The residential real estate market is starting to turn around...

Parent Cafe
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<p>artlovers, it was a no-fee refi with the same lender. Our plan was to build up as much equity as possible so we could access it for college, and then we’d refi after the guys graduate with the remaining primary loan + HELOC balance. As it turns out, we won’t need to refinance. We felt putting $$ towards the mortgage was a better investment than throwing $$ into a 529. For us, it worked. We cut back on other stuff instead of borrowing on the HELOC, S1 contributed a substantial chunk of his expenses through scholarships and work, FA for the overlap when both kids were in school was better than we expected, and I went back to work (I was on unpaid medical leave when we refinanced) when S1 went to school. </p>

<p>Smartest thing we did was to buy less house than we could theoretically afford. Our current mortgage is less than the rent we paid in 1998 on the townhouse we lived in before buying.</p>

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<p>Well, CC Friends – I need advice. Sorry for the length, but I want to give you some context.</p>

<p>We’re now in the position of needing to sell my late MIL’s Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) mid-century-modern home so that her reverse mortgage can be satisfied. We are not personally interested in owning a 5/6 bedroom/3ba. rental property in LA. (5/6 because one bedroom leads from another – I wouldn’t want people tromping through my room to get to theirs, but the county assessor calls it a separate bedroom – it is really a separate MIL suite that also has its own kitchen and a separate entrance.)</p>

<p>My MIL was the original owner, and not much has been done to it since they built it in 1961. However, in the Northridge quake some of the shower pans/wall tiles cracked, and were repaired by putting in new pans/tiling part-way up the wall and leaving the old tiling (which is the little tiny squares in various aquas) to run up the rest of the way. That quake, and some others, and general settling has also led to a number of cracks in the walls, and a roof leak (which was fixed quickly enough) left some ceiling stains on some of the “cottage cheese” ceiling. The carpet is a dingy peach, and there is a little bit of wallpaper in the entrance hall; the rest is painted. The exterior could use repainting. Other than some lovely fruit trees, there is no landscaping to speak of. </p>

<p>I interviewed three RE agents. Two said simply to clear it out, clean it, but do nothing in the way of repainting or new carpet – that buyers of these houses come in and plan to do some significant remodeling, and whatever you do won’t be right, and so won’t be valued. The third agent wanted to do quite a few changes, but the pictures she showed me of some houses she’d flipped looked trashy. (And, when I went on a tour of houses for sale in the area, the two flipped homes really did have a “lipstick on a pig” feeling. The one nicely re-done mid-century-modern had clearly had $100K of work done:Classy new front door, higher end appliances and countertops, re-tiled bathrooms with new “mid-century modern” vanities and hardware, new windows, skylights and some decent landscaping.)</p>

<p>I’m conflicted. I would never put my own home up for sale without doing the things that make the curb appeal and the initial look a strongly positive one, so this concept of simply cleaning it up and leaving it there will all warts right in view feels strange…but I don’t know that market. </p>

<p>Thoughts?</p>

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<p>Is your MIL’s house historically significant?</p>

<p>I don’t know your area, but in Northern California the few Eichlers that come on the market in original condition are highly prized. The Brown & Kaufman houses that were built around the same time period (late 50s and early 60s) haven’t aged as well and generally look better when they’ve been renovated. </p>

<p>Original Eichlers are often shown spotlessly clean but empty. It would be expensive to stage with MCM furniture, and more contemporary furniture might detract from the bones of the house.</p>

<p>I would think painting the interior & ceilings a neutral color would give a pretty big bang for your buck, as would replacing the peach carpet. You could also price out the exterior painting. I would think spending a few thousand on paint would be well worth it.</p>

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<p>I agree with vball, painting it inside and out would be appropriate if the paint is tired. Curb appeal is good for selling. But I do not suggest to change the carpet even it is out dated and bit dirty as it is expected to change with a new purchase.</p>

