Buyer's Realtors....Can You Please Explain this to Me? (settlement, landlord, renting)

[LCTMadison]

I guess this is beating a dead horse, but there is no way a 4 bedroom house with ONE useable bathroom (because a 1/2 is generally considered for guests, as it is just a sink/toilet) would ever, ever sell in my market.

If someone is looking at 4 bedrooms, they probably intend to use at least 3 of those as bedrooms. Even if only one bedroom is for actual residents, they probably have plans to utilize one or two of the other bedrooms as guest rooms. And no one wants to have to share their private bath with guests. In a four bedroom home you need at least TWO baths, at a minimum 3/4 baths at that, full baths are generally preferred in my area.

Have you had a contractor look at what it would cost to put in another bath? I might check with a couple and see if I could get drawn up plans with costs so a buyer has something to at least consider. Sometimes, just having that information and a plan a buyer can visualize is better than nothing at all, since you have stated you have no intentions of putting in another bath. With having costs determined, a buyer can then begin to factor price of property in relation to expenses they will be looking at after they close. We have done this multiple times, mainly with unfinished basement space....and have put up an "idea board" in the house so as a buyer is viewing the property they can see the potential. We also create Pinterest pages with ideas for spaces like this.

[Montanama]

Yes, that is our house and she is beautiful, inside and out. And a great neighborhood with great schools. And convenient location close to everything including shopping, public transportation, easy commute to the nearest major city, etc.

The reason I am "exasperated" after only 30 days is because we've already had a boatload of showings (22 I think) and we keep getting repeated feedback of "needs too much updating (kitchen, baths)" or "beautiful house but client feels needs too much updating".

(BTW, it's not a décor thing. Our décor inside is fresh and up to date.)

Glad to know 30 days on the market isn't anything to worry about. I didn't think so, but man....30 days feels like a year living like this!!!

That's a good number of showings, and your house and location are attractive. If the feedback really is consistent, I am going to say, again, the unsaid part: "Needs too much updating for this price." All other things being equal, if your house is as attractive as it seems you should have at least had an offer or two in 22 showings and a month.

Yes, when your house is on the market it's painful and seems like forever.

UGH to Zillow. Drives me crazy how much stock people (clients) put in that website.

ETA: There doesn't appear to be a photo of the half bath on the listing! At least on Zillow. Did I miss it? Get a picture of the half bath so that people know what they'll be seeing before they come. The MLS listing/agent comments need to be very clear that it's 1 1/2 baths.

I do still think that 4 beds/ 1 1/2 baths is going to require a longer stay on the market or a significant price drop. Quirky. You don't want to, but if there is a way to even just rough in a second full bath, it would go a long way in terms of speeding up your sale, and possibly price as well. Most buyers lack the imagination and skill to add a bathroom in their minds, and they don't have to if there's a 3 bedroom/2 1/2 bath house down the street. Otherwise it may be a long wait for the buyer who can imagine adding the bath on their own, or really doesn't need the second full bath.

With 3 bedrooms and 1 full bath, a stager might focus on helping the professional couple fall in love with your house. So they would create vignettes that would appeal to such folks, areas they would feel comfortable in.

This. You have prepped your home very nicely for the market. Professional staging sells a lifestyle offered by your home. You've taken away (most) barriers to buyers connecting with your home, but staging goes a step further and draws them in actively. It would help. You can generally get a walk-through and report/consultation with specific recommendations for staging pretty affordably. Some stagers won't do that because their "advice" can be open to interpretation by clients whose taste/skills might be iffy. But many will. A good stager knows the market and knows who your buying pool will be. It's marketing, not decorating.

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

Originally Posted by Westbound and Down

I would have a contractor or architect come up with a plan for something like that, and a cost estimate to do the work, and have that information available for buyers, including sketches. Show them what is possible, and how much it would cost, and that would go a long way towards helping buyers to see the possibilities.
...

How did you price your house? Is it based on actual comparables of recent sales, in your neighborhood, for homes with 3/1.5? Or is your asking price a function of what you paid for the house in 2004 (zillow says $299,000)? Also, all else being equal, "bonus space" in basements, attics, or enclosed porches almost never adds the same value on a price per sf basis that other homes achieved for the same square footage in originally built out space.
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Originally Posted by LCTMadison

I guess this is beating a dead horse, but there is no way a 4 bedroom house with ONE useable bathroom (because a 1/2 is generally considered for guests, as it is just a sink/toilet) would ever, ever sell in my market.

...

Have you had a contractor look at what it would cost to put in another bath? I might check with a couple and see if I could get drawn up plans with costs so a buyer has something to at least consider. Sometimes, just having that information and a plan a buyer can visualize is better than nothing at all, since you have stated you have no intentions of putting in another bath. With having costs determined, a buyer can then begin to factor price of property in relation to expenses they will be looking at after they close. We have done this multiple times, mainly with unfinished basement space....and have put up an "idea board" in the house so as a buyer is viewing the property they can see the potential. We also create Pinterest pages with ideas for spaces like this.

