I think sometimes people can’t see the faults in a house they have lived in for a long time. You notice them at first, and then you stop noticing after awhile. We had this house in Memphis many years ago, that I told my husband, that we MUST repaint every last room in there immediately, after we bought it. Well, we got busy and we didn’t. Living room dark green and maroon (perfect over Christmas), pink flowered wallpaper other places, bedroom that looked like a scene from Hell, and the bathroom wallpaper that my sister said looked like thousands of ladyparts (I’m saying that delicately). Funny how the guys seemed to linger in that bathroom, but I never liked it…
It wasn’t until a seller finally told our agent that he couldn’t look beyond the horrific paint/wallpaper scheme, that we fixed it. Painted and carpeted it all neutral, sold immediately. It’s hard for people to look beyond that, but it was easy enough for us. Apparently easy enough to not fix it!
When we bought our house, the realtor said “would you consider a fixer upper?” I said “No, but I will pay extra for one that’s already fixed up.” We had three kids and each work, so we knew that wouldn’t work for us. The house was pretty nicely done, and very neutral. (But we have learned that white tile floors work much better for 2 old people than for a family with three kids). WE didn’t overly for the house at the time. We live in a smallish neighborhood. A couple of houses sold for more than ours back in 2006, but the market really did crash rsoon after we bought. Fortunately we have a fair amount of equity, but I just don’t seem to hit the cycle well. I’ve never made much on houses.
an open house up the street today, so I am bumping this.
I live down the street & on my side of the street ( facing south) the lots are almost twice as big.
I think they are also counting the daylight basement as living space.
I don’t trust Zillow one bit. The low number they have guessed for our house is so far away from the high number, it’s almost laughable. The actual number they came up with of their Zestimate is way too high. I think they just throw darts at something to figure out the numbers.
The zillow for this house is actually accurate.
They bought it in November for $470k, and the current asking price is $670K
It was a rental for years, but I haven’t been in it to see what has been done.
This is the first open house, be curious how long it takes to sell.
I do agree that Zillows usual guesstimation is a bit generous in the past, but they seem to be getting better.
Good luck to your son, jym. This housing stuff can be a real pain, especially in those high cost areas.
I think that maybe the “zestimate” is accurate this time because the house just sold, emerald. I’ve noticed that right after a house sells, they make their estimate very close to that. But if the house has been off the market for awhile, anything goes. We bought some short sale/foreclosure condos for about 60% of the actual value, and Zillow had our condos valued at the short sale value for years, though they were worth much more. I am also curious what that house will sell for. If it sells for even close to the asking price, Zillow is way off.
Zillow has issues. But its a decent source of some basic history on a house. The one they are looking at is in the next neighborhood over from where they had hoped to be, but still within a few blocks. Its not a flipper and some of the remodel is a bit dated but its a lot more house for the money and they can bid aggressively. The bathrooms are a bit disappointing and the fireplace front is very 80’s but its for the mostpart very liveable and these are just cosmetic things. The view is great, the back yard is functional and its got way more square footage than the other houses they’ve recently bid on. Sorry to digress, EK, but i just got the info from them when you bumped the thread. Not sure how many competing bids there will be, and how aggressive other bidders will be. Thats the tough call.
Those things sound like issues that can be fixed. Bathrooms aren’t that huge of a project, and fireplace front they can fix pretty quickly. At least they make it all look easy on those fixer upper shows! Anyways, who spends much time in the bathroom, anyways? The square footage and neighborhood are the main thing, and that’s great that it’s larger than the others.
The bathrooms are small. Including the master bath. but every hose will have some issue and they can live with it. The kitchen was redone probably at least 10 years ago if not more (eg white appliances), so its all a little dated, but its easily liveable and fixable if they want to put their personal touch on it. They just have to be sure it has no major flaws (though all the bids these days are no contingency bids) and they have to get the house!
Yeah, getting the house is the main things. If it’s important enough, appliances can easily be replaced. Our kitchen is entirely white, and we thought we were going to change it a lot. After eight years, we haven’t done a thing with it, and now we actually like it, as it is very bright and cheery. Though if we had to replace an appliance, it would be metal, or whatever you call it. Aluminum, silver?
Stainless steel, unless you do the slate thing. I dont think slate caught on.
What worries me is that these house sell without inspections. This is a comparatively newer construction (by several decades) than what they have looked at, so maybe its got better earthquake protection, etc.
They said they’ll call shortly and fill me in. I think if they are the top bidder hey can do an inspection, but dont know how much negotiating is doable – depends if they have to put a “no contingency” clause in the offer… Dstark and artlovers would know this stuff better than I.
I think all CA houses built after 199x (I am not sure what x is) are conforming to Earthquake Proof codes.
In competitive bidding, no contingency is a tool to win the hart of a seller, that means, no inspection and financing contingencies. Meaning you are sure to buy it regardless of the condition of the home and whether a loan is required you are buying anyway. If you failed to get a loan you are in risk of losing your deposit.
Another tool to win the bid is to place a large down payment, like 10%. I once granted a buyer to extend the contract for a increased down payment of 50%!
This was built before 199X. IF they get it, they will get it inspected and go from there. The bug inspection was 100% clean!
They are prequalified with a well respected institution that promises to close in 21 days. ANd they plan to put a decent amount down, I believe. Hope they plan to get a lot of $$ as wedding gifts to refill the coffers!
Don’t drill too much on the earthquake proof stuff, otherwise you may lose it. Most houses in the bay area are not quake retrofitted and they are still standing, include those in the recent Napa quake. You can retrofit it for some money, but if you want the seller to pay, that is a risky proposition. You can stand on it, but you may never buy one, especially in the area your S is buying.