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<p>Not an Eichler…sadly. This house is nearby and very similar, though it doesn’t have the MIL suite/2nd kitchen. MIL’s house doesn’t have landscaping like that or a pool.
[5744</a> Wilhelmina Ave, Woodland Hills, CA 91367 MLS# f11090479 - Zillow](<a href=“http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5744-Wilhelmina-Ave-Woodland-Hills-CA-91367/19880967_zpid/]5744”>http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5744-Wilhelmina-Ave-Woodland-Hills-CA-91367/19880967_zpid/)</p>

<p>Here’s one with some better pics (better school zone too, unfortunately). MIL’s fireplace walls (two offset fireplaces, one on each side of the wall – is that weird, or what?) is brick, not stone, but thankfully unpainted.
[4417</a> Coloma Ave, Woodland Hills, CA 91364 - Zillow](<a href=“http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4417-Coloma-Ave-Woodland-Hills-CA-91364/19900592_zpid/]4417”>http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4417-Coloma-Ave-Woodland-Hills-CA-91364/19900592_zpid/)</p>

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<p>The second property shown looks like it has pretty nice floors…</p>

<p>I would definitely paint…you have a one story…that will keep costs down…</p>

<p>Carpeting…I would get quotes…i might change the carpets. </p>

<p>One thing I might do…which doesn’t cost much and you might paint anyway…is change doorknobs…make them new and uniform across the home…Little things…like new outlet covers…make a house look good.</p>

<p>If the place is a mess… I might do nothing, but then you have to price the place accordingly.</p>

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<p>Berkshire’s carpet subsidiary business was way down in 2011 - might be a good time to get a deal on carpeting.</p>

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<p>If your MIL’s house has curtains like in the first link you gave, take them down, fast! Then clean the windows so they’re sparkling. The beauty of these Eichler-like homes is their expanse of glass windows.</p>

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<p>I am with vball, rip those curtains down today.</p>

<p>This house could sell tomorrow if you staged/advertised it right.</p>

<p>Currently looking at the 4 pics. I got to see a duplicate because of the fp. I don’t know if there is a formal DR or the MBR.</p>

<p>These are the top factors for buyers.</p>

<p>Looking at the link, IMPO as a realtor here are your weaknesses.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Curtains. Yank them down. Go to Wal-Mart and buy scarf valances to make it current.</p></li>
<li><p>Kitchen
~ Wallpaper. Spend the weekend and take it down, paint with a nice warm color. Buyers dread nothing more than thought of tearing out wallpaper. Even if they don’t like your color they will say, no biggie, it’s just paint.
~ Change the knobs (pulls). White ceramic screams old. For 50 bucks you can place stainless or wrought iron to update.
~ Get rid of the dang magnets. Women want clean crisp kitchens, in other words show rooms. The magnets draw attention to how old the fridge is and they will place that calculation in their mind.</p></li>
<li><p>Where is the DR pic?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Was the original plan that the 2 sided fplc was one side LR and the other DR, but for whatever reason the DR doesn’t exist now?</p>

<p>Women want a formal DR especially when the kitchen you have can’t fit a larger table.</p>

<ol>
<li>MBR</li>
</ol>

<p>I get edgy when the description discusses the MBR, but doesn’t show any pics. Buyers want to see their potential bedroom.</p>

<ol>
<li>Zillow is stating on their site you are 10K above their estimate.<br></li>
</ol>

<p>~ With that fact, and the lack of seeing a DR or bath/bedrooms why would I show your home? The only reason why as a realtor I would do it, would be due to the fact is @1/2 acre with a pool.</p>

<ol>
<li>You are not highlighting your assets.
~ De-clutter around the fireplace.

&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;If you can afford, and are handy or watch DIY shows build a mantle ledge to add height.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Get rid of the photo's on the wall.  It is just dating the home.  I saw the pics online and thought 1980's.  Buyers will look at them and miss the true assets in the room...fireplace and doors.  They will sit there and say OMG look at this pic.  In this case it is not art.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Looking at the age of the home, I am betting there are hardwoods under the carpeting.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Again, you will need to spend time to rip them out, but if that house was pictured with hardwoods it would be a must see even with the kitchen.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt; Re-take the picture because you have a pet in it.  We own both dogs and a cat, and I can tell you that most people will walk in expecting a pet odor if they saw on line an animal walking through.  They will immediately reduce the price for replacing the carpets...see point 6.  Refinishing hardwoods may be cheaper than new carpets.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Everything I state is my RE POV.  The most important thing when you look at the Zillow link is after 1 yr you are still 10K above.  Your property is what we call "old".  Every realtor knows you exist. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;JMPO, you need to take it off the market, do some easy fixes which require elbow grease.  Place it back on with new pics.&lt;/p&gt;
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<p>^ Maybe I missed something, but I thought the two links arabrab posted are of similar homes, not the MIL’s home.</p>

