jym626

Is it too early in the day to pour myself a drink??

The kitchen was updated (thank heavens) about 10 or so years ago, so has granite countertops and newer cabinets with matching fronts on the dishwasher. The problem is, I live 1000 mi away, so doing this remotely is no easy task. There are hardwoods (very pretty) in the living room, dining room, downstairs hallway and master bath, but the den has very dated carpet. I'd prefer to give an allowance than to have to pay to have all this done, but yes..I just got the notice yesterday that the veterans discount on his taxes is now gone

cptofthehouse

Not good here. Neighbor's house which is staged to show room perfection still hasn't sold. I guess they are asking too much for it, but that means the market isn't there yet. My realtor friend tells me that the lower priced homes are moving rather well. Anything requiring a jumbo loan is still dead here.

dstark

Paint is the biggest payback....you can get back more than your costs...

I think floors are the second biggest payoff...and I think you will get back more than the cost...

I can't go into too much more detail....we sold the house in a week...because we priced it right and did a lot of work in the house...and the painting and redoing the flooring helped..I am sure...

The buyers don't have to do much but move in...they do eventually have to replaster the pool and redo the tile in the pool etc...

I heard the buyers are going to make changes though...

One thing that did happen is while we were in negotiations...my pool heater went on the blink....and since I told the buyer they were getting a pool heater that works...I am eating the cost and installation of a new pool heater...the pool heater breaking ....that was kind of bad timing...

My wife and I don't agree on what to buy...I thought we did, but we don't....we agree on the area...but I want to downsize more than she does....so.....I think we are going to rent for awhile. There is nothing out there for sale that we want anyway.

My vision is very cloudy right now. I can't tell what the real estate market is doing...I think homes that are fixed up and priced right do sell well....but they really have to be fixed up and priced well....There are some neighborhoods where homes sell in a few days..and others where I see nothing but overpriced stuff...

I did see a condo that was underpriced at $180,000 and it sold for $330,000....I think $330,000 was right.

I'm sorry to read that some posters are having problems selling...

One thing I do have is access to information, in the area, on sale prices and what is sales pending...quicker than the general public...

And I see that 90% of the time....the sold homes were offered within 3% of the final sales price or better....

jym626

Make that a double... on the rocks

cptofthehouse

Jym, the paint and decluttering and staging can make a difference, but the house next door is primo, a 10 out of 10 in all of the points, just not price and it would have been snapped up at that price before the down turn and is being taxed at that value. For our neighbors there is absolutely not a thing they could do to improve that house. It is that nice. It has to be the price.

dstark

Wellllll....price is huge....

BCEagle91

If you really want out, sell at market.

Montegut

JMO, jym, but I would pay to replace the carpet. I'll let others comment on whether to replace with carpet or hardwood, as I have cats and we live in New Orleans, so I don't do carpets. I've seen some nice marble looking tiles at friends' houses who've redone their floors, and it looks gorgeous. I would recommend putting hardwood in the den, but I don't know if you'll have a matching problem, since you already have hardwood in some rooms.

Before debating spending the money to update that one room, think about how much two years of insurance and taxes would be on the house. If it costs around that, or less, to replace the carpet, I'd do it.

I agree that people want move in ready. We bought our house right away just based on the fact that we could move right in. There was a lot to do outside, but as long as there was paint on the wall and floors on the ground, we could move our stuff in.

We also loved the wallpaper in our house when we bought it, and have never replaced it, 22 years later, and buy artwork and sofas to match it, as we intend to keep it the way it is as long as we're in the house.

hayden

Our house has been on the market for 3 weeks now, which isn't exactly a huge time. But my theory is that by now, all the current buyers have seen it, so we need to do something different. That's why I want to bring down the price.

When I prepped the house, I repainted the entire inside, power washed the outside, and had someone put down new carpet throughout the whole house. It was really necessary, since the old paint / carpet was from 15 years ago. I also took care of my pet peeve - I have those really cheap, tarnished brass-colored doorknobs. I don't know why they bother me so much, but they do. So I replaced them all with a nice brushed nickel set throughout the house. Anyone need any help painting and taking out and putting in doorknobs? Because I'm really experienced! Will work cheap.

jym, can I join you in that drink? I know a really nice screened in porch with new paint and plants that would be perfect for sitting out in to enjoy the spring weather . . . . .

cptofthehouse

BCEagle, the trick is determining what that market price is.

BCEagle91

> BCEagle, the trick is determining what that market price is.

I often sell stock (more than the value of our home) at market. Prices are determined by the bidders. If you put a home on the market for below what people tell you, then bidders should show up to bid up to market price. The factor there is the time that you're willing to wait for the best bid.

BunsenBurner

BC, but you would not put a market sell for 10,000 shares in a stock with the average daily volume of 100,000 shares on a pretty average trading day, would you? Of course, if you are desperate... It all depends on how many bidders are out there.

BCEagle91

I put a market order (my son executed the trade) for one share of Berkshire Hathaway the week before earnings. The average daily trading volume looks to be around 400 shares per day.

It's not a matter of desperation - it's trading discipline. You can do it on the winning or losing side. Houses? Just another asset.

dstark

hayden...I don't think I would have sold my house if I priced it 1% higher. The buyer was reticent to bid because the buyer was worried about getting into a bidding war and thought my house would go over the listing price as it was. The buyer's agent talked the buyer into bidding for the house...and there wasn't a bidding war because the other two potential buyers, never pulled the trigger and bid..

What kind of feedback are you getting?

Homes that need to be financed with jumbo loans are having a hard time...as was said earlier by another poster.

When I look back at the last month...I don't see a lot of buyers for homes that need to be financed by jumbos.

SlitheyTove

A fun story of how NOT to do it. There's a house on our block that's been up for sale for maybe 6 months. It sat on the market overpriced by at least 50%. Now there's a new agent and the price has dropped--it's now only overpriced by about 25%.

The owners bought at the peak. The house had been in the same hands for about 40 years, and needed freshening up. The new owners are in the building trade, so it was easy to gut the kitchen and put in something top-of-the-line. That's fine, but the rest of the renovations were something that's going to fit most people's taste. The living room area has marble tile floor and pillars...smack dab in the middle of the room. It's one of the least welcoming entrances I've ever seen. Dark hallways lead off to the bedrooms. The exterior of the house is nondescript. Best of all: the house has massive negative curb appeal, because the house is hidden behind a security wall covered with overgrown ivy. The parkway right in front (the grass strip between the property and the street) has 3 foot high weeds.

It's pretty clear that the owners overextended themselves and are hoping for a miracle. What amazes me is that they're sabotaging themselves. The house badly needs to be staged, even though the owners are still living there--that living room has random bits of furniture scattered around. During one open house, there were some abandoned toilets (!) sitting amongst the weeds. If the house was being sold as a distressed property, and priced accordingly, buyers would overlook the weeds and general unpleasantness. But the house is priced like a turn-key property. I'm stunned that any agent would take on this dog of a listing.