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I can't give you the perspective of a R.E. professional since I'm not in that biz, but I can talk about the things that were important to me when I was house hunting and things I paid attention to when I sold my house in CA. I purchased 2 years ago in Cary.
First of all, from what I understand there is a lot more inventory on the market right now, so you're competing not just with the homes in your subdivision and city, but also surrounding cities in the same sq footage / age / price points, so keep that in mind.
Some things to think about:
1. How many BRs / Ba for that sq ft?
2. Are the rooms a nice size? Is there a lot of light?
3. Has the interior been painted within the last 3 years?
4. Are the interior colors fairly neutral and light?
5. Do you have wallpaper up? (this can be a negative)
6. How old is your roof?
7. How old is your HVAC system?
8. What is the condition of the siding or exterior? Has it been painted within the last 4 - 5 years? Neutral colors?
9. What is your landscaping like? Lot size? Grass? Condition of grass or landscaping? Fenced yard?
10. Is your house in move-in condition or close to it? If not, is it priced aggressively to move, keeping in mind a buyer will need to make changes to bring it up to something more modern?
11. Have you removed all your 'personal' items like pictures, religious ornamentation?
12. Is your place clutter-free and absolutely spotless?
13. Have you had a R.E. stager come and give you a quote? If might be useful to show your house to its best advantage.
14. What is UNIQUE about your house, if anything?
15. How old are your kitchen appliances? Do you have gas or electric? (gas is usually more desirable)
16. What other homes are for sale in your community and have you toured them or seen what their features are?
17. What needs to be updated or replaced in your house (look at this with a very critical eye from a buyer's perspective). Is your kitchen super modern?
18. Storage? Media room? Garage for 2 cars?
19. Are the carpets fairly new or at least in pristine condition? Neutral color?
20. Are you offering to pay for the first year's home owner warranty? Other concessions or part of closing costs?
21. Does the home afford some privacy? Is it quiet and not looking right into a neighbor's house?
22. Is there a HOA and what are the costs?
23. How are the neighbors around your house? Any dogs barking? Any loud street noise? Airplane noise? Trains nearby? Screaming kids around? Neighbors with junky cars or trailers or boats or any automotive clutter?
When I started looking the first thing I thought about is how much 'work' I'd need to do on a home since I was not looking at brand new construction. So I took into consideration the age as well as what I could expect to have to replace.
Also, I wanted to avoid a HOA situation as much as possible. I wanted a home that was quiet and peaceful and that I felt I could resell fairly easily if I ever had to. I looked closely at the neighborhood to see the condition of the homes around me in all directions. I didn't want to live in a transitional neighborhood.
I also was not interested in a home in which I'd have to redo much because I'm single and not a handyperson so I wanted something in as near to move-in condition as possible. I only had to paint 1 room for a color change--everything else was done in really great muted shades that worked well and were neutral. The kitchen had been totally updated within the last 3 years so that was a plus too.
I did have to put a new roof on, which I did 1 year after I purchased, as the original roof was still there. The house was 18 years old when I purchased. Part of the reason I chose a resale house as opposed to new construction is that I could get more land (my house is on 1/3 acre), mature landscaping, an established neighborhood with no more construction happening, my house was not a cookie cutter home, it had nice features already (hardwood floors, crown molding) and I couldn't touch anything new with those features for the same price in my immediate area. Also, because I have a dog I wanted a fenced backyard, so that scored points and my home has a nice amount of space on the sides and my backyard is wooded and private. These things help make a home desirable, IMHO.
I will tell you that I noticed that when other people tour houses they often pay more attention to the way the house is furnished than the actual features of the home---I noticed this in watching people tour model homes, for instance. They would 'oooh' and 'awww' over the furniture and accessories (esp. the women). This is something that can really help 'sell' your home and this is where someone who specializes in staging a home can help. Yes it costs extra but if it helps show off your home and get it sold at a good price then it's worth it, so don't discount it, especially if you are not a natural interior designer. Do you ever watch HGTV? They have lots of shows focused on getting a house ready to sell and suggest the type of upgrades that are not high cost in the scheme of things, but can help show off your house to it's advantage. Fresh paint is one big thing, as is redoing any kiddy-theme rooms to be neutral.
Well those are some of my thoughts. If your house is sitting then there's obviously an issue and you have to be relentless in determining each factor that could add or subtract value as well as understand exactly WHO your house will best appeal to. You will have to be totally honest with yourself and maybe even go look at other homes for sale to see how they are decorated, what features they offer, etc., etc.
Best of luck!
Last edited by lottamoxie; 05-04-2008 at 05:34 PM..
I think you are probably suffering due to the sheer number of houses on the market right now. If I wasn't looking to buy in one specific neighborhood, I probably could have looked at 50 or more similar houses that met my basic needs. I don't know how you differentiate your house from all the others. I also think a lot of buyers are on the fence, afraid to buy right now. It seems like every day there's more bad news about the real estate market, gas prices, unemployment, etc. It's downright depressing!
