selling a home - questions

[Darcy03231]

Real estate broker here. I always have my sellers have the windows washed. Even more than paint, I think, sparkling windows register with buyers.

I agree. When we sold our last home we emptied it of everything we could and did a complete deep clean inside and out, made sure all the landscaping was trimmed, flower beds were weeded, etc. House sold in less than 48 hours and everyone commented on how clean it was. I didn't think anything of it until we started looking at homes. I can't believe some people show their homes the way they did.

 

[gotomu212]

Locations really do vary but around here “as is” on a listing means this place has some serious issues (structural/mechanical) and that scares off everyone but the investors. If it’s at the lower end of the market that can definitely be scaring away first time buyers.

Dated is okay, dirty isn’t. Pay someone to do a whole house clean. If you haven’t emptied or staged it, that should help once you get people in the door.

 

[tvguy]

I agree with above. We had someone come in and do a "whole house clean" and I'm sure that helped the buyer see the potential.

We left it totally empty. Because of it's age, we felt that total transparency was the way to go. We didn't say "as is," but it was clear that was the situation.

I interviewed six Real Estate agents when I sold my parents home. I was selling a well kept house built in 1960, and it was EXACTLY as built 53 years before. So dated. About the only thing they were in agreement on was to do nothing to the house. No paint, no staging, only thing I did was put an earthquake strap on the water heater which is required by law. Their advice was based on the fact that any buyer of this type house would either remodel it completely, or is common in that area, tear it down and built a McMansion on the 1/2 acre lot.
I did not list it as an "As Is" sale. But all four offers I got were "As Is", all investors I suspect.

 

[VandVsmama]

my deceased mil left her home to my dh & his sister. They put it on the market in Nov (terrible time I know - but his sister insisted). It is a home built in the 70s & nothing has been updated (other than the roof). It has not been appraised but they went a bit lower than the agent suggested. They are selling it as is. It is next door to a trailer & around the corner are several other trailers which once gone will not be replaced (which obviously could still be 20 yrs).

My questions are:
1. do we pull it off the market & wait til spring (March or so?)
2. do we lower the price? how do you decide how much?
3. is there an advantage to buying out his sister? how would that work?

Don't buy it yourself.

Lower the price. Sell as is.

 

[_19disnA]

Since you plan to sell it, I would certainly remove any type of clutter from basement/garage that you eventually need to remove anyway. Broken or rundown furniture should be removed, but I think a house looks more presentable with furnishings. If you walk into a completely empty house, the first thing I would think is that the house has been on the market too long (i.e. overpriced) and the seller had to move before completing the sale. The buyer's realtor may know nothing about WHY the house is for sale. While I wouldn't use the term 'as is' in the listing, you can certainly let your realtor know of your intentions.

A little common sense when working with any realtor goes a long way. They clearly want to sell for the highest price possible to get a larger commission. Having the house be clean/neat and looking good makes sense, but spending a lot on staging does not. In spite of what you see on HGTV, there are lots of people shopping for a starter home who aren't expecting a million dollar mansion.

 

[gotomu212]

A little common sense when working with any realtor goes a long way. They clearly want to sell for the highest price possible to get a larger commission.

My experience with family that are realtors is that they AREN‘T interested in getting the highest price possible. They are interested in the fastest they can get their money. A $20k decrease in price for example only costs then $600 in commission and the longer a house is on the market the more it cost them in marketing, showings, and listing fees.
A lot of agents will aggressively push to lower prices to move the house fast which isnt always in the best interest of the buyers.

 

[gmi3804]

They clearly want to sell for the highest price possible to get a larger commission.

Don’t you think the broker would want their client to get the highest price possible? Serious and professional brokers don’t take overpriced listings. I’d rather lay on the sofa eating cashews and watching Judge Judy than work to market and sell an overpriced listing that won’t get anyone to the closing table.

Back to the issue at hand, any professional will know what the market is for homes in all conditions. It’s up to the seller to choose which path to take.

 

[_19disnA]

I think you missed my point, wasn't talking about overpriced listings. If a realtor suggests you put $40,000 of upgrades into redoing the kitchen, it has more to do with them wanting to get a bigger commission from a higher selling price. However, the seller is unlikely to get back all of the money they put into such an upgrade.

 

[luvmyfam444]

How many times has it been shown, have you had any offers? Those things matter when considering if you should change agents. If it has been getting looks your agent should be reporting to you those items as well as giving you feedback from the other agents that are showing the property.

