How is the house selling season going?

Parent Cafe
2261

<p>I am not surprised with 51 bids. When the market was VERY cool in Christmas 2010, there were 16 bids on the house I bought. I was really lucky to win that house. Our house is located in the “cool” location in the bay area, we are talking about East Bay, pretty far from the epic center.</p>

<p>Had my house go on the market today, it would fetch 51 bids at the price I bought(200K BELLOW today’s market).</p>

<p>Besides, the broker made a huge mistake representing the seller for my house. They listed the wrong school district, the difference is 300 in HS ranking.</p>

2262

<p>[Investors</a> Help Lift Home Demand, But Not Prices - Real Time Economics - WSJ](<a href=“Investors Help Lift Home Demand, But Not Prices - WSJ”>Investors Help Lift Home Demand, But Not Prices - WSJ)</p>

2263

<p>^I am definitely seeing a trend in hotter markets out here in CA…</p>

<p>There are more homes coming on the market (in some instances at ridiculously) higher prices. Sellers are starting to “test” the market more and more.</p>

2264

<p>Are the squatters out of the other property yet, artlovers? The longer that loony guy stays, the more squatters he will bring in. Will be a constant revolving door, and I’ll bet he is doing it on purpose to make it harder to get them all out.</p>

2265

<p>JYM, thanks for the concern, I hope I will be done by end of the month. No, I don’t believe this guy will bring more squatters into the house.</p>

2266

<p>We may be adding our house to the market sometime later this year. It is a very well-built 1950’s home with originial cabinets and bathrooms (authentic “mid-century” is popular in some parts of the country but not necessarily ours). It is in a great school district, but no similar homes have sold in the area, in order to compare values. </p>

<p>It looks fine, and actually better quality than many of the “upgrades” we’ve seen from the 70’s & 80’s. But, we are also nearing the end of useful life for some major items (roof may need replacing in about 5-7 years, furnace works fine, but is 18 years old, wood floors are starting to show wear in heavy traffic areas, etc.)</p>

<p>We know if we replace all of the above, it will cost much more than we will get back in a sale. What is the general advice on whether to upgrade all this, or to sell “as-is”?</p>

<p>The home would be great for a young couple who want to upgrade over time, but I’ve often heard most people want everything done for them before moving in.</p>

2267

<p>Substitute 1961 for 1950s, and a completely past end-of-life roof (thought it doesn’t seem to leak) for yours, and that would exactly be MIL’s house that we inherited (with mortgage.) </p>

<p>My best investment so far: I found a really good stager who for $250 came out yesterday, spent two hours, and then gave us a detailed list of specifically what paint colors to use, what things made the most sense to change, and what things to leave alone. She & her partner do a lot of work for high volume RE sales people in this area.They were actually thrilled to be brought in before we did anything so it wasn’t a case of them trying to put lipstick on a pig. They had some before-and-after pics that gave me hope. (I looked at portfolios from four different stagers, and looked at the pictures on Redfin to get more info on the houses to confirm before making a choice.) Best $250 I’ve spent so far. Next best: found a reliable and competent handyman who has been a jewel at doing all sorts of little things without needing supervision. I send him emails of things to do…and they get done! </p>

<p>My best suggestion having seen the agony the guy next door to MIL had with her house on the market stuffed with 50 years of family belongings: Much as it may pain you, dealing with stuff & getting rid of it now can only help. My MIL’s house had three truckloads of junk hauled away, and a huge amount donated to charities or given to aides. Even if you’re still living in the house, how many potato peelers do you need? All that bedding? Piles of DVDs, videos, and books? The old curtains you put in a closet years ago because you didn’t like them? Much as MIL’s house needs some real TLC, it felt so, so much better as things cleared away. I believe it is one reason the guy next door had so much trouble selling – he had one bedroom crammed full of electronics that either didn’t work or were not in use, and every closet was packed to gills and every surface covered with mementos of family life. And way, way too much furniture everywhere. And a bunch of wallpaper. And heavy, fusty drapes. I think he would have been better off not putting the granite countertops on the 1961 kitchen and instead taking care of these other things, but YMMV.</p>

2268

<p>to upgrade or to sell as is…This is a 10 million dollar question.</p>

<p>It all depends your local situation.You need to compare your viewing of the surrounding for sale homes to your own home. You will come to a conclusion what to do.
Generally speaking, if the market is hot, it does not pay to upgrade, if the market is cool and listing is hard to sell, you need to upgrade.</p>

<p>Real Estate is very local.</p>

2269

<p>Husband and his brother have inherited grandpa’s house. I desperately want to buy out BIL’s half so we can have the house as a weekend escape. It’s 90 minutes away, near the beach, and in a quiet, laid back town. Instead, we will have to empty the contents of two centuries of belongings, as MIL was an only child among six wealthy aunts and has all the antiques. We can’t sell most of the stuff, as we promised it would stay in the family, so we will have to empty the house, put it in storage, which we’ll have to pay, and then sell the house. I would rather keep the house, keep the antiques there, and have a retirement home, and a place to leave our son. Husband says no, we can’t afford our own household bills, much less those of two households. House will likely sell for less than 100K. Other neighbors on the block whose children have sold the family home after they passed are now owned by people who buy rental property. Going to kill me to see our weekend escape become a house trashed by renters.</p>

