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Looking for input re: Is this a fair price or ridiculous?
Old 01-01-2020, 10:09 PM   #1
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Looking for input re: Is this a fair price or ridiculous?

In November, DH and I moved to a town about 2.5 hours away from where we had lived 40 years. We hired movers for furniture and dozens of boxes; we just knew we could handle the rest of it. Six weeks later, there is still junk in that house. We have taken much to Goodwill and the dumpster. Frankly, we are tired of driving down once/twice a week to deal with a house that refuses to empty.



We contacted an former colleague of mine to be our real estate agent. While we trust and like her, we are feeling some doubts. Here's why:


Agent recommended we sell the house "as is" and that is fine with us. The sooner it sells, the better. It needs a ton of updating and repairs. She mentioned the name of a guy her office uses to clean up houses/yards: "When M gets through, your house will be ready to list."


So far, so good.


A couple days ago, the agent emails to say the contractor and she had visited the house and he's saying $3000-$3500 to clear out house and storage shed, scrub down and spruce up the lawn. She also mentioned lowering the asking price because HVAC is geothermal. (Unit was replaced January 2019)



She did not mention, and I learned this via Google...the contractor is the owner of the real estate office.



It would be much easier on DH and me to have someone do all this for us. No doubt, it would save us a lot of time and trouble.


It bothers us that the contractor is the owner and that it was not mentioned, that geothermal is bad and she mentioned we would receive an "itemized invoice" this week. I emailed back that we are having second thoughts and will wait until we receive this "itemized invoice" before making our decision.


I'm just venting, but reaching out because we will probably hear from agent tomorrow. (Did I mention we like the agent very much?)



Your thoughts? Your input may help clear the water for us.



The quandary is wanting easier route vs. some serious misgivings....while we want the house sold ASAP. We are ready to spend more time enjoying life in our new territory.
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Old 01-01-2020, 10:25 PM   #2
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Can't say, don't know how much junk needs to go.
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Old 01-01-2020, 10:26 PM   #3
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Good point.

I’m guessing two pickup loads.
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Old 01-01-2020, 10:44 PM   #4
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At $100 an hour that is 30 to 35 hours work. For two pick up loads? Something sounds fishy.
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Old 01-01-2020, 10:47 PM   #5
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At $100 an hour that is 30 to 35 hours work. For two pick up loads? Something sounds fishy.
Add the cost to dump at a landfill, which where we used to live would be pricey.
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Old 01-01-2020, 10:49 PM   #6
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This summer we paid $600 for carpet cleaning and re-stretching on a ~1200' 3/1 older house. $1000 for interior paint. $540 for cleaning - after we had it empty and had done a bunch of cleaning on it. New blinds throughout. $1500 for exterior washing and minor repairs. Then we spent months keeping it up to snuff, watering the lawn, mowing, carpet raking... and as the summer went away that house got to looking sadder and sadder and I kept having little repairs crop up. Spent another $650 for a couple bedroom heaters to be installed. Installed water heater strapping as required and new smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detector. It went on and on and every time an inspector checked it they would note something different -and bogus - that the other inspectors didn't. It did sell as we were on our way south, but it took us a summer of our work and over $3000 in sprucing up.
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Old 01-01-2020, 10:57 PM   #7
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Not sure why geothermal would lower the price. Ours keeps our energy bills about half of what our conventional HVAC neighbors pay.
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Old 01-01-2020, 11:06 PM   #8
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When I moved into my present house, a local moving company only charged me $810 to move everything I owned. That was for the contents of a three bedroom 1600 sf house. I would imagine it would have been cheaper if they just took everything to the dump.

I paid a professional cleaner another $200 to clean the house before putting it on the market.

But then, that didn't include "sprucing up the lawn" (which could be a little, or a lot, of work depending?).

Still, I'd be suspicious about that price and it sounds like you feel that way too.
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Old 01-02-2020, 03:26 AM   #9
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I would echo the sentiment that you could hire a "junkman" for a minimal fee to clear out the house and a cleaner to scrub it down. Perhaps a third vendor to clean the carpets. These three services could be obtained by checking the local paper or online, for vendors. I did all three of these things when cleaning my mother's house out. It takes surprisingly little time when you have 2 or 3 young dudes working in tandem under your direction. You could arrange to be there to supervise. Then... will there need to be any interior cosmetic work such as paint? How badly does the lawn need refurbishing? I would grit my teeth and arrange to accomplish the first tasks myself with vendors who do this sort of thing for a living and then reassess.
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Old 01-02-2020, 04:03 AM   #10
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We cleaned out my mother's house for sale last spring. DIY. Most stuff other than furniture went to Goodwill or the dump/recycling. We made about 10 trips with a full Subaru Outback to Goodwill and the trash and recycling was picked up at the curb.