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<p>That’s right, they were just comps. But I have to say that first listing has terrible photos and staging and serves as a great example of how not to show a house to its best advantage.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the great advice. Just to clarify, the home is not yet listed – these are simply some other homes in that neighborhood on the market that are basically the same floorplan built by the same builder.</p>

<p>I spent two weeks clearing out the house, so the kitchen is empty except for white table and chairs (very mid-century modern esthetic, if that helps) and a fridge. Drawer pull changeout would be easy. MIL had the kitchen cabinets stained a dark walnut (originally they were light wood). </p>

<p>I really appreciate the comments on the curtains – they’ve been hanging since 1982, and I don’t even see them any more. MIL’s are not quite as bad as in the first picture (no scallop) but the rooms could benefit from every bit of light possible. Could anyone point me in the direction of what scarf valances might look like on a big window expanse? I’m a little challenged on the decorating terminology front.</p>

<p>The first house (on Colma) has exactly the same LR/FR as my MIL’s – Like one huge room with a stone (or, in our case) brick wall with two offset fireplaces that goes about 2/3 of a way through the space. Their kitchen is also an identical layout to ours, though we only have glaring yellow paint and no wallpaper (and an nice, clean, 2 y.o. huge refrigerator.) Looking at the original sales brochures, they intended the the two big areas to be a Living Room on one side and a Family Room on the other, with the kitchen as an eat-in, though my husband remembers them setting up the fancy table on the FR side of things for holidays. Both LR and FM are large rooms with the same large wall of glass as seen in the picture. No clue why they didn’t picture the master bedroom – it is generously sized with a huge window that extends to about six inches above floor level. (I will say that having seen a number of houses for sale, I’ve no clue why folks do many things to houses that are for sale.)</p>

<p>I did take down every single picture. (And every cabinet and drawer is empty except for one in the laundry area that has a small tool chest, household cleaning supplies, lightbulbs, and trash bags)</p>

<p>The kitchen is quite large, and easily handles a kitchen table with six chairs. (Really, from a lot of perspectives the house is quite modern.) No built-in microwave, though ours has the original Gaffers and Sattler wall oven in aqua - like this one, but in very nice condition since MIL wasn’t much into cooking: [Flamingo</a> Motel, Built 1952. | Flickr - Photo Sharing!](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■/photos/java1888/4404842786/]Flamingo”>Flamingo Motel, Built 1952. | The owners quarters kitchen. I… | Flickr)</p>

<p>I’m going to check on the hardwood floor issue. Hmmm…</p>

<p>Any other suggestions are absolutely welcomed. I’d rather hang on to the house for a couple of years, but that may not be possible. (The RE agents we did speak with both use professional photographers, and the quality of the pictures in their other listings was a significant factor for me.)</p>

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<p>Cute houses! I like the fireplace dividing the two rooms, and that is not an uncommon layout. I would go with the advice of the two realtors you interviewed. How you price the house will be more important than any other factor.</p>

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<p>Here’s an original Eichler I saw last year that sold at $46K over asking, no staging, just interior paint. The outside paint was crumbling a bit and the yard didn’t have much in the way of landscaping. Does this help to envision your MIL’s house?</p>

<p>[1237</a> NELIS Ct, Sunnyvale](<a href=“http://www.redfin.com/CA/Sunnyvale/1237-Nelis-Ct-94087/home/1464110]1237”>http://www.redfin.com/CA/Sunnyvale/1237-Nelis-Ct-94087/home/1464110)</p>

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<p>Wow – the Sunnyvale house was very similar. Interestingly, the LR (peaked) ceiling was painted white or a light color, as was some wall paneling. We have a wood ceiling that was stained a dark walnut (a light-sucking dark walnut) and two walls with the same dark paneling. </p>