2270

<p>Aww, Montegut, that’s tough.</p>

2271

<p>I guess if you can not cough up that 45K, you will have to give in. Sorry.</p>

2272

<p>Bummer Montegut! That is a stressful situation.<br>
Can you guys rent it out (maybe even furnished) for a while to keep it in your hands until you are ready to retire?
I think you should feel comfortable selling some of the items. It is not fair to ask future generations to keep more than a few items, IMO.<br>
My mom and I have discussed what she wants her grandchildren to get eventually, but she pared the list down to keep it manageable.</p>

2273

<p>kjofkw: here is my advice on the upgrade/sell as is issue. We had a similar house, 1970era with not much done to it. We knew we would be selling in a couple of years, so we redid many things: new hardwood floors, paint, refinished kitchen cabinets and all interior wood doors, granite tile counters in kitchen, four bathrooms and laundry room remodeled or updated, kitchen ceiling redone with new contemporary lighting, new carpet on stairs and bonus room, all new windows and exterior doors, new dishwasher, new molding, new lighting fixtures throughout. I had a contractor underfoot for an entire year and our total cost was around $50,000 for everything. </p>

<p>Then we got almost everything out of the house and our realtor who is also a professional stager staged it for us with bright, contemporary furniture and art. The house has been for sale for 8 months and just today we have an offer and are waiting for a second offer that is supposed to come in.</p>

<p>But here is the key: at the price it is selling at, we will probably only net about $50,000. So that whole year of remodeling, all the work of picking everything out…was it work it, or would the house have sold if $50,000 less in price and we could have saved ourselves a lot of hassle. Plus it has made me really sad to sell the house because there were so many nice features that I picked out and loved.</p>

<p>Here is what I would do in your case: paint inside in light, neutral shades, paint trim outside if needed, clean everything including windows, get a lot of the furniture and most of your personal stuff out. Replace light fixtures, porch lights, and faucets with more contemporary versions. Freshen landscaping and add some new flowering plants.</p>

<p>Add a few new touches: bright, contemporary pillows and art prints. Try to make everything look contemporary and clean. My realtor/stager said, “If it doesn’t look like it came from Pottery Barn, get it out of there.”</p>

<p>But don’t bother living through a remodeling/major redecorating when you are just going to turn around and sell it.</p>

2274

<p>I’d really agree with mnmomof2 – Might your husband’s grandfather have been more pleased that you wanted to keep the house than all the stuff? Is it all stuff that is personally very meaningful to your husband or his brother? Are there things (silver, certain furniture) that wouldn’t fit in your lives? (And a storage space for antiques would need to be conditioned, higher end space that would likely cost a bundle each month to rent.)</p>

2275

<p>Montegut: re antiques in the house you are contemplating selling. We had many antiques and vintage things in our house collected over decades, including some family pieces. We had no luck at all selling most of it. There is not much market for antiques or old things right now as that is not the look most young people acquiring furniture and decor items want right now. We ended up practically or actually giving most things away; some still in storage at my H’s office. It was really sad to see such beloved things go that way.</p>

2276

<p>arabrab, I’m glad you found a good stager. It’s also helpful to know what they charge, more or less.</p>

<p>I’m curious - what did she/he recommend regarding the bathroom?</p>

2277

<p>I’m in depressed house sale mode. We have a 2 unit (upper/lower) house I’d like to sell. All utilities metered separately. 1920, has lovely inlaid hardwood floors that need refinished but look decent. New kitchen flooring and appliances, new windows, great porch. It’s a farmhouse in a very small (300) town, in decent shape and with a double corner lot.</p>

<p>Paid for, taxes and insurance together are $1000/year. Paid $48000 12 years ago; put maybe $15000 into it, rented prob. average of 11 months per year. Both units combined rent for ~$870.</p>

<p>Realtor we like and trust viewed it today and said investment units were very soft; there is one comparable in the county in last year. There are many foreclosures here, although they are usually trashed.</p>

<p>Thought we would sell for $45000 with some minor painting, etc., so net after closing $41500. Thought 8-12 months would be a reasonable time expectation.</p>

<p>Have a painter currently painting all the rooms. Most had 1970’s cheap paneling, although in great shape. It is looking so good!</p>

<p>Sigh…I can’t justify selling now when the house cash flows for $7000-8000/yr. I wanted out of this unit so badly. I guess it won’t be happening this summer. Renters at this level do not take care of things. My beautiful new kitchen and other painting will be trashed. At the risk of sounding like a snob, my state has VERY cheap housing. If someone is renting, there are reason(s) why. It is unbelievable to me how some people live.
/end of rant/</p>

2278

<p>[Where</a> Home Prices Are Rising Fastest - Yahoo! Finance](<a href=“http://finance.yahoo.com/news/where-home-prices-are-rising-fastest.html]Where”>Where Home Prices Are Rising Fastest)</p>

2279

<p>^^^ Nothing in the East. Interesting.</p>

2280

<p>What an experience this has been! Decided to have a pre inspection to ward off any nasty little surprises/ fix em, etc. Poorer and more knowledgeable now, work is wrapping up and should have the house back on the market next weel! UGH!</p>