How is the house selling season going?

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<p>Well since you are truly disappointed, I am sorry. I guess the only thing to do is take your calculation of your estimated additional cost, add it to the value you think is correct, and make that offer. The necessary construction might seem daunting, but you’ve been through it recently so you’re on your game in terms of knowing how to handle it, and what to consider. And if you go this route, you’ll end up with a home that truly matches your preferences in terms of style, colors, etc. Good luck - wish you the best.</p>

<p>As for jym, don’t egg her on. She’s seriously misbehaving. Jym, go stand in a corner somewhere, no wine allowed. tut, tut. ;)</p>

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<p>??? I was encouraging the gentleman to buy his wife a nice gift. Hope you’ll do the same for me :D</p>

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<p>Dstark-
Have you been through a construction/remodel lately? I missed that. If so, were you happy with your contractor? Was he/she easy to work with? Did they stay on budget? On time? Could you live easily in the apt while they were working? Do you really want to go through it again?</p>

<p>While we were ultimately happy with the looks of our remodel (and we did a lot-- kitchen, 2 bathrooms, master closet, etc) the process was a serious headache with a contractor who was unreliable and had some serious problems. He mistreated us and another client, but thats another story. I would not go through that mess again anytime soon. That said, when we first bought this house 16 yrs ago, we had work done on it before we moved in (still lived in our old house) and that was fun and a piece of cake.</p>

<p>Now, in all seriousness, hayden, I thought it was dstark’s DW’s friend who first brought up the point that they didn’t want to hear them having personal relations (post #126). While it may have been half serious/half in jest, if the walls are truly that thin, I can understand any potential homeowner’s concern. I owned a townhouse befor I got married. The next door neighbor had a drum set set up in his second bedroom adjacent to my bedroom wall. He liked to play at night. Need I say more?</p>

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<p>jym, back to being serious: yes, I agree. That’s actually one of the reasons I could never be happy in a condo or townhouse. Having loud neighbors can be difficult, and there’s very little you can ever do about it. When loud neighbors are paired with thin walls, it can make living there a very tiresome proposition. With condos, you run the chance of having neighbors on both sides, as well as top and bottom. I don’t like those odds.</p>

<p>When we were first married, my husband and I lived in an apartment where the couple below us fought constantly, at all hours of the night. It was so hard to sleep with the screaming and yelling. Then there was the anxiety of whether we should do anything if the screaming stopped suddenly.</p>

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<p>“Dstark-
Have you been through a construction/remodel lately? I missed that. If so, were you happy with your contractor? Was he/she easy to work with? Did they stay on budget? On time? Could you live easily in the apt while they were working? Do you really want to go through it again?”</p>

<p>Yes…I have done a remodel this year…I dealt with 2 general contractors… handymen…and other contractors…</p>

<p>I was happy with almost everybody I worked with…and yet…the project took longer than I thought ((it is hard to get people to show up when they are supposed to) and cost 30% more than I thought…although to be fair…the town I live in made me do a lot of safety work (bringing the house up to code)…the project was probably 15 to 20 % over budget…</p>

<p>The house looked great and I sold it in a week…</p>

<p>Having said that…do I really want to do this again?</p>

<p>Not really…</p>

<p>On the positive said…I am renting so I wouldn’t have to live in the townhouse while it was being redone…</p>

<p>The seller of the townhouse lives in another country and doesn’t want to do any work. I don’t blame him…</p>

<p>It’s a day later …and a few things bug me about the townhouse…
There was a leak in the chimney and it affected the ceiling of the living room…I look at the patch work job in the living room ceiling and it isn’t smooth…I wonder if there is still a leak. I really don’t want to deal with this.</p>

<p>I just redid a deck at my old house. This townhouse has a deck that needs work. I wasn’t expecting this. I don’t want to deal with this.</p>

<p>The den is reeeeeeally small. I thought it was much larger…My memory failed there.</p>

<p>I have also been thinking about the kitchen and the bathrooms…I think they are extremely dated…but maybe others would think they are fine…so others wouldn’t remodel them and would be willing to pay more for the unit…</p>

<p>I do think the deck, ceiling, and den are going to be turnoffs for others…
However…it is in a great location…you can walk to so many places…and it has a great view (different than my apartment’s view…I think I prefer my apartment’s view).</p>

<p>One thing my wife asked…even if we remodel and the place isn’t worth it…what is out there that is better for our needs at a similar cost?</p>

<p>So…I am very conflicted…I was hoping this decision was going to be a no-brainer. :)</p>

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<p>If you are really willing to do all that work, which could include rebuilding the chimney if there is a leak (we just had to do that) then calculate what you think the house is worth based on the $$ you are going to have to put in (sweat equity does have a value) and make an offer below what you are willing to pay, to give yourself wiggle room.</p>

