Is the potential buyer going to say: Where are all the light fixtures? If so, you need to put in fixturess. Don't go crazy with what you put in. Put in something nice, but not expensive.

I personally dont think they would, because there is lighing. Its not dark.

If you go without add a lightening budget to your sale price. Most people probably need to hire an electrician so include $$ for that too.

But I would put up something. The house will look unfinished without it as most have a hard time visualizing what could be.

So you already know the answer?

@Stax I know what I think but Ive been wrong before. @aziline boxes are installed with plates over them. I am unfamilure with people who cant wire a light themselves but I guess those people are out there arent they LOL Good point. Thank you.

So there is currently no lighting? Not sure I understand. Chandeliers can be polarizing, so maybe leave that for buyer to choose, but lighting is really important to a room. Do you have a photo?

There's no way I would not add lighting before putting on the market. It not only helps the house feel open and welcoming, up to date and tasteful fixtures help bring the house into the current day. They might change them out, sure, but you're doing this to get traffic to your house and the best possible price. I'm not sure what your style is, but Mitzi is a low cost line but well made. They're made by Hudson Valley Lighting but a fraction of the cost.

I'd be happy to have the money and pick them out myself since my DH would put them up. But not having them up will signal to people that other things might not be done and to start looking for defects, whether they are aware of it or it's only in their subconscious.

As I learned in my Real Estate class you don't want to make the buyer think. Most have a hard enough time visualizing furniture (I'm guessing it's empty?) so don't add lighting on top of it.

Imagination is limited. That's why staging has become de rigeur. Add the needed lights, but don't go wild on cost.

I say don't do anything. You said it's dark, so I don't see the need. I have a hard time thinking buyers are going to walk into a house that isn't dark and say I'm not going to buy it because it needs some lights over the island. Please. If you get an offer and they ask for a lighting allowance then consider giving it to them, or if you get a lot of feedback about the lighting then consider putting it in then or offering an allowance in the listing. Otherwise, save your $$ and let the buyer deal with it.

House will show better with lighting that is appropriate for style and sales price of the remodeled house.

Heres the photo from the breakfast nook, which would also get a chandelier. Excuse the mess. Were still finishing some odds and ends with trim, baseboards and crown.

Just make sure all the overheads are on at full brightness during showings.

Plus, honestly - chandeliers are such a personal thing. Definitely in terms of style, but also if someone wants one at all. Personally? I HATE hanging light fixtures. Any of them. Table lamps are fine, love recessed, but I have no use or desire for anything hanging (I had to concede one small pendant over the sink because DH likes it, but if it were up to me I'd rip it out). So if I were to buy your house that had a couple chandeliers you put in because you think they're wanted or expected, I'd look at it as cr*p I have pay to have that area re-done with recessed and pay a drywaller to patch up the mess. Point being -- you have no idea what a buyer, any buyer, is going to like or want.

Ask your real estate agent. It really depends on your market, price range of the home, and buyers in your area. Just my opinion - in an entry level home, buyers might be struggling with mortgage rates and look at it as a problem if lighting is not in place. If it's mid to high end, those buyers would likely want to choose their own fixtures. I'm with @mxk3 z5b_MI. I dislike pendants in most applications, have trouble with most chandeliers, but dislike an abundance of discs/recessed, and would want a clean serene slate.

I feel that your doors/windows are a bit low for the height of the ceiling, so I would definitely install some fixtures to visually fill up the "air space" above the doors/windows, specially when looking across the space as shown in your photo.

Thank you @chispa. Excellent observation and not one ive heard before.

For me space feel a bit dark. For fixtures above island - I do not see where you plan to put it. Are you going to swap cans with pedants? -> hard no.
Or add wiring and additional lights? Then maybe (depends on the market, I’d be ok with cans for extra light or at least having all the wires so i can swap).

If I was to buy a flipped / renovated house here in Seattle area, I’d expect to put zero to minimum efforts for customization. Swapping meh lights with something I like would be “minimal” - adding anything beyond that (we’ve done in our current non renovated house) pain. I’d be ok with allowance though.

@ikmsrd23 We will be adding the boxes and wireing for lightening no matter what- so it would be ready. Thought of also offering to let buyer choose within a budget and we hang before closing.

I would be very put off if I looked at a remodeled house to buy and it didn’t have light fixtures. WTH?

For the record, I’d guess 25% of our friends would be interested in buying and installing their own. We would not, and I wouldn’t want to go buy some (immediately of course) and then search for an installer (also immediately) to put them in for us. What a PITA.

Appreciate your input @littlebug Zone 5 Missouri. Since my husband is handy and we do flips, our perspective is different, which is why I asked. If I were looking at a remodel, personally, I would want to choose them myself, and ask for a lighting allowance to do so rather than have to replace something I didnt like they choose. Thanks for taking the time.

Do not put the house on the market without finishing the lighting . Buyers will assume it is a desperate sell and make offers in like manner. Spend the money now and you will get it back in the sale. There are very nice fixtures available at reasonable cost. Take a look at decorpad. It's worth the search.

https://www.decorpad.com/look-4-less

I think asking your Realtor is your best bet. Depends on the market and your target buyer. For me personally, I would prefer to get my own because I don't tend to like trendy things. I would guess that most people do not want the hassle of installing fixtures. An agent experienced in your market can give you the best advice in this case.

FINISH THE PROJECT B4 PUTTING ON MARKET!!

There's a tremendous amount of marketing value to completely finishing the project. Light fixtures are the finishing touches. I would never leave a home unfinished for sale.

BTW - when expecting a showing or open house, make sure to switch on 100% of the lights.

The market thru mid 2022 spoiled us and is no longer HOT. Buyers have more choices, more time to make decisions. You want your home to be in the top 2 a buyer considers vs a year ago everything sold whether its #1 or #20. If the buyer doesn't like the fixtures, offer to credit & use in your flip business. Most buyers don't want projects.

Could you show us pictures with the lighting you do have?

@artemis_ma Posted earlier. We have 10 cans in the open space, so its not dark. But I get what others are saying about fininishing it.

I was at IKEA yesterday. It has lots of inexpensive light including pendants. You could add the missing fixtures for a few hundred bucks.

(I visited a model home of the style my sister and her husband are buying for his relatives to rent. Not only were were all the lighting fixtures installed, they were all set on maximum brightness, and the wall switches and dimmers had been bypassed so visitors couldn't adjust them!)

Light fixtures will add life to those rooms.

What comes to mind when I look at the photo is not just that light fixtures are "missing" but that if I want some I'll have to not only buy fixtures but have electrical work done as well - hmmmm....how much is that going to run me? Then I see you say you will put the electrical boxes in - and then what? You have an ugly electrical box hanging open on the ceiling? If you're going to do the electrical then you have to hang a fixture.

I look at a lot of real estate listings and I see a lot of fixtures I'd hate living with - all the popular bare bulb stuff out there right now. I'd get rid of all that but I could take my time since I'd have some kind of fixtures while I was looking for something more to my liking. I would not take my time with exposed electrical boxes.