Re: post 4355…what happened to my “e”? I meant to type rationale, not rational.
Well, the pressure to sell is getting even stranger…
This morning at 9am my agent called me and said that she has a fellow agent in her office who is showing homes to a client flying in from San Francisco. What??? is this the same client that the other agent tried to get me to sign a listing agreement for yesterday???
She was talking up the property to an agent in her office. That agent knew that another agent in the office was doing showings on Monday for an out of town client. She contacted the agent who immediately called my agent. My agent was very thorough in vetting the qualifications of buyer, pre approval and interest. This client has made several offers already in Point Loma and did not get the properties. The Pacific Sotheby’s agent has been working with them for awhile (not the other agents who called me).
I told her that this is probably the same person and I need to be careful about entertaining a client when I have already been contacted by another agent about the same client. After much back and forth it has been determined it is the same person coming down from San Francisco. The client is meeting the original agent at a listing they have in Pt Loma that they have not been able to sell for 6 months. THEN she has an appointment with her buying agent to tour several other homes in Pt Loma. So this client does not have a buying representation agreement with the original agents, they were just grasping at an opportunity to try to sell my project since the out of town agent has an appointment to view their listing.
I should not be in trouble with this other agent bringing the client. Either way… I have a client flying down from San Francisco and we have to show the house at 1:30pm tomorrow whether I am ready or not. I kept repeating… 'can she see past all the construction and mess?" We are going to see if she even notices the roof color issue.
Meanwhile my agent is pushing me to send good photos for the client to view prior to coming over. I just looked through about 1000 photos and there isn’t one that doesn’t have a mess going on somewhere 
I just sent some sunset and view photos and hope that works
cb, for this client, who seems to have missed out on several properties, you might use the higher asking price your agent has recommended.
Do NOT – under any circumstances – accept an offer from this client and promise certain finishes, or “whatever you want.” You know that’s a recipe for disaster!!
I’m letting my agent handle this one, hands off. Believe me…she will be communicating her asking price. I’ve been through this drill a million times. Nothing will come from it. I’m not going to kill myself getting ready for Monday showing.
Although I am at the house scrubbing kitchen:) it is full of wood dust from sanding and finishing the top beam. It got inside all the cabinets
Tiles are already up. We only have about 10% of old roof to put back on. All done with new addition
Ohh and flooring guy is completely AWOL. Promised he would be working all day today with crew to make up for being 3 days late.
I may have to fire one of my highly skilled subcontractors but then I would be left trying to scramble to find a new flooring guy that magically isn’t busy right now. But it’s really important that I make a stand about not mesing up everyone else’s schedule
I can think of several reasons why it makes sense to start marketing the place before every last little thing is finished:
- waiting until completion realistically pushes you into 2017, because of Christmas
- cb's carrying cost is considerable, waiting another month will cost her a lot of money
- I think y'all are overstating the impact on price that showing it with 1% not finished will have. It's not like it's half done.
Cb and her agent have probably sold more houses in the last few years than any of us have in our entire lives. They know the local market, they know what they are doing.
I am adamant that we are not going onto public market until we have perfect photos and the remaining work is things that are not really important. Here’s some examples of what still needs to be done after Thanksgiving
Back fence on alley
Gate and fence on west side of house
Basement will not be cleared out but garages will
Master bath may not be completely done
Staircase handrails (this will be a safety issue)
Mulch across back yard
And I’m going to try hard to have glass railings up
I am OK closing escrow in 2017 for income reasons. BUT carrying costs are huge and I am not going to make it much longer. I need to close escrow in January. House has to be on market by first week of December to be feasible and that is the worst month to go up for sale.
My biggest risk at this point is that i have some private loans coming due and I will not ever risk my investors. They are the only way I can stay in business. It would be horrible to have to negotiate time extensions. It is a huge stress going on behind the scenes right now. They’ve never had to wait a whole year for their returns
I’m sure you and your agent will make the right choices. You do have a stellar, unique property and one lucky buyer will get it and be grateful for all your attention to detail.
cb, if you don’t sell it during 2016, is that good for your tax situation? or, over two years, is it a total neutral?
Probably better tax wise to sell in 2017. Wouldn’t hurt to have extremely low income in 2016
“House-hunting over the Thanksgiving weekend – Who does that?!” - Out of town clients with cash in their pocket. Having said that… it does seem important to not rush things… you’ll just have to sort through the variables with your agent. Best of Luck!
From what you are writing…it sounds like the San Fran buyers are looking for a bargain…and your place would be one a $1.5 million…with the huge lot, great views, renovated to new construction, and the sq footage and number of rooms in the house.
But fact is…the price is higher…right?
I’m with you…this is going to go no where…because they are looking for a bargain.
There’s a decent chance the tax rates will be lower next year, so delaying income into 2017 could be worthwhile.
The other house that the buyer is coming to look at is (that is listed by the same agents that sold me this project)
3672 Liggett 92106
Asking $1.8 down from over $2 million. On market for a long time
So… I know that this buyer is at least at the $1.8 million mark unless they are going to low ball
I believe that my project compares very favorably to that $1.8 mil because we have panoramic ocean views and are updated tastefully … well, at least I hope it is tastefully
All hands on deck to at least make us somewhat presentable by 1:30pm!! The irony is that we spent hours on Friday cleaning up the floors and re-covering them again for protection. Yesterday my agent asked me to take off all the coverings so that the potential buyer could see the gorgeous floors. Dang it… start all over again
Oh, ugh, that house! What is the flooring? And I wonder if there used to be a pool where the funny patio and table are.
It wasn’t staged well. The windows in the bedrooms all looked too small and the giant living room made you notice all the “ceiling acne”. And it was strange.
That Ligett house is ugly with a capital U. And no views. And seriously overpriced. Not that I believe zillow as its often way off, but they have it zestimated at $1.25M
CB you house is soooo much nicer than that house! That office/shed building is just strange.
Love the dining room light fixture!
“Designed by renowned architects Whitney Smith and Wayne Williams”
Maybe they were renowned back in the 40’s and 50’s, but I don’t think their designs have held up that well:
In their defense, they are probably not responsible for the orange formica counter tops. Or adding a dishwasher that opens DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE SINK.
<<<<<< Shivers>>>>>> Where I live, Wayne Williams was a serial child killer back in the late 70’s- early 80’s. He is in prison for life. Not designing too many houses, at least the WW on this coast.