Without updates from the 70s and several trailers around, I'd say its a depressed condition home and you'll need to price accordingly. With the cooling off due to interest rates you probably need to take a bigger price cut to get it to move. What did the comps (other homes in the area) sell for?

If you are not getting the type of information above, fire your agent and start looking for another. Read your contract first though.

we listed it lower than what the agent suggested. If you look on Zillow (I know not exactly reliable for that) it doesn't show any houses sold nearby.

 

[luvmyfam444]

I would not buy out his sister. Like Barkley said, you don't know what price it'll get.

I sold my parents early 60's home as in October. We used a realtor that lived nearby and knew the neighborhood. We priced to sell and it did. We did have to pay for some things that needed to be fixed, but that was expected. We were careful to put things on the sellers disclosure documents so they knew we were aware and priced accordingly. We agreed to pay for roof replacement and some mold remediation (paid out of the proceeds) because we knew those things could prevent the sale from going through. (Buyer was still going to have a lot of work to do.) We were happy to have a buyer interested! Overall we came out ahead of where I thought we would. I had to keep reminding myself that 60 years of life in a house that was purchased for around 30K and ending up with enough for a couple years of expensive memory care for mom is a pretty good investment no matter how you slice it! (Kind of like Marie Kondo who says thank the item for its service and then let it go!) We missed the height of the housing market by quite a few months because my siblings are slowpokes, but I just reminded myself it was still more than we could have sold it for a year or two earlier. We were lucky in the location, as it will be a good investment for someone once the work/updating is done.

We thought for sure it was someone flipping it, but we understand from the neighbors that they've moved in and are fixing it up for themselves. That would have made my folks happy.

Because it needed so much work, I tried to look at it as anything we got from it was gravy as opposed to looking at it as getting the most out of an investment. I think that helped me feel positive about the process. I wanted to run down the street singing and dancing after I completed all the negotiations and the paperwork - such a relief!

good info

 

[barkley]

I think you missed my point, wasn't talking about overpriced listings. If a realtor suggests you put $40,000 of upgrades into redoing the kitchen, it has more to do with them wanting to get a bigger commission from a higher selling price. However, the seller is unlikely to get back all of the money they put into such an upgrade.

i would question the sanity of a realtor that suggested that-$40K isn't going to put squat in upgrades into the average kitchen these days and with the supply chain delays combined with the wait time to get licensed professionals to do work (you can wait 3 months to get a non emergency plumber appointment in my neck of the woods, electricians are running longer-cabinet, counter top and flooring guys are booked out 6-8 months in advance) is just time that realtor is going without that listing locked down in a declining market. for an extra (realtor net) $1k in commission? i would be looking elsewhere.

 

[luvmyfam444]

what kind of repairs does it need? is it just cosmetic needs? or is there issues with hvac, plumbing, foundation, structural problems?

Having owned investment property, I recommend paying for an inspection. you will find out a ton of information and this will make determining a price much easier. It may also, help potential buyers, if you decided to share what the needed repairs are.

a listing that says "as is" will scare off most buyers, except for investors who have the means to make the repairs.

ahh good point - needs updated wiring and fence repair

 

[luvmyfam444]

I may be wrong, but from your post I gather that your DH and his sister are selling this house themselves. If so, please urge them to get an experienced Realtor to sell the house. We're in a buyers' market right now and you need all the help you can get.

It's understandable that they might want to avoid paying the real estate agent's fees, but every month the house doesn't sell is money they're losing, since they still have to pay the utilities and taxes, so it's to your DH's and his sister's advantage to sell it as quickly as possible.

Also, I agree with the other posters: it's inadvisable for your DH to buy out his sister. The only circumstance where that might work out is if your DH planned to keep the house, which I gather is not the case here.

no they have an agent

 

[luvmyfam444]

I agree with above. We had someone come in and do a "whole house clean" and I'm sure that helped the buyer see the potential.

We left it totally empty. Because of it's age, we felt that total transparency was the way to go. We didn't say "as is," but it was clear that was the situation.

ohhh we thought we needed to add "as is" since we weren't going to do the wiring update

 

[luvmyfam444]

OP thanks for the advice! yes, the house is basically empty - what needs to be done is updated electrical (about $7k), paint, carpet and update the ugly kitchen.

The other question I have is what if we get it inspected & they find something bigger - then what? Do we have to fix it?

 

[kymom99]

OP thanks for the advice! yes, the house is basically empty - what needs to be done is updated electrical (about $7k), paint, carpet and update the ugly kitchen.

