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We didn't have tract houses in my region in the 1920's. There weren't any developments either. Sure, you could buy and put together your Sears kit house, but that wasn't a tract house.
There were definitely Sears (and other) house kits as early as the 20s, and perfectly nice houses they were, too, but this was custom-designed by the attorney owner/builder as opposed to those. Could be one of the first "home offices," as he actually used it as a home office -- before it was a tax write-off.
And I haven't "eliminated" FHA. I said that if the objections were reasonable, I would address them.
I don't expect to make much; just get rid of it. But if we're talking new windows, etc., I'd probably net just as much with a lot less work and stress by selling "as is" for less; no guarantee after I make these repairs that the buyer won't still back out of the deal, and then I've wasted time and $$$.
Any idea how long buyer has after signing a contract to get the home inspection and/or FHA appraisal? Termite inspection was first and very speedy, which doesn't make sense, either....
Actually, doing the termite inspection first makes a lot of sense. If termites are found it may affect the structure of the house and in order to set a realistic sales price nay damage should be determined first.
I don't recall anybody talking about new windows. Just paint them.
You may want to consider that FHA is the "new" sub-prime and by not having your house meet minimum property requirements will limit your buyers' pool considerably.
True, but no law says we have to make the repairs if they're $20k; it'd make as much sense at that point to just auction it off.
I'll try asking again: anyone have any idea on the timeline with these things? I'm still waiting, waiting, waiting...
Am not going to start packing up to move until it's over and we've hashed out the subsequent negotiations, but our closing date gets closer every day...
I'm sure this isn't the first "estate sale" in which the elderly owners haven't kept up every little item and adult children (who usually live across the country; we just happen to be close by) don't care to bother with repairing the family home and just want it sold...
Problem: You have a home for sale, that has serious problems, which you don't think are serious and you do not want to solve them.
Problem: You are not accepting the fact, that the home my be worth less than you think it is worth, and do not want to price the home accordingly. A home no matter how new or how old, will have a true retail value of $xx, and that is all it is worth.
Problem: You have a home, that does not attract many buyers, and you are not willing to make the repairs or price reductions to put this home in the real world value and condition it would take to find a buyer willing to take it off of your hands.
Problem: An older home like this with what you have described poor maintenance over the years due to older owners, is only going to be sold to someone like the current buyer, needing a very low down payment and the loans involved with them. It is not a hot item, that everyone wants, and it is priced above the point where troubled property buyers and flippers are looking at your home.
Problem: It is an estate sale, and the heirs are counting on a certain amount of money going to each, and that is being used to determine the price and limit what they are willing to do. Forget how much money the heirs want in cash to themselves, look at what the property is worth, and what it takes to bring the home into condition to be able to sell it.
Problem: You think that due to being in the school district the home is in, makes it worth more than if it was located a few blocks away. Remember, only a very small percentage of buyers, will buy your home based on the school district it is located in. What will determine the value of your home, is what the home is worth, as determined by an appraisal. If the appraisal is thousands of dollars lower than your asking price, then you have two choices. 1: Price your home at the appraised value, and do what ever the appraiser says must be done to make it worth that amount. 2: Sit waiting for another buyer to come along and if one comes along, go through exactly what you are going through at this time all over again.
True, but no law says we have to make the repairs if they're $20k; it'd make as much sense at that point to just auction it off.
And the odds are that for an older poorly maintained home, the auction price will be considerably lower than what you can receive at this point from the current buyers after the repairs.
I entered the real estate brokerage business in 1972, and stayed in it till I finally retired. What I have been saying, is based on all those years in the business and seeing what has been going on around the country.
My wife and I live in a 3,700 sq. ft. upscale home, in a nice area on a 5 acre estate property with barn and stables for 2 horses and we are in our mid going on late 80s. We can't maintain the home perfectly, so we have a housekeeper come in 3 days a week for 3 hours a day, and have the yard mowed and maintained. When we need some repairs done, we have it done, which is important to us, as we want not only want the home nice enough to sell when we want it to sell, but so we can enjoy it in nice condition.
Our home has nothing to compare it with in the entire area, as it is completely unique, and sits in a very nice country area across the street from the best part of town. We have had an appraisal done for estate purposes a year ago, and the appraisal was within $5,000 of my estimated value, and the appraisal was rounded up to the closest $5,000. Our appraisal used one sold home within a mile, and the other three were from 2 to 5 miles away, and it has increased in value about another $20,000 in the last year. I know what it is worth. Our neighbor across the lane, has a daughter and her family that want the home real bad. A real nice young couple with a very responsible position and high pay. We have a standing offer for them to buy the home for a current appraisal they pay for, less the commission a Realtor would charge.
It is a 4 level home, with 3 sets of steps, that my wife and I can no longer safely go up and down. We have installed chair lifts on all the 3 sets of stairs, so we can live in the home longer and safely, or when we decide to build a home we want to down size to, we will sell the home. The potential buyers, have a nice rental they are planning on staying in, till we will sell, which they are anticipating will be within a couple of years.
Nice homes like ours that is well maintained, will be easy to sell if we remain till our death. A poorly maintained older home like yours, is hard to sell, and usually does not sell for what the heirs would really like to sell it for, and will demand that some or all of the deferred maintenance be done before it can be mortgaged.
The house itself does not have serious problems; it has a seriously bad neighbor on a shared driveway.
And, yes, it'd probably make sense to make the repairs rather than auction. It's just that the co-owner isn't willing to, so that'll be coming out my pocket, and that is unfair. But oh well! Whatever it takes...
Any idea how long it typically takes after the contract is signed to get the bank-ordered FHA appraisal?
Believe it or not, old trader, we too had a buyer all lined up for ours... The guy living at the time on the shared driveway, who wanted to upsize and garden in the side lot, who also happened to be handy and kept that property immaculate.
As our bad luck (and his) would have it, he suddenly dropped dead at age 62. Hate when that happens!
it's not which bank that determines how long it takes to get an FHA appraisal, it's the availability of an FHA appraiser. In my neck of the woods, there is ONE FHA appraiser for a large geographical area, so it was always a waiting game to make sure that the appraisal would come in before the closing date. BTW, an FHA appraiser can mandate that certain repairs be accomplished before the mortgage is closed. I got the sellers of one house to fully side the house with vinyl because the existing masonite siding was peeling and blistering and the FHA appraiser would NOT approve the mortgage for the house in that state. for me!
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for me!
