"Fixing" to sell

[W2R]

I've previously owned only in NNJ, [...] Both times the houses sold with multiple offers above asking price.

Fast forward to now. We're in a LCOL area in the Midwest in one of those square states in the middle. I am SO discouraged. .

Don't be discouraged! As the saying goes, all real estate is local. Median time on the market is a lot greater in some parts of the country than in others. When houses aren't selling briskly, the "inventory" of houses can grow, buyers have a lot of houses to choose from, and they can afford to be unreasonably picky. Good luck and I hope the right buyer sees your house soon!

 

[Mulligan]

Don't be discouraged! As the saying goes, all real estate is local. Median time on the market is a lot greater in some parts of the country than in others. When houses aren't selling briskly, the "inventory" of houses can grow, buyers have a lot of houses to choose from, and they can afford to be unreasonably picky. Good luck and I hope the right buyer sees your house soon!

That is true.... If I ever put my house up for sale, I would expect it to take 6-9 months even if every HGTV amenity was added....Unless I just gave it away. And yes, I live in a small Midwest town.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[athena53]

Thanks for the encouragement. The good news is that we're not in a hurry. We're not relocating, divorcing, or struggling to make the payments. It's been less than 2 weeks. I need to chill!

 

[meierlde]

With 20 year old HVAC you have an R-22 system in all likelyhood, as well as being less efficient than more modern system. If I was buying I would want a newer r-410 system since you can get refrigerant for that system. (r-22 is being phased out because of Ozone effects). If gas heat check the efficiency of the furnace also, and recall that if you live in northern climes you can now get 90% efficient furnaces if you have a drain nearby (all be it you may have to redo the chimney). Since you have a couple of years left before you sell why not replace the HVAC and enjoy the lower energy bills.

 

[athena53]

Let me make a very short-sighted, environmentally-hostile observation. Not worth it. You yourself will not make the cost back in reduced bills over the next few years, and Josh and Tiffany, your prospective buyers, don't give a crap unless you're in Fargo. We've had 33 showings and not a single inquiry on utility costs. We spent a lot on R-90 insulation in our attic. Josh and Tiffany want trendy backsplashes behind the kitchen sink. :-(

 

[FUEGO]

Let me make a very short-sighted, environmentally-hostile observation. Not worth it. You yourself will not make the cost back in reduced bills over the next few years, and Josh and Tiffany, your prospective buyers, don't give a crap unless you're in Fargo. We've had 33 showings and not a single inquiry on utility costs. We spent a lot on R-90 insulation in our attic. Josh and Tiffany want trendy backsplashes behind the kitchen sink. :-(

+1

Though I'll definitely be bragging about my whole house wrap with telfon taped R-1 insulation I had the contractor put underneath the new vinyl siding.

"Oh, wow, honey, the whole house has extra R-1 all the way around it! We'll be saving so much on electricity".

 

[Mulligan]

Let me make a very short-sighted, environmentally-hostile observation. Not worth it. You yourself will not make the cost back in reduced bills over the next few years, and Josh and Tiffany, your prospective buyers, don't give a crap unless you're in Fargo. We've had 33 showings and not a single inquiry on utility costs. We spent a lot on R-90 insulation in our attic. Josh and Tiffany want trendy backsplashes behind the kitchen sink. :-(

That is a dangerous broad generalization that implies a great many potential homebuyers are shallow and short sighted buyers. And in my experiences, you are absolutely spot on!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[aja8888]

Let me make a very short-sighted, environmentally-hostile observation. Not worth it. You yourself will not make the cost back in reduced bills over the next few years, and Josh and Tiffany, your prospective buyers, don't give a crap unless you're in Fargo. We've had 33 showings and not a single inquiry on utility costs. We spent a lot on R-90 insulation in our attic. Josh and Tiffany want trendy backsplashes behind the kitchen sink. :-(

My ex-wife and I bought three houses together, two in Thousand Oaks, Ca and one in Connecticut. All this was before HGTV, and the houses were chosen (by her) the minute she walked into the kitchen that dazzeled her! (she wouldn't have known an A/C unit or furnace if she tripped over one!)

 

[athena53]

That is a dangerous broad generalization that implies a great many potential homebuyers are shallow and short sighted buyers. And in my experiences, you are absolutely spot on!

Thanks. I once knew an actuary who worked a lot on modeling the financial impacts of catastrophes such as hurricanes. He lived in FL and they were building a house. He told me he had a heck of a hard time getting the builder to do the non-sexy things that made a house less vulnerable to wind damage because they were infrastructure things. They wanted him to spend lots of $$ on the kind of upgrades that make people want to buy such as granite countertops. He joked that he really wanted the windows to be small portholes; his wife wanted floor-to-ceiling windows. You're right about the typical buyer.

