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Sorry gypsyhic: I don't have to take this into account when looking at your home. You bought a house and decided to renovate it. So what. I don't care that you spent $20,000 replacing a kitchen. You will not get it back from me unless I fall in love with it even then you may get a small portion from me. I don't care that you knocked out walls. Both of these items may make the house sell more quickly. Pre-recession/depression, some of these things made a difference. Now, they simply do not.
I have a house I'm trying to sell way up North. Some outside walls were rotting. I had to pay $7k to fix them. The agent said to draw more buyers to look at the house, add stairs to the lake. I did and told the contractor to use screws not nails in the event it didn't sell for a while it wouldn't pop on me (my expense). I had the house painted. I replaced part of the roof. I will not get any of this back in selling it - it's just attracting more people to view the house then walk away from it .
The old adage of renovating a kitchen gives you 100% return on your money is simply not true anymore. Do things to your home to enjoy them.
You didn't read my post did you - we renovated our home for ourselves, not you or anyone else. We weren't expecting to sell that house, but needed to sell it for personal reasons a couple years later. My point was, sales stats on a website don't reflect everything about a particular property.
Bottom line, we were happy to sell it and not take too big a loss. We made up for it on the deal we got back home, anyway. I'm just glad we aren't trying to buy a house in Asheville today - the prices seem bloated to me.
You didn't read my post did you - we renovated our home for ourselves, not you or anyone else. We weren't expecting to sell that house, but needed to sell it for personal reasons a couple years later. My point was, sales stats on a website don't reflect everything about a particular property.
Bottom line, we were happy to sell it and not take too big a loss. We made up for it on the deal we got back home, anyway. I'm just glad we aren't trying to buy a house in Asheville today - the prices seem bloated to me.
Yes..in todays market you don't want to "over improve". I do encourage needed maintenance & repairs if possible, buyers put a $$$ amt. on anything. Donna
The only two ways to be properly informed in order to know exactly what the house sold for is to go to the Registrar of Deeds office and look at the revenue stamps paid at closing. The only other way for accurate information is to have a Realtor give you the "sold" data from the MLS which is only available through a Realtor. When you get a market analysis from a Realtor, he/she will provide you with the "comps" [comparable sales]. Neighbors, friends, coworkers etc. are the best operators of the rumor mill.
Yes, I understand what you're saying. My experience with the tax db at Buncombe Co. has been accurate. I don't use it as my only source. I've seen a few things on the GIS db that prove it to be out of date and there is still some truth in it because we confirmed ridiculous-looking property lines (they were true). Their tax db is right on, though (selling price,appraisal, etc.). It just may not reflect all the changes to the house like extra bathrooms, ac, etc.. Am I missing something there?
I had an agent in the North who allowed me to set a relative's house at a ridiculously-high price because they didn't want to lose us as customers. I ended our contract with them, fixed the house, and lowered the price. They were lake front realtors and I moved it to another lake front realtor. I had another agent who was just bragging for our own home who lied to us and set the price high. We discovered her lies and had her taken to the local board for disciplinary action. After that, we carefully screened agents.
Too often, the price is set too high by people expecting to get their improvements out of a house. Agents bend to allow that is to not lose the customer (seems stupid). The only time I watched an agent set the price realistically was when we said: This xxx.xx is what we need cash out of a house. Our expectation was dead on and we weren't interested in overpricing a house to sit on the market.
We watch Bev Hanks and their houses here. We're amazed at how consistently they overprice houses in our market range. The photos look fine on the website but I've seen houses that looked like they were either falling apart in person or in really nasty neighborhoods. I know they're the biggest firm in Asheville and I've learned to tread carefully with them. Their higher-end homes (>250 - 300) appear okay.
Sure, everyone has his/her strong point(s). I just have to ensure I have my own strong points so I'm not taken for a ride by an agent. I agree, if you have a horse farm to sell, find that agent. If you have a house to sell or buy, find out how many years they have been doing it as well as what credentials/courses they have and pray a little.
What are the $13k out of pocket expenses you see? A car (tax deductible if used for their business), part of their home (tax deductible if devoted to their business) ????
What are the $13k out of pocket expenses you see? A car (tax deductible if used for their business), part of their home (tax deductible if devoted to their business) ????