I don't have any advice to offer because it sounds like you've already got your house in top condition - and will lowering the price get the fence sitters to bite? Hard to say..
Its ok that people dont want to move farther out. I was just giving my particular perspective as someone who just recently bought in his price range. It was a hard decision but we decided that we needed a larger house more than a shorter commute. The amount of housing options we had was rather overwhelming.
Apex Guy, I wish you luck in your sale, I will be in your boat one day myself.
Even in a good market a home that goes on the market in Apex in January may not sell in 4 months. Combine that with the economy, aggresive deals on new construction, a glut of homes because of the slowdown, etc. Plus, when the house is overpriced to start with, then those showings before the price drop probably aren't coming back.
It may take you a long time to sell in this market. People are skittish. A buyer is taking a huge risk by buying right now. What if the economy gets worse and we have even more inflation and job losses? What if real estate prices fall significantly?
Thank you all for the time of crafting a reply to my post. Our home is 6 yrs old and we are the original owners. We did some extensive remodels/updates so its not all out of date. Some referenced incentives. I currently have $2k in closing costs listed. For those that referenced incentives, do you think its better to decrease the price or offer some/part of that decrease in the means of closing costs/concessions? Like, instead of dropping the price 4-6K, would you increase closing costs by that amount? In other words, keeping the price the same, but closing costs are now 6-8K versus 2K?
I think some of you affirmed my thoughts that probably many of the people that have come and viewed my home are sitting on the fence right now. We had one person come back THREE times, but its been awhile since we actually had someone come a second time.
Our agent does use Centralized Showings and they forward all the feedback. We are not getting anything from the feedback that we can meaningfully change or we would have done it. For example, some of the feedback is about the buyers not liking the neighborhood or the backyard (we don't have a lot of backyard) or the floorplan. While we don't have a lot of space in the backyard, our grass is in great condition. Plus we have had some comical feedback too...
A majority of the feedback starts with "Home shows great, Clean .... then gets into the nitty gritty details of the "buyer".
New construction out in Fuquay you can get 3000 sq feet for 230. I would say that it is a bit overpriced.
Have you driven in Cameron Park or Scotts Mill in Apex? Those homes get big time $$ per sq foot. If you think that 230 for 2100 sq feet is overpriced, Id hate to see your reaction to that.
Fuquay is much more affordable than Apex, that's undeniable. However, its also an impossible commute for many working in RTP or N. Raleigh. I know Im paying along with everybody else a lot more than people living in Fuquay. Why do you think people are moving there?
Also, I think you said it was "only" 20 miles away. That's 40 minutes of commuting time in rush hour or perhaps any hour.
As a potential buyer (maybe...) when I've looked at resales, the prices seem delusional, to the point where we are not even bothering to consider them. New construction or inventory homes seem to have much, much better pricing. Look around your area and see what the new construction is going for (not the stated price, but the actual price, builders are trying desperately to keep the stated price up, then offering very low financing/incentives that effectively lower it...)
I think some of you affirmed my thoughts that probably many of the people that have come and viewed my home are sitting on the fence right now. We had one person come back THREE times, but its been awhile since we actually had someone come a second time.
Yeah, it was hard for me to finally make the decision to buy. I've been debating it for over two months, and looked at the house three times before I put an offer in. I finally just got tired of constantly thinking about it, watching the MLS, reading bad market news, etc. and said the heck with it. I'm kind of relieved now, although I will have to sell my current house next!
As a recent triangle-area home searcher and a licensed RE agent (in FL) I can tell you that price plus location is everything. As a RE agent, I can tell you that in a down market, price is really important b/c buyers know full well that if yours doesn't really tempt them, there are 100 other houses out there to look at. So maybe they didn't like things you can't change--yard, neighborhood, etc.--but what that might really mean is that they have seen other houses that are in the same range that have better neighborhoods and bigger yards.
So...make sure your house is really priced well for the market--that is, not only look at houses that have sold in the area that are truly comparable (same size lot, etc.), but look at the 3 or 4 houses that are most comparable to yours in the neighborhood, make sure yours shows better, and then price it just UNDER the others. That might help
When we were looking, we ended up having to compromise on something--neighborhood, lot size, amenities, etc. And I can tell you that price won the day. We were torn, and ended up getting house A that was priced lower and had a better lot than house B.
the FL market is terrible so I've seen a lot of this.
Look around your area and see what the new construction is going for (not the stated price, but the actual price, builders are trying desperately to keep the stated price up, then offering very low financing/incentives that effectively lower it...)
At his price point, new construction isn't an issue. You'd have to go a lot further out than Apex to get a newly built house on a decent lot for $235K.
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