 

[ivinsfan]

Let me make a very short-sighted, environmentally-hostile observation. Not worth it. You yourself will not make the cost back in reduced bills over the next few years, and Josh and Tiffany, your prospective buyers, don't give a crap unless you're in Fargo. We've had 33 showings and not a single inquiry on utility costs. We spent a lot on R-90 insulation in our attic. Josh and Tiffany want trendy backsplashes behind the kitchen sink. :-(

33 showings is a lot with no sale, are the economic conditions bad in your area, or on the flip side is there lots of new construction going on? Agree, some of it is HGTV driven, if they work on a house more then 25 years old, the first thing they do is rip out all the walls on the main floor to "open it up".

Frankly, I don't understand most people, we have a 100 year old updated foursquare farm house on five acres. I'm certain if we had it for sale, some buyers would walk thru it and say it looks "dated". Well , DUH it's a 100 years old what do you expect!

Good Luck on your sale and just curious if you have a Plan B or would you be happy continuing to live in your newly "updated" house.

 

[athena53]

33 showings is a lot with no sale, are the economic conditions bad in your area, or on the flip side is there lots of new construction going on? Agree, some of it is HGTV driven, if they work on a house more then 25 years old, the first thing they do is rip out all the walls on the main floor to "open it up".<snip>
Good Luck on your sale and just curious if you have a Plan B or would you be happy continuing to live in your newly "updated" house.

Lots of new construction- we also have a pool. A few people have asked about maintenance costs (which really aren't that bad unless the equipment breaks down) and then decided they didn't want a pool.

Plan B is that we keep living here. We love the area and the mortgage payment is highly affordable; we just want something that's less hassle to maintain. I spend a heck of a lot of time weeding the flower beds and there's a lot of house to clean. Not the most disastrous scenario.

 

[W2R]

I think 33 showings is excellent because it tells me that given the size of your house and the neighborhood, you have the house priced right; otherwise, people wouldn't view it. I think it is especially good considering that you have a pool because at least some people (like me) who don't happen to want a pool, wouldn't view it at all. So, I think the number of showings you have had is very encouraging.

So now, all you have to do is wait until the right buyer sees it and you'll be headed towards closing the deal. It may take a while but it sounds like it is going to sell. It is not at all uncommon in some areas to show a house as many times as you have, or more, before it sells.

 

[W2R]

Plan B is that we keep living here. We love the area and the mortgage payment is highly affordable; we just want something that's less hassle to maintain. I spend a heck of a lot of time weeding the flower beds and there's a lot of house to clean. Not the most disastrous scenario.

Hmm.... I am thinking that (in the event of Plan B) you could rip up the flower beds and plant grass instead. That would be easier to maintain IMO. Then, maybe a housekeeper? That's expensive but probably not as expensive as moving.

Easy for me to say; I'm still battling with myself about getting a housekeeper. I detest the idea of letting someone into my "castle" regularly.

 

[ivinsfan]

Lots of new construction- we also have a pool. A few people have asked about maintenance costs (which really aren't that bad unless the equipment breaks down) and then decided they didn't want a pool.

Plan B is that we keep living here. We love the area and the mortgage payment is highly affordable; we just want something that's less hassle to maintain. I spend a heck of a lot of time weeding the flower beds and there's a lot of house to clean. Not the most disastrous scenario.

You are in a great position then and can just wait it out for the right buyer. If you don't sell, you can enjoy the updates and consider hiring a lawn service or a house cleaner to help out with the maintenance. I imagine the biggest hassle now is keeping everything in "show" ready condition. Good Luck and keep us updated, this is a situation that a lot of us are curious about as we could be doing the same thing in the future.

 

[MichaelB]

We plan to downsize in ~3 years when I retire, and I want an objective opinion on what we should do out of necessity to help it sell.

We did some landscaping, refinished the floors, and painted everywhere. That was pretty much it. Oh, and took out half of our furniture and ALL of the photos and knickknacks.
A realtor friend came in to suggest these things, and also that we replace the roof shingles, as they needed doing.

+1

Looks like we may be selling later this year. It is an older home with lots of opportunity to spruce up. My thoughts are to limit spending to two areas - curb appeal and major repair. We would never recover most updating expense, and buyers don't mind a home that needs interior design work, as long as it is not major and can be done over time. What a buyer does want is the assurance that no major repairs are around the corner, so I'll look at the HVAC, roof and floors.

We will also focus on the landscaping. The first impression is critical and his doesn't have to be expensive, just create a clean, inviting, well groomed look.