Seriously? You think a tax deduction makes up for filling up your car ($50 a tank) for a buyer that wants to be driven around all day and then never buys? Plus buying lunch for that buyer (they expect it. It's the rare buyer that actually has a clue and buys the realtor lunch!) Or the $500 in board dues a realtor has to come up with by December 31st in order to stay in business, along with the additional hundreds of dollars in licensing fees and continuing education? Or the $350 a month for a half page ad in a local real estate publication because their clients want to see their home in print advertising even though you know internet is where it's at? Or the money spend on visual tours, Broker Open Houses (easily $100+ each - advertising alone is around $70-$90 and then you have to buy food and drinks for people that don't show up), website maintenance, and all the other stupid little things that add up? How about Errors & Omissions insurance, monthly MLS access fees, monthly lockbox fees, cost of buying yard signs, sign riders, pointer signs, business cards and all that crap. This is not a cheap business to get in to. $13,000 is the bare minimum in expenses, it's normally much, much more. A brand new realtor, just getting their license, will need to spend a minimum of $1,500 - $2,000 up front to get up and running and they typically can not expect a paycheck for at least 6 months because that is the average amount of time it takes someone to work with a client and bring a sale to close. Unless you are a realtor yourself, don't even try to dispute these numbers. Most people have no clue what it takes financially to be a realtor.
So you think a realtor is happy to get a piddly little home office deduction???? Realtors work on commission and commission only. They only get paid if they sell something and it actually closes. A high percentage of contracts never close so all that work is for nothing. There is no reimbursement for any expense until a property gets sold. Period. Try putting food on the table for your kids and having a Merry Christmas when the market is this bad. I know one realtor who was one of the top producers in her market who hasn't been able to sell a thing this year. And the thing is, she can't pull unemployment because a self employed person is still considered employed even if their last paycheck was 18 months ago regardless of their best efforts. And those tax deductions? That's a joke. Self Employed people get to pay both parts of the Social Security tax because we don't have an employer who contributes. So I guess you could say it's a wash
You still didn't get what I was trying to explain. The Buncombe County website is usually not accurate about the price of a house when it was purchased. There are many factors and the price is what was recorded at the courthouse, not necessarily the true purchase price. I remember a lot saying, acording to the tax papers, as having sold for $80,000. The MLS list price said $250,000. It was withdrawn from the market without being marked as sold (so no helpful data). ... I've also seen properties where the sale price was $5.00 according to tax records. There are errors
I have also learned over time that a realtor that sets your house at an unrealistically high price doesn't know your market or is trying to appease you to get your business (the later I described earlier). ... If anything, they will price your home low for a quick sale so they can get paid and stay in business.
My experience about the buncombe county website is not the same as yours. The data in it is as good as the information provided. It is propagated to a mass of other websites that gather data from that central db. What is particularly annoying is that real estate agents should know this. You cannot argue this simple fact. If I am selling a house as an agent, I better know everything about that house - the size, the number of rooms, the location, etc. . I may not know the property if a survey was not done.
I find the BC pretty accurate but not necessarily updated. If a person makes improvements to their house, why would they want to get it in the db - so they can pay more taxes? Yes, there are houses that "sold" for $5.00, $0 dollars, or $1. Often, these are simply houses that changed hands in the same family or even bartered. My experience is realtors setting unrealistically high prices due to laziness and the desire to keep clients (even I can run comps fairly easily) to keep customers. My agent pulled comps at a house I considered purchasing. I pulled the same comps and concluded the same. It did not mean the house I was viewing was worth that amount of money, however, because I cannot afford to be myopic when deciding to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a house.
Changing times call for changing the way we do business... if people would just wake up to this fact.
I asked what the $13k out of pocket expenses were. I took a potshot as to what they were. I wasn't attacking anyone. Who in the sam hill said a realtor was happy about the piddly deduction ... Being in business for oneself is dreadfully difficult. I know because my father was self-employed in later life and my spouse is self-employed! However, I am not going to purchase a house because someone is trying to survive. I no longer have the income to support that. I will purchase a house if it has been fairly represented and will not cause me to lose every meager thing I still have managed to keep.
The economy as a whole is the worst I've ever seen it. When I worked for corporations, the upper echelon made money off of me. I worked overtime and wasn't compensated and worked until my job was outsourced and insourced. Everyone is suffering - the middleclass is evaporating. Washington appears to be doing fine. Me - I'm unemployed with no prospects. What Thanksgiving and what Christmas ... - mass marketed in an attempt to have us get into the spirit and buy from China. Real estate agents - only the strongest will survive. Me ... I am trying to survive and expect a very shortened lifetime due to the sellout of America. No insurance (except on my old car and rental) and doing what I can to exist.
gosh, even my clothes are looking embarrassingly ratty (thank goodness I kept clothes that I no longer wore because I don't have a job) and I no longer go get a haircut. I'm attempting to last this lifetime and it's not easy.
