<p>He is very good at running numbers, he manages funds. I am also fairly plugged in with Manhattan real estate and prices are still dropping. Many apartments I looked at in April are on the rental market now.</p>
<p>Toblin, are you saying those numbers are too high or too low?</p>
<p>I think the ROI numbers are too high. I know Manhattan rents are sky high but so are prices, monthly fees and taxes. Not to mention the necessary set aside for maintenance. There might well be specifics particular to the property I am not aware of, but juicy yields like that raise questions in my mind.</p>
<p>Toblin…ok…thanks.</p>
<p>First- answers to some questions a few pages ago. We had an appraisal contingency even though we weren’t getting a loan. This was to be sure we didn’t overpay for a house- saved over 10 grand so it was a worthwhile expense. We also did not need a house selling contingency- the upside of being older and having savings. We were able to sell our Wisconsin house and retire to Florida.</p>
<p>As the seller it is good the buyers have a pending sale- they will need to find a place soon and will be able to afford it without carrying two mortgages. Buyers who haven’t a pending contract can easily decide to stay put until an offer for their house comes through.</p>
<p>When we sold our house the same picky/stressful (to us) buyers also wondered about the distance between the stair rails. They are up to code for the year built, no need to change them (6" then- anyone is foolish to let a small enough child to get stuck et al alone on stairs). </p>
<p>Always get an inspection. Our current house needed to have a couple dozen flaws fixed. Well maintained with many newer appliances, roof et al but the dryer vent was disconnected in the attic and other goodies I’m glad were taken care of. It was not necessary to bring everything up to today’s codes. Of course, any remodelling needs to be up to current codes, not those of the original build date.</p>
<p>Very Happy- I love Madison. UW especially. PM me anytime with questions.</p>
<p>Wish me luck…we are meeting with the realtor on Tuesday to list our home. Currently have a 5 bedroom home with a pool. Idea is to downsize and move 100 miles away to my husband’s “dream city.” We will buy a smaller town home there. I love our community and have lived here 40 years so it will be hard, but when we move we will be near the kids, so that is great.<br>
Thanks for all the great tips so far. We used the philosophy one of the poster’s realtors mentioned of “if it doesn’t look like it came from Crate & Barrel, get rid of it.” We also repainted the entire interior, updated the landscaping and packed away most of our stuff and hid it in the garage. And scrubbed and scrubbed till I have no fingertips left. Another poster said to replace the switchplates. I thought that was silly. Then we replaced one plate that was damaged and WOW! what a difference. So we ended up taking that good advice also. Send good thoughts my way, and I’ll keep you all posted.</p>
<p>Marigold, good luck.</p>
<p>thank you, dstark!</p>
<p>change the doors if they look tired, the house will be so nicer with new doors. They are much cheaper than windows.</p>
<p>marigold, good luck! What part of the country are you in?</p>
<p>Good luck marigold! Sounds like you have worked hard on the prep.</p>
<p>My buyers just asked if they could move the closing date up from Oct 19 to Oct 8. Sure. I can just as easily be not ready by the 8th as I am by the 19th. ;)</p>
<p>VH, you don’t want to move on my birthday! :)</p>
<p>marigold - good luck! Sounds like you’ve positioned your house well. </p>
<p>VeryHappy, LOL.</p>
<p>Oh my. This is a double whammy. Right now the new owners and their inspector are crawling all over the house, at the exact same time my 27-year-old son and his good friend are packing his “pod” for his move halfway across the country for five years of graduate school. Oh my. </p>
<p>I’m a little teary right now.</p>
<p>{{{ Hugs}}} to you VH! That would be hard to bear without shedding a few tears!</p>
<p>
Not selling prices. Of course most rental apartments are not 3+ bedrooms, they tend to target a certain market.</p>
<p>Someone up-thread mentioned the house inspection that was like a colonoscopy. The inspector and the new owners were here for three hours.</p>
<p>That IS stressful. Hope it all goes smoothly.</p>
<p>My colonoscopy better NOT take three hour!</p>
<p>thumper1 - LOL</p>