<p>In listening to you, I hear 5 negatives for every one positive, but the one positive is a strong one, so I can see why you are conflicted.</p>

<p>Here is an idea. This has happened in our neighborhood a few times, and in fact our realtor did this when we were looking at this neighborhood many years ago. Put a flier in the mailboxes of all the residents, telling them you are serious buyers interested in living in that community, and if anyone has considered selling their home you would like to talk to them. Be sure to describe yourself, with name, number, etc so they know you are for real. There are often people who would consider selling but haven’t gotten moving to put their house on the market. That way you can see what else is there in the community and not feel this one unit, which has many issues, is the only game in town.</p>

<p>Is it a fee simple townhome or are there monthly fees? If the chimney/roof needs repair, is that your cost or the complexes cost?</p>

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<p>Have you thought about sending a letter to every other unit in the association asking if they are interested in selling? You could state that you are a cash buyer looking for a place to live and that you find the association attractive.</p>

<p>You might also just go around knocking on doors to chat with homeowners - they might be interested in selling or might know of someone else that’s looking to move.</p>

<p>When I was looking for an apartment for our son near the campus, I just walked around the neighborhoods in the area. I looked for For Rent signs but I also wandered into a condo (townhouses) as buying something was also a possibility. I talked with several owners in the complex about buying and renting and got a feel for the community dynamics. There was one unit that rented to college students and it was a parent collective from a community about 35 miles away. There were no parties held there - if a student did try to hold a party, the neighbors would tell the owners about it. It was a fairly close-knit association which I liked.</p>

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<p>Ummmm bceagle, did you read paragraph 3 in my previous post??</p>

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<p>Posting collision.</p>

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<p>“Here is an idea. This has happened in our neighborhood a few times, and in fact our realtor did this when we were looking at this neighborhood many years ago. Put a flier in the mailboxes of all the residents, telling them you are serious buyers interested in living in that community, and if anyone has considered selling their home you would like to talk to them. Be sure to describe yourself…the market.”</p>

<p>“Have you thought about sending a letter to every other unit in the association asking if they are interested in selling? You could state that you are a cash buyer looking for a place to live and that you find the association attractive.”</p>

<p>I think the letter idea is a very good one…and we recently did that but we didn’t receive any bites…</p>

<p>I still like the idea and would do it again…</p>

<p>The turnover in this complex is very low…
Out of 40 units…there are only nine we would consider because we want certain views…this unit has the views we want…I’m not sure why the owner didn’t respond to our letter…maybe because he lives out of the country and wanted a realtor to represent him…</p>

<p>There is one other unit that is going to go on the market that is fixed up very nicely and doesn’t have these issues…but the view isn’t much from this place…and so we aren’t really interested…</p>

<p>A townhouse can be updated…but moving its location is tough…</p>

<p>We would never buy this townhouse if it wasn’t for the location and views.</p>

<p>My wife is going to the Women’s World Cup in Europe and maybe that is a good thing…:slight_smile: The townhouse is not going to officially go on the market for a couple of weeks…</p>

<p>The chimney is the homeowner’s responsibility…</p>

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<p>dstark, the view is one thing that CANNOT be added by a remodel. Anything else can be fixed and/or changed. In my neck of the woods, a view is a very highly sought after feature, and it adds $$$ to the price.</p>

<p>So the positives that I’ve heard about so far are:

  1. Location
  2. View
  3. Low turnover of residents (trust me, it is important!)</p>

<p>The negatives are:</p>

<ol>
<li>Needs work (get an estimate of $$ involved)</li>
<li>Small den</li>
<li>Wall thickness?</li>
</ol>

<p>“I have also been thinking about the kitchen and the bathrooms…I think they are extremely dated…but maybe others would think they are fine…”</p>

<p>Can you describe the kitchen so we can give you a ballpark opinion of how “extremely” it is dated?</p>

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<p>Seems like you should let the realtor know you are exploring your options. If you really want this unit, leaky ceiling/chimney, small den,broken deck, dated bathroom/kitchen and all, then calculate the cost of the repairs/remodel, add 25% and make a low offer. Ie if they are asking (for pure example) $500k and it clearly needs $100K in repairs at current estimate and before an inspection has been done, then offer $375 at most. THey may laugh, but they may counter.</p>

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<p>Agree with jym. We made a really lowball offer on a house that we liked and that needed a lot of work (kids and pets basically trashed the place). Of course, the owners laughed at us, counteroffered, and we backed off, because a brand new house under construction in a nice location went on the market… Three month later, the sellers of the first house lowered the price below out lowball offer. The house sat on the market for another 3-4 months (in 1999, when houses in my neck of the woods were selling briskly), but we were already happily landscaping the yard around our new home at that time. :)</p>