The other question I have is what if we get it inspected & they find something bigger - then what? Do we have to fix it?

You just have to disclose it.

Issues such as the wiring would prohibit someone from buying with special financing, such as FHA. My step daughter was looking for a house. She looked at a really old house that she thought she might renovate but they said it wouldn’t qualify for FHA.

 

[barkley]

OP thanks for the advice! yes, the house is basically empty - what needs to be done is updated electrical (about $7k), paint, carpet and update the ugly kitchen.

paint, carpet and kitchen designs are such personal taste choices i wouldn't waste money that might not get recouped. i might talk to my realtor about structuring a price that builds in a credit back on the electrical. if i remember right my mil did that when she sold-had some stuff that needed repairing but to do some would have opened up opportunities to make changes a new owner might have wanted a say in (like w/electrical- extra ceiling lights, dimmer switches, add some under cabinet lights....all stuff less expensive to do within the scope of needed work vs. down the line).

 

[tvguy]

paint, carpet and kitchen designs are such personal taste choices i wouldn't waste money that might not get recouped. i might talk to my realtor about structuring a price that builds in a credit back on the electrical. if i remember right my mil did that when she sold-had some stuff that needed repairing but to do some would have opened up opportunities to make changes a new owner might have wanted a say in (like w/electrical- extra ceiling lights, dimmer switches, add some under cabinet lights....all stuff less expensive to do within the scope of needed work vs. down the line).

I agree about paint carpet and kitchen designs. As a seller, my buyer is very likely to want different choices than I would pick. I say that, because as a buyer we didn't like any of paint or wallpaper choices in our house, but we wanted to pick our colors and paint. And it took us several years to get everything the way we wanted it.

 

[disykat]

We did not update the electrical panel and it was original. We knew the buyer would have to do that, the paint, the flooring, updates for the kitchen and baths, and replace a rotting deck, shed, and fencing in the back yard.

We did a crawl space inspection and a little work down there before because we knew our neighbor had some issues (turned out we didn't,) and the whole house clean so we knew it would be livable. Everything else was up for negotiation with a buyer. Our buyer asked for the roof, mold remediation, and new bathroom venting after her inspection. We agreed to the roof and mold remediation but did not do the additional vent because we knew it could be done for a pretty minimal cost along with the electrical updates, something she had not asked us for and would be doing anyway. We were honestly thrilled she didn't ask for more.

We had priced pretty low for the neighborhood because of all the stuff, disclosed everything in our paperwork, and then went into negotiations willing to be reasonable. For us, it was about being honest and fair, and I think the buyers maybe sensed that? I felt like the realtors did a really good job on both sides managing expectations because it didn't take too much back and forth to agree on how we would handle it. I think in the end they got a good deal, but they also inherited a lot of issues we didn't have to deal with!

We were terrified that the inspection would call out things to halt the buyer's loan and it didn't happen. Yay! So really it was just about trying to strike a deal we could all live with. We didn't say yes to everything, but we said yes to enough for the deal to continue.

I think buyers are capable of understanding that "estate" home sales are somewhat unique. My husband and I bought our first house from the adult children of the owners so we knew it could work. We also knew that those adult children were difficult to work with and we didn't want to be that. (That home sat on the market for over a year, was dirty, had junk left in closets, etc., and an unreasonable price that they wouldn't budge from that couldn't even appraise for that. We understood that they didn't have the bandwidth to do repairs, so we persevered until they gave us a reasonable price and it was a great first home for us, but we learned what NOT to do when it came time to sell my parent's place.) Our buyers seemed to understand that we couldn't just jump down from different states and fix every little thing. It was just all about negotiating to make it work for everyone. I was so nervous because I saw newer houses go on the market for similar prices at a point when they still could have backed out, but by then they were apparently invested in making it work. Phew!

Honestly I still think the biggest thing was that we were able to let go of the "we could have gotten x amount 6 months ago" dissatisfaction and just look for a buyer. I'm so thankful my siblings and I were on the same page about that!

 

[VandVsmama]

OP thanks for the advice! yes, the house is basically empty - what needs to be done is updated electrical (about $7k), paint, carpet and update the ugly kitchen.

The other question I have is what if we get it inspected & they find something bigger - then what? Do we have to fix it?

any issues w/the house that you KNOW about - you have to disclose those when you list the house for sale. When stuff is found problematic upon the buyer's inspection, you don't HAVE to fix it, but you SHOULD reduce the price accordingly...that's part of the negotiation.