An idea board with costs attached to transform a bedroom, perhaps the one currently being used as a closet, into a master bath would help buyers imagine what it could be like.

We sold a home with 1 1/2 bathrooms and it was tough. We were in a great family area, bordered on a park, on a dead end street, but the bathroom situation scared off a lot of buyers. Wish we had done this.

Our realtor had a professional stager come through and give us suggestions. Made a world of difference. I'd never try to sell a house again without a stager.

After we carried out her suggestions, our home was so comfortable and inviting we didn't even want to leave.

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

Originally Posted by Montanama

That's a good number of showings, and your house and location are attractive. If the feedback really is consistent, I am going to say, again, the unsaid part: "Needs too much updating for this price." All other things being equal, if your house is as attractive as it seems you should have at least had an offer or two in 22 showings and a month.

...

You have prepped your home very nicely for the market. Professional staging sells a lifestyle offered by your home. You've taken away (most) barriers to buyers connecting with your home, but staging goes a step further and draws them in actively. It would help. You can generally get a walk-through and report/consultation with specific recommendations for staging pretty affordably. Some stagers won't do that because their "advice" can be open to interpretation by clients whose taste/skills might be iffy. But many will. A good stager knows the market and knows who your buying pool will be. It's marketing, not decorating.

I agree. We raised our kids in our home and had it cleaned and decluttered to sell, but it was still a family home.

The stager came through and told us to focus on the professional couple because a family wasn't going for the bathroom deal. She had us put an overstuffed chair and a lamp in our MBR in place of the dresser to create the MBR retreat feel/illusion. Pull up the carpets and swish this product around the old hardwood floors, area rugs in the most damaged areas. Basement junk room became a work out room.

It went from a family home with boots by the back door, to an inviting retreat for a couple coming home from demanding jobs.

Our current home has three bathrooms. I would never buy another home with less than two full bathrooms. Tough to sell, You have to go the extra mile to convince people this the place.

[Merjolie8]

Originally Posted by Westbound and Down

With 1.5 baths, unless it is a studio or one bedroom apartment, a seller should consider himself lucky that ANYBODY even looks at the house. Your added burden is that the baths and kitchen have not been updated, but that is secondary to the 1.5 bath problem.

In the northeast, due to the age of the houses, 1.5 baths home are really common, as are 1 bath homes.

[ovi8]

2 hours to prep for a showing? When we had toddlers we had a mess all the time and even then when we heard someone was coming it took only about 30 minutes to put everything away, which included dismantling gates and storing them and all the toys. All other areas were kept clean after use to save time.

[Westbound and Down]

Originally Posted by Merjolie8

In the northeast, due to the age of the houses, 1.5 baths home are really common, as are 1 bath homes.

But plenty of people have added baths over the decades to these older homes, and the OP is now reporting that one could be added to their home but they can't do it themselves at this time, and she also admits that her 1.5 bath home is in a neighborhood where the standard is 2+ baths and that fact has hurt her ability to sell, as further evidenced by the additional fact that she had it on the market for well over a year in 2009/10 and could not sell it.

Just because something is 'common' doesn't mean that it is what people want...

[tikaram]

OP, maybe you can clean less when preparing for a showing? I know it's controversial to what is always recommended, but nobody seems to say that "house was too cluttered, smelled weird" Or consider a cleaning person, for the time your house is on the market.

I also agree with those who said that pictures might be too good. Maybe have your realtor add more pictures? Keep the ones taken by prof. photographer, but add some "real life" ones perhaps?
Have you also talked about lowering the price? Some of agents posted here about right price point, and I tend to agree. What did your agent say about initial price point, and possible price reductions if any? I don't know your market, here in MA it's on the upswing, but some time ago when things were not as cheerful, agents would say that sellers could try certain price, and after 30 days (or 60 or whatever), lower it if no offers by x amount etc. They would even talk about price reduction schedule, if you wanted to start at a higher price, hoping for the best.
How soon you need to sell? Did you buy already, are you going to rent? Not that I'm nosy, but it all helps to create the best pricing strategy, something to discuss with your agent.

Best of luck, and don't take buyers feedback personally (as others already pointed out. What you need is an offer, and a willing and able buyer, all the rest doesn't matter.

[elmandmaple]

I am in NY and I wish I could buy your house! We are actually looking for homes in our price range that have 1.5 baths since most of them seem to only have 1. That being said, we are looking for a smaller house.

Maybe it has something to do with your price range, and the fact that other houses in the same range have 2+ baths?

[cully]

So your Realtor showed you all the comps that sold, right? How does yours fit among them? Pricewise and number of bedrooms/bathrooms and square footage.

And all the current listings. Where is your home among those?