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<p>The reason I am not giving a low ball offer is the seller and realtor (who lives in the complex…complicating things) are hoping for a full price or higher bid. It hasn’t hit the market yet…so there is no way they would take a low ball offer right now…</p>

<p>I figure that in two months…my position will be stronger…unless it sells…in which case my position will be pretty weak. ;)</p>

<p>My wife’s friend has a friendly relationship with the realtor so I figure we will be told if there is a bid. Who knows? Maybe not. If I was a realtor, I would try and stir things up.</p>

<p>As far as the kitchen goes…it is 25 years old…the counters and cabinets are made of materials that I am unfamiliar with…:)The appliances aren’t much either…And a wall in the kitchen should be opened up…maybe the kitchen can capture some of the view…</p>

<p>The seller inherited the property …I don’t know, maybe 10 years ago…and has done very little to the property…</p>

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<p>“Three month later, the sellers of the first house lowered the price below out lowball offer. The house sat on the market for another 3-4 months (in 1999, when houses in my neck of the woods were selling briskly), but we were already happily landscaping the yard around our new home at that time.”</p>

<p>:)</p>

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<p>This is getting complicated. The owner lives overseas but inherited the property 10 yrs ago? Who lives there? Renters? Usually property that has been rental property isnt well cared for and needs a lot of work.</p>

<p>Is the realtor interested in buying it and flipping it? Why would they not want to talk to you about a price before it hits the market? Seems that would be a win/win if you could agree on a price. The seller and the listing agent can work out their own contract, and even if it isnt on the MLS yet, it can still be handled through a real estate office, I believe. The less work the agent has to do, the better arrangement the seller can make with the agent. Plus, you arent using an agent so you should for sure be able to negotiate the price down. Do you know what their current asking price is? Do you know what the other unit will hit the market at? What do yo have to lose by making them a low offer?</p>

<p>BTW, when we bought our house it wasnt on the market. It was owned by someone we knew, and had heard they were interested in selling. We told our realtor (who was both a buying an sellign agent for us) that if we looked at this house it was not going to be with her, but as a private, outside arrangement. It turns out we liked it the best of all the houses we looked at, and we worked with the seller privately-- no realtors, no listing, no comissions.</p>

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<p>If this is an inherited property, I would definitely make an offer, even if it seems low. Remember the scenario of the house on the corner of my block. Price was lowered from 233,5 to 205 in less than two months. An elderly was living there, last I looked, so I suspect this is the heirs trying to unload the house, ie, motivated sellers. You also mentioned nothing was done to the place since they got it. So, they’ve got no incentive to get money back. Unless the decedent had a lot of debt they’re having to pay off, the house is found money. Perhaps you were contacted before it was listed, etc, because they’re hoping to unload it quickly and not have to hassle with staging it, listing it, and all the other things that come with putting a house on the market. Remember, also, as long as they have the house, they have to pay taxes on it, utilities so it can be shown, and insurance. Since it’s a condo, I’m guessing they also have to pay condo fees as well. It might be worth them taking a lower offer just to get that monkey off their back.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>I agree with montegut. What do you have to lose by making an offer if you really want the place? You save them the cost of staging (if necessary), photos, putting it on the MLS, having open houses, caravans or whatever they do, printing fliers, etc. Its all time and money.</p>

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<p>Montegut…thanks…</p>

<p>The owner lives there a few months a year…</p>

<p>Nobody is going to flip this…</p>

<p>I will think about making the offer…</p>

<p>The points about the seller saving money if he sells quicker are true…</p>

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<p>dstark - you are in a perfect position to do the renovations, because 1) you just went through it, and 2) you aren’t going to have to live there while it goes on. It sounds like this place is a rare find, and you really see an opportunity. IMO, you have nothing to lose by making the offer, and the seller would be crazy to be offended by a low-ball opening bid. He’s absent. The realtor should be willing to share the commission since you don’t have an agent. They have to know there are issues with the property. What’s the worst that can happen? </p>

<p>On the issue of the outmoded commission model: we used a new company when we bought our new house, and it was a great deal for us. It was like a scaled back version of Redfin. Our agent did very little, but we needed very little, and the 3% selling office commission minus $1995 came back to us in the form of a check after closing. The sellers could have seen this as a windfall to us, or they could have seen it as something that allowed us to pay $20,000 more than we would have otherwise paid for the house. I think we all came out ahead.</p>

<p>So we got our first offer today, after about 2 months on the market. It was low, but serious enough to warrant a counter-offer. We had dropped our original price by 10%, and this offer is 20% below that original price. Ouch! We did everything we could do to make the house shine, but we couldn’t change the location and that seems to have held things up; everyone says they think it’s a great house. But it is what it is. We’ll see where things go in the next few days. Please send us house-sale karma! I need the money so I can start remodeling the new house!</p>