 

[Moemg]

Lots of new construction- we also have a pool. A few people have asked about maintenance costs (which really aren't that bad unless the equipment breaks down) and then decided they didn't want a pool.

When it starts getting really hot that pool will look inviting . I would buy a few colorful rafts and have them floating in the pool .Also if you have an umbrella table make sure the umbrella is opened . If they want hgtv I would give them the essence of it with place mats , flowers and crate & Barrel accents . Beat the yuppies at their own game !

 

[meierlde]

Hmm.... I am thinking that (in the event of Plan B) you could rip up the flower beds and plant grass instead. That would be easier to maintain IMO. Then, maybe a housekeeper? That's expensive but probably not as expensive as moving.

Easy for me to say; I'm still battling with myself about getting a housekeeper. I detest the idea of letting someone into my "castle" regularly.

Or if allowed put down plastic and small rocks over it, and you have a no maintenance area. It also saves on irrigation water. Even in the wet east zeriscaping does make sense.

 

[meierlde]

Let me make a very short-sighted, environmentally-hostile observation. Not worth it. You yourself will not make the cost back in reduced bills over the next few years, and Josh and Tiffany, your prospective buyers, don't give a crap unless you're in Fargo. We've had 33 showings and not a single inquiry on utility costs. We spent a lot on R-90 insulation in our attic. Josh and Tiffany want trendy backsplashes behind the kitchen sink. :-(

RE: The HVAC system, in the 3 years you have left it may spring a leak and you may be hit with astronomical bills to refill the R-22. Prices now exceed $100 per pound for R-22 as it is being phased out to save the ozone layer.

 

[FIREd]

When we put our house on the market a few weeks ago, the realtor suggested a long list of improvements. This is one of the cheapest houses in a mixed blue collar/white collar neighborhood, and the realtor wanted to turn it into a show piece. It didn't make sense to me. Improvements would have amounted to nearly 25% of the value of the house, which was not in bad shape to start with. The house has been well maintained throughout the years, but yes some of the finishes are a bit outdated. There is a real conflict of interest here. I front the money for the improvements, it makes the realtor's job of selling the house easier and he gets a bigger commission (while I probably only recover cents on the dollar). So I understand his motivation to push for improvements, it is a no-lose situation for him. Except for small improvements that boosted curb appeal, we passed on many of his suggestions. I would rather lower the price and let the new owner make his own home improvement decisions.

 

[ivinsfan]

When we put our house on the market a few weeks ago, the realtor suggested a long list of improvements. This is one of the cheapest houses in a mixed blue collar/white collar neighborhood, and the realtor wanted to turn it into a show piece. It didn't make sense to me. Improvements would have amounted to nearly 25% of the value of the house, which was not in bad shape to start with. The house has been well maintained throughout the years, but yes some of the finishes are a bit outdated. There is a real conflict of interest here. I front the money for the improvements, it makes the realtor's job of selling the house easier and he gets a bigger commission (while I probably only recover cents on the dollar). So I understand his motivation to push for improvements, it is a no-lose situation for him. Except for small improvements that boosted curb appeal, we passed on many of his suggestions. I would rather lower the price and let the new owner make his own home improvement decisions.

This makes total sense to me, as a realtor selling the home once they get the listing their main job is to schedule showings and communicate between the parties when offers are on the table. The agent gets the same amount here, contrasted with the buying end, where they might spend days showing buyers properties and end up with no sale. And if they are lucky enough to have their buyers buy a house they have listed. They get both ends of the commission.
As a seller you just want your house sold and the maximum amount possible in your pocket.

This is why it's okay to ask a realtor what they think about improvements, but don't consider it the final word.

 

[athena53]

There is a real conflict of interest here. I front the money for the improvements, it makes the realtor's job of selling the house easier and he gets a bigger commission (while I probably only recover cents on the dollar).

I know. We're done with the superficial stuff. The most expensive improvement was the resurfacing of the patio around the pool and it did have substantial cracks. I suppose it was worth it to get it done right. The $3K basement drain fix was just bad luck. I wish DH hadn't found it but he did.

As for the flower beds, they all had stone mulch that the builder put in- with nothing underlying it. So now we have the double curse of weeds coming up through the stones but they're impossible to get at easily. We had a thick layer of bark mulch put on in the front, which should work for awhile. If we ever get to the point of selling this place and looking for another, stone mulch and popcorn ceilings are both dealbreakers.

 

[Live And Learn]

What a buyer does want is the assurance that no major repairs are around the corner, so I'll look at the HVAC, roof and floors.

We will also focus on the landscaping. The first impression is critical and his doesn't have to be expensive, just create a clean, inviting, well groomed look.