bburl - many, many people do not understand how realtors work. They somehow think their offices compensate them for everything when it's actually the other way around. I would like to say that it sounds like you had a bad experience with a realtor but you didn't. It sounds like you had a typical experience. A hot and fast real estate market brought in a lot of new realtors that really shouldn't be in the business. Nothing bugs me more than a "professional" selling a product that they don't have a clue about. Can you tell the difference between hardwood and laminate flooring? Do you know the difference between a soffit and a facia board? Solid hardwood cabinets and melamine? No? Then do you really need to be selling houses when you can't identify common aspects for your clients? The Asheville Board of Realtors expects 45% fewer realtors renewing their dues this year. That's probably a good thing. This is why you should always get three realtor opinions when listing your house. Because they are giving you and opinion, not a scientifically worked out formula. Some peoples opinions are better than others. Hopefully among three people you will find the one with the most accurate opinion.
Sorry about your work situation. It's rough going for a lot of people. I'm just thankful I am not going through this with kids to worry about. Some of my peers do. I don't know how they sleep at night. Me - Lots of benadryl
bburl - many, many people do not understand how realtors work. They somehow think their offices compensate them for everything when it's actually the other way around. I would like to say that it sounds like you had a bad experience with a realtor but you didn't. It sounds like you had a typical experience. A hot and fast real estate market brought in a lot of new realtors that really shouldn't be in the business. Nothing bugs me more than a "professional" selling a product that they don't have a clue about. Can you tell the difference between hardwood and laminate flooring? Do you know the difference between a soffit and a facia board? Solid hardwood cabinets and melamine? No? Then do you really need to be selling houses when you can't identify common aspects for your clients? The Asheville Board of Realtors expects 45% fewer realtors renewing their dues this year. That's probably a good thing. This is why you should always get three realtor opinions when listing your house. Because they are giving you and opinion, not a scientifically worked out formula. Some peoples opinions are better than others. Hopefully among three people you will find the one with the most accurate opinion.
Sorry about your work situation. It's rough going for a lot of people. I'm just thankful I am not going through this with kids to worry about. Some of my peers do. I don't know how they sleep at night. Me - Lots of benadryl
1. Very cute about the benedryl (just be careful hope you buy it at Walmart and use the Equate brand - I use it for allergies).
2. I know the difference between a soffit and facia because I paid careful attention to a friend of mine who repaired houses . But, I wouldn't expect a real estate agent to know that and that's why we have inspectors. Cabinet differences ... hmmm... I don't know that an agent should know that either.
3. When we sold our last house, we interviewed two people from two different agencies. I'm still in touch with the one we chose. Her answers appeared honest, she wasn't afraid to tell us how much we could get quickly for our house, and she told us how many years she had been in the business. Nothing fancy was done to sell us. We sold our house at the right time in six days from the time it hit the MLS.
4. I know the difference between pergo, hardwood, and laminate. The agent better know the difference between laminate and a non-wood.
If I had just one bad experience, I'd understand it. However, I have had three and counting. They were in different states, too. What I expect from an agent:
1. Know the areas in which we're looking. I'm a whiz research, so that often saves me. Do not try to sell me a house where crime is high. Yeah, legally they're not supposed to discriminate but there are easy and ethical ways around this. I will call the police station in the area or find something online about it but you're wasting my time having me do this.
2. Review your blasted-automated listing before you send it to me. If I said I won't look at anything less than 1400 sq ft, don't send me 1300. If I said nothing on the major highway, don't send it. If you don't do this, I might as well do the house hunting on my own.
3. If I ask you something find out and get back to me. If I have to remind you on an ongoing basis, you are not doing your job.
Realtors have a job - to market and sell. They are also struggling to survive in what's left of an economy out there. Bar a couple, they seem as bad as used car salesmen - they had a job to do, too... Support their families and look where that go them.
The only two ways to be properly informed in order to know exactly what the house sold for is to go to the Registrar of Deeds office and look at the revenue stamps paid at closing. The only other way for accurate information is to have a Realtor give you the "sold" data from the MLS which is only available through a Realtor. When you get a market analysis from a Realtor, he/she will provide you with the "comps" [comparable sales]. Neighbors, friends, coworkers etc. are the best operators of the rumor mill.
Super points. We've used neighbors a lot. One woman accidentally mentioned the noise level in the neighborhood and why the ground was soggy . We found businesses in the neighborhood explaining both and didn't go back. Comps are what's available but they do not touch the subjective area of the condition of the house (not here). In NY, at least the house was rated as poor, average, good, or excellent. That's a big hole for me.
Actually, you can also pull comps online these days. There's a database that allows you do do this for specific areas, which is just what an agent will do.
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