versus unstaged listings helps make the case before photographs are even booked.
Virtual staging: what it means for a holiday let listing
Virtual staging places photorealistic furniture and styling into photographs of empty rooms. For a holiday let, that means choosing a look that fits the property's character and market: light linens and natural textures for a coastal property, warm tones and heavier fabrics for a rural retreat. Done well, the result looks like a properly dressed short-let property, the kind buyers see on holiday letting sites and immediately picture themselves in.
The key compliance point is labelling. Every virtually staged image must be clearly marked as such. UK portal guidelines, ASA advertising rules, and CMA consumer protection guidance all expect buyers to know when an image has been enhanced. Any virtual staging service worth using will label images clearly as standard, not as an optional extra.
Tip
When briefing a virtual staging service, include the property type and intended buyer. A coastal holiday let warrants different styling choices than an urban second apartment. Specifying the feel you want upfront saves revision time and produces a result that actually matches the lifestyle your listing is selling.
Common mistakes agents make with empty holiday let listings
| Mistake | Why it hurts | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Publishing empty room photos because 'it photographs fine' | Bare rooms look smaller and colder on screen — they rarely convert clicks into viewings | Use virtual staging for living areas, bedrooms, and the kitchen as a minimum |
| Generic listing copy that ignores the lifestyle angle | Second-home buyers are shopping emotionally; a spec-only listing does not engage them | Lead with location, feel, and lifestyle before the technical details |
| Skipping labelling on staged images | Breaches portal, ASA, and CMA guidance — and erodes buyer trust when they visit | Ensure every virtually staged image is clearly labelled as such |
| Missing the social media opportunity | Holiday-let buyers are often inspired by what they scroll past before they search a portal | Create cropped, mobile-ready versions of your best staged photos for social posts |
| Not mentioning holiday-let potential in the description | Investors and lifestyle buyers both want to know the commercial angle — omitting it loses them | Include let history, indicative yields (with caveats), and relevant planning use where the vendor permits |
How fast does this need to happen?
Second-home markets are seasonal. A coastal holiday let that goes on the market in late winter needs to be live and looking its best before the spring surge in buyer interest. Missing that window by a week or two — because staging took too long to arrange — can mean waiting another six months for comparable buyer activity. For vacant properties especially, speed of launch matters as much as quality of presentation.
Same working day virtual staging means you can photograph an empty property on a Tuesday and have a fully staged, portal-ready listing live by Wednesday morning. That kind of turnaround is not possible with physical staging, which typically requires sourcing, delivery, arrangement, and a return visit to remove everything once the property sells.
Tip
If you are an agent in a coastal or rural market where second homes are a regular part of your instruction mix, it is worth having a virtual staging workflow ready to deploy the moment you pick up a vacant instruction — rather than working it out listing by listing.
Pitching virtual staging to a reluctant vendor
Vendors with a second home or holiday let have often owned it for years and are emotionally attached. They may push back on staging costs or feel that the property 'sells itself'. The honest counter is that portal photos are the first viewing — and an empty room is a poor first impression regardless of how special the property is in person. NAR research suggests staging can cut time on market and support stronger offers. That is a straightforward conversation to have at the valuation, backed by data rather than a sales pitch.
Do I need to label virtually staged photos in a holiday let listing?
Yes. UK portal guidance, ASA advertising rules, and CMA consumer protection expectations all require that edited or enhanced property images are clearly disclosed. Every virtually staged image should be labelled 'virtually staged' so buyers understand what they are looking at. This protects you, your vendor, and your buyer, and it is the standard that reputable virtual staging services apply as default.
Is virtual staging suitable for a rustic or characterful cottage?
Yes. Good virtual staging matches the character of the property. A stone cottage with exposed beams suits warm, natural furnishings — not a minimalist Scandinavian look. When briefing a staging service, describe the property type and the kind of buyer you are targeting, and ask for a style that fits. The goal is to help buyers see themselves in the space, which means the staging should feel believable for that specific property.
Can I use virtually staged images alongside real photos of the empty rooms?
Yes, and this is often the most transparent approach. Including a mix of virtually staged images (clearly labelled) and honest empty-room shots gives buyers a complete picture. Some portals and agents also use before/after reveal sliders within listings or on their own websites, which show both versions interactively. This approach is honest, engaging, and answers buyer questions before they arise.
How much does virtual staging cost compared to physical staging for a holiday let?
Physical staging for a holiday let involves furniture hire, delivery, arrangement, and collection — costs that stack up quickly, particularly for rural or coastal properties with difficult access. Virtual staging is charged per image or per listing and is a fraction of that cost. For current pricing, check the 24staged pricing page, as rates can vary by plan and volume.
What rooms should I prioritise for virtual staging in a holiday let?
Focus on the rooms that drive the emotional decision: the main living area, the primary bedroom, and the kitchen. If the property has a garden view, a sea view, or an open fire, stage the room where that feature is most visible. Buyers of a second home or holiday let are buying a feeling, so prioritise the spaces that create it.