At our realtor's suggestion we sold it "as is". I had someone come in to shampoo the carpets, someone else to pressure wash the outside and the gutters and another person to throughly clean the house.... in all cases someone recommended by the realtor. There were a few other things that I though we should do that the realtor talked me out of doing. Total cost was ~$800 IIRC.

What is the nature of the items that are left? I presum nothing of any significant value? Mostly Goodwill or trash? Any furniture?

If mostly trash, you might arrange to have a dumpster delivered to the house and make a trip and just put everything in the dumpster and let it go... or most in the dumpster and a trip or two to Goodwill if you can't bear to see those belongings trashed.

After the house was clean we kept the furniture for staging and in case the buyer was interested in the furniture. As it turned out the buyer had no interest in the furniture so I arranged for a local charity that accepted donated furniture to come pick it up... except there were some things that they would not take but the hauler would take to the dump for $300... so that is what we did.

While it didn't fit our timeline, in the area there are some people who do "estate sales"... they sort through everything and have a huge estate sale at the house over one weekend... whatever is remaining they handle... and they keep a significant portion of the proceeds. Might not work in your case as it sounds like most of the stuff is gone but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

The home inspection said the electrical panels should be replaced... they still worked safely but were ancient (1960s IIRC) so we conceded to do that and it cost us ~$1250.

And I would think that geothermal, particularly with a new unit, would add to the value of the home rather than detract.

I would consider a different real estate agent... or at least talk with others.
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Old 01-02-2020, 04:36 AM   #11
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I'm in the same position you're in right now. We moved 65 miles away 2 months ago, and we're undinated with my daughter's clothes and junk. I have a large pickup and 12' trailer, and have been visiting the dump and church thrift stores this week. There's no telling how many trips I've made back and forth hauling boxes and furniture.

We're downsizing 1000 square feet and simply have no need for anymore "stuff."

It's not difficult to find professional scavengers that will clean out homes for free. If the remaining possessions are not worth much, they may charge a little to remove them.

We've been working 12 hours a day this week, and we're frankly beat. Until we can make this final push to rid the house of everything, we cannot begin to do sheetrock repairs, repaint 3 bathrooms and replace 44 boards on a 28' deck. We did get the plumber in yesterday and the overhead door people are coming back today to respring our garage door.

I would certainly not use a real estate company with sideline businesses. As soon as the contract with them is up, cut'em loose. And geothermal would be a plus. Next thing, "their home inspector" will be hitting you up for a $1,500 air extraction system for the crawl space/slab--a new racket.

There's nothing better than to have a house priced fairly and in move in condition to make a quick sale at the best price. Once the house is rid of possessions, reconditioning can be done quickly and efficiently. We've sold the last 3 homes to the 3rd person that looked at them for full price.
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Old 01-02-2020, 04:47 AM   #12
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Seems like bad faith to me. What else are they not telling you? I think you should find a new agent.
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Old 01-02-2020, 05:26 AM   #13
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I would be concerned about the undisclosed self-dealing of the owner, but the price sounds right. I paid $2600 to have a small 2-bedroom apartment in NYC emptied and a very cramped one-car garage. It took two or three runs to do so, and I think I got a bargain. But they really left it completely clean, and did a great job, plus the previous occupant (my father) was a bit of a hoarder, and the apt. was a third floor walk-up.
You can always get another quote or two.
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Old 01-02-2020, 05:53 AM   #14
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We're paying approx $7K to move a full household 225 miles. This includes packing/loading here and unloading there. Sound like your getting taken for a ride - an expensive one.
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Old 01-02-2020, 06:44 AM   #15
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If you aren't happy with the "contractor" why don't YOU find someone else?
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Old 01-02-2020, 06:53 AM   #16
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The lack of transparency about the self-dealing would be a deal-breaker for me. Believe people when they tell you who they are.

The same self-dealing/lack of transparency would also apply to the sale. Is she already wrangling a lower price for her brother-in-law by telling you the geothermal reduces the value of the property when it seems it would be the opposite given it was just refurbished and generally results in lower utility bills?
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Old 01-02-2020, 07:04 AM   #17
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Even if the price is fair (I don't know), I find it in poor form, if not some violation of some realtor ethics rules (oh my! Is there such a thing?) for your former colleague to hide the fact that the contractor is their boss. I would find another realtor fast.
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Old 01-02-2020, 07:26 AM   #18
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Geothermal is normally a premium system...meaning it ADDS VALUE to a home. It may be the "contractor" does not understand how it works or how much it saves the next homeowner.

Personally, I would look for another real estate agent.
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Old 01-02-2020, 07:30 AM   #19
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Always get multiple bids for such jobs.
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Old 01-02-2020, 07:39 AM   #20
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#1 rule with real estate agents. Don't hire friends or family.
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