Curb appeal is key. New flooring helps. The house we sold 2 years ago had a 15 year old roof (avg life of 18 years in Florida with 30 year shingles), and 20 year old HVACs. Buyers didn't discount the price for either. The only thing they did ask for was a home warrantee policy which cost me $450. Certainly was alot cheaper than replacing two HVACs that were nearing end of life.

 

[athena53]

An update on this. The house was shown 40 times (fortunately we were out of town for a few days during that period but it was still really disruptive having to get out of the house 2 or 3 times in one day). After some dickering we agreed on a bid for $299K vs. list price of $310K. It was the only offer. Buyer has pre-approval; appraisal was yesterday, inspection today. We're not expecting the inspection to raise any major issues but it's always a major hurdle to me. No inspector ever says a house is perfect and you hope the buyer won't nitpick on the minor issues, especially those things visible when they looked at the house.

Yesterday DH and I did a drive-by of houses that interested us and went crazy over a lakefront house. It's a small lake but good for canoeing and kayaking. That was a "nice to have but probably impossible"- most lakefront homes are McMansions and we want to get out of ours! So, we're holding our collective breaths. Will be visiting the house with our realtor this afternoon.

An interesting observation that I've made is that our current house, which is closer to everything and in a highly desirable neighborhood, isn't selling for much more than we're going to be paying for smaller houses, further out. I've also noticed that many ranch houses in good areas with reasonable updates disappear form the market in less than a week if they're priced right, The realtor has confirmed this; McMansions (and ours has a pool) are becoming less popular as more people snap up houses with most of the living on one floor. I think this will only get worse over time.


I still regret a lot of the things that we did recently that weren't fluffy cosmetic changes. I think an updated backsplash in the kitchen would have been a better investment than all the R-90 insulation in the attic.

 

[ivinsfan]

An update on this. The house was shown 40 times (fortunately we were out of town for a few days during that period but it was still really disruptive having to get out of the house 2 or 3 times in one day). After some dickering we agreed on a bid for $299K vs. list price of $310K. It was the only offer. Buyer has pre-approval; appraisal was yesterday, inspection today. We're not expecting the inspection to raise any major issues but it's always a major hurdle to me. No inspector ever says a house is perfect and you hope the buyer won't nitpick on the minor issues, especially those things visible when they looked at the house.

Yesterday DH and I did a drive-by of houses that interested us and went crazy over a lakefront house. It's a small lake but good for canoeing and kayaking. That was a "nice to have but probably impossible"- most lakefront homes are McMansions and we want to get out of ours! So, we're holding our collective breaths. Will be visiting the house with our realtor this afternoon.

An interesting observation that I've made is that our current house, which is closer to everything and in a highly desirable neighborhood, isn't selling for much more than we're going to be paying for smaller houses, further out. I've also noticed that many ranch houses in good areas with reasonable updates disappear form the market in less than a week if they're priced right, The realtor has confirmed this; McMansions (and ours has a pool) are becoming less popular as more people snap up houses with most of the living on one floor. I think this will only get worse over time.


I still regret a lot of the things that we did recently that weren't fluffy cosmetic changes. I think an updated backsplash in the kitchen would have been a better investment than all the R-90 insulation in the attic.

Congratulations on your sale,so your offer ratio was 40-1? Did you think the 310 was a fair price or a pie-in-the sky? I'm sorry you felt your potential buyers didn't appreciate the money saving improvments you made.
Our youngest daughter and her DH just sold their first home last week in the MSP area for less then they paid for it. They were okay with that as they had moved into their "forever" home 2 years ago and got a bargain price on the newer house. Their renter left May 1 and they decided to try and get some of their equity of the home.

This home was an older style cape cod with an added on kitchen and a great 2x2 insulted garage. The price range made it a starter home.They had 22 showing in 6 days and got list with them throwing a few bucks in towards closing costs.Very well kept, with a roof less then 6 years old and about a 5 year old furnace. The kitchen had been done in the mid 90's and had the original wallpaper and some decorated tile work..you would not believe the number of people who complained about the wallpaper..it was a typical kitchen style paper..people, this is a starter home in a good safe area, 2 minutes from the interstate and 5 minutes from a park and ride.Honestly, I do think too many people watch HGTV!

 

[utrecht]

Sometimes people just aren't buying, but if you had 40 showings, people are buying in your area. If you had 40 showings and only got one offer, your price was too high. It may have been what you thought was fair, but fair is what someone will pay and if 39 different people wouldn't pay it, it wasn't fair.

Let's face it. Most people are not that smart and they wont pay for money saving features that they cant see or use.