<p>The landscaping is pretty similar too.</p>

<p>Really helpful to see. Thank you!</p>

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<p>Here’s my opinion on staging/cleaning up, etc. I’m NOT an agent, but DH and I have bought and sold way too often over the last 25 years.</p>

<p>Cleanliness really matters. Old, dated, whatever… not that big a deal, and I agree with those who say not to remodel. But cleanliness matters a lot. It took me and a professional FOUR days to clean the last house we sold (in 6 weeks, summer of 2009, the only house in its price range to sell that year in a ten mile radius). Repaint with a nice neutral tone. Buy new towels (you’ll use them eventually). Clean the windows. Clean up the landscaping. Pressure wash anything that can be. Keep the lawn mowed, the garden weeded, and the house dusted. Boil vanilla on the stove once a week to make the house smell good. </p>

<p>Make sure there’s a comfortable table and chairs (at least four) in the kitchen or the dining room. Put ALL the useful information in a notebook on that table: the plot survey, the inspection you had done (and notes on what repairs were done as a result), the gas and electric bills, tax assessment, local schools list, a plan of the house… whatever you’ve got, there it is. A nice one-page flyer that the buyers can take with them.</p>

<p>Why four chairs? So that everyone can sit down and talk about the house while they’re still there.</p>

<p>(And yes, get the inspection done yourself, before you put the house on the market.)</p>

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<p>I also suggest to have a termite inspection done as well. If anything major turns up in any inspections, you either have to fix it before go on the listing or disclose it with a major hair cut on the price. To save their skins, the inspectors normally will over estimate the repair costs.</p>

<p>for example, the roof inspection on my house cost of repair was estimated at $2000, we ended up have it fixed for 500/</p>

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<p>It protects the seller not to have an inspection done prior to listing, imo. Legally you need to disclose anything you are told, and it isn’t unusual for inspectors to relay inaccurate information to cover themselves. Likewise, I wouldn’t want a realtor listing my house to give me all the details of an inspection should the buyer back out. Sometimes that can’t be avoided if you will be negotiating around what the inspection finds.</p>

<p>I also wouldn’t want all the details of my house available to everyone who walks through the property. I know it is common to leave all the information out that #236 recommends but I wouldn’t do it. Someone who is interested in the home can ask to see the Seller’s disclosure after they give you earnest money, and they can get a plat from the Title Co when the Title search is done. There are clauses in the contract to allow a buyer to back out, so this protects the seller also from investors who make offers on multiple houses with no intention of buying most of them</p>

<p>I don’t own property in Ca. so perhaps there are local laws that would negate what I have written.</p>

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<p>There aren’t local laws in CA regarding inspections, although the disclosure forms are standard and very thorough. It’s a general practice for sellers to have all inspections done prior to putting the house on the market (termite, house, chimney, roof, pool, etc). The seller can then chose to make repairs or not. Part of the reason for this is that sales happen so quickly that no one wants to wait for the inspections. Buyers are always free to hire their own inspectors and make the purchase contingent on that, but in sellers’ markets it’s more common for a contract to be written up with the “as-is” clause checked.</p>

<p>Some Realtors leave the disclosure binder in the house when it’s shown. When I sold my house last year my Realtor wanted to know who was looking at the disclosures, so he gave out a link to a website where people could download the packet as a PDF. When I bid on houses in the past couple of months, the Realtor always had a link to the disclosures and I could look at them by giving my name & email address. By having the packets online, the seller can gauge how much interest there is in the house, and the seller’s Realtor can follow up as well.</p>

<p>It’s true that buyers tend to mentally overestimate the cost of some repairs, so by inspecting ahead of time and dealing with small issues buyers have less opportunity to negotiate a lower price. For larger issues, the disclosure allows the seller to say that XYZ is disclosed and the listed price reflects the fact that repairs will be needed.</p>

<p>Edited to add that when I first moved to California, I though all of this was very odd but I’ve come around to thinking that having everything inspected and disclosed ahead of time is useful :)</p>

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<p>^^^All those things are recommended where I am, too.</p>