Which renovations are a smart investment before selling?

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by Bunny123456

Thanks guys - OP here. Reading through all of these replies kind of confirmed what I was thinking, which is to do nothing other than paint, clean, and declutter. While our house search has not gotten us any closer to a house, yet, LOL, (but that’s another topic for another time), the market in our current town is still sizzling hot. Of course no telling what will happen down the road but unless something shifts in a major way I don’t think a little ugly carpet or wood kitchen cabinets should deter anyone from this place.

The market is still REALLY tight which is why prices are still on the rise in many places and we're still in a seller's market in most of the country.

If you have one particular town that you're focused on, I would definitely suggest allying yourself with an agent who does a decent amount of business in that town and preferably lives in the town as well. There's still a lot of houses trading off the market and working with someone who's well connected can help.

[Bunny123456]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

The market is still REALLY tight which is why prices are still on the rise in many places and we're still in a seller's market in most of the country.

If you have one particular town that you're focused on, I would definitely suggest allying yourself with an agent who does a decent amount of business in that town and preferably lives in the town as well. There's still a lot of houses trading off the market and working with someone who's well connected can help.

MikePRU, any ideas how to find someone like that? We’ve pretty much narrowed it down to two middle of the road towns, neither of which get a ton of love here in this group. We’ve gone to open houses and at times reached out directly to the listing agents. Most have been less than impressive, unable to answer fairly basic questions about the house. I’ve noticed that many use awful pictures, or list a home and then say no showings for the next two weeks. It just seems… odd? Then why list before you are ready to show it? Perhaps I am noticing these things because what I do for a living relates closely to (non-real estate) sales and communications, but it feels like these folks are lacking and we are better off just doing it ourselves. It has been moot because we have yet to see a house that gives us “the feels” and we are admittedly being picky, but I consider myself a good judge of character and professionalism and good agents seem to be as rare as good houses.

[Highlander617]

You could find affordable real estate in Camden, NJ or Gary, IN.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by Bunny123456

MikePRU, any ideas how to find someone like that? We’ve pretty much narrowed it down to two middle of the road towns, neither of which get a ton of love here in this group. We’ve gone to open houses and at times reached out directly to the listing agents. Most have been less than impressive, unable to answer fairly basic questions about the house. I’ve noticed that many use awful pictures, or list a home and then say no showings for the next two weeks. It just seems… odd? Then why list before you are ready to show it? Perhaps I am noticing these things because what I do for a living relates closely to (non-real estate) sales and communications, but it feels like these folks are lacking and we are better off just doing it ourselves. It has been moot because we have yet to see a house that gives us “the feels” and we are admittedly being picky, but I consider myself a good judge of character and professionalism and good agents seem to be as rare as good houses.

I'd estimate only about 10% maybe 20% max of real estate agents are really good at their jobs. Can you DM me the names of the towns you're looking in? I'd love to see some of these listings that say "no showings for two weeks" and the bad photos you mentioned. If I know of any agents in those areas, I'm happy to pass along their names as well.

[Beachcomber4]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

I'd estimate only about 10% maybe 20% max of real estate agents are really good at their jobs. Can you DM me the names of the towns you're looking in? I'd love to see some of these listings that say "no showings for two weeks" and the bad photos you mentioned. If I know of any agents in those areas, I'm happy to pass along their names as well.

^ this.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

I'd estimate only about 10% maybe 20% max of real estate agents are really good at their jobs. Can you DM me the names of the towns you're looking in? I'd love to see some of these listings that say "no showings for two weeks" and the bad photos you mentioned. If I know of any agents in those areas, I'm happy to pass along their names as well.

Kinda the trouble is what was a legit job is then reduced to some part time hobby. Legit agents are full time and stick to one market. If I ask about NNNs and PMI are and they have no idea idea Id run asap.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by mdovell

Kinda the trouble is what was a legit job is then reduced to some part time hobby. Legit agents are full time and stick to one market. If I ask about NNNs and PMI are and they have no idea idea Id run asap.

Absolutely. There are a lot of agents that do this part time. I love when I come across someone who has their license and tells me "I just use it to help out friends and family." These people do far more harm than good. They always and I mean always have no idea what they're doing. My other favorite category are attorneys who have their license. It's ridiculously easy for an attorney to get a license and it shouldn't be this way. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a tax attorney, an immigration attorney, an estate planning attorney, or some other kind of attorney try to double dip by earning two fees. Again, these people are totally ignorant when it comes to buying/selling real estate and do more harm than good. I've even worked with a number of real estate attorneys and almost all of them are clueless about what I do.