Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Real Estate
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 05-13-2014, 03:23 PM
 
Location: San Francisco
2,279 posts, read 4,734,329 times
Reputation: 4026

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sassygirl18 View Post
Hi All,
Our house is a beautiful, older house that does not have an updated kitchen or bathrooms, and we have one and a half baths. Our realtor went to the expense to hire a professional photographer who took very comprehensive (and clear) photos for our listing which show a lot of detail and it is clear from the photos that the kitchen and baths, while clean and attractive -are NOT updated. Our listing also clearly states that we have 1.5 baths.

What is exasperating us is the feedback we get from buyers and their realtors after the showing that the buyers really loved the house, or the house is very beautiful, but too much updating is needed, and they list the kitchen and bathrooms specifically. Or they will say "one and a half baths just isn't enough."
There have been times when I knew ahead of time that a kitchen hadn't been updated, but it wasn't clear from the pictures exactly how much money and effort it would take to make the kitchen acceptable to me. You can't gauge things like the quality of the cabinets, whether the appliances or sink are scratched, etc from a photo. Not saying your kitchen is damaged, but even with a well-kept kitchen it can be hard to really tell from pictures sometimes.

When I was last house hunting, there were times when I looked at the pictures and thought it was possible I might be able to update a kitchen with minimal afford, but in person, realized there was a deal breaker, or that the cabinets were not in good enough shape to just be repainted but would need to be replaced. Or maybe the kitchen was just as pictured, but there was something else about the house that, when added to the out-of-date kitchen, became a deal breaker.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sassygirl18 View Post
Angiebuttercup, I wish it was that easy. No matter how clean we try to keep it, because we have cats, the area rugs get hairy and all need to be vacuumed. The kitchen floor ALWAYS needs to be swept and mopped (again, thanks to the cats), the litter boxes have to be scooped so there's no smell in the house, the kitchen counters have to be wiped down, the beds have to be made, the furniture has to be dusted (most days), the bathroom sink area has to be wiped down, any laundry that was done has to be put away, if we've eaten/cooked anything, we have to make sure all the dishes are clean and away or empty the dishwasher, vacuum the furniture (hair/cats), lock up valuables like jewelry, adjust all the blinds, turn on all the lights. Hard to keep up with all of this throughout the day, since we work.
I've got 2 long haired cats, so I know how the cat fur gets everywhere and litter can be tracked everywhere! You might want to consider getting a Roomba or one of the other robot vacuums. I cannot tell you how much having one has improved the cleanliness of my house. It really helps with the litter and the cat fur. And it's really nice to have my floors always looking just-vacuumed.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-13-2014, 04:07 PM
 
Location: Austin
7,244 posts, read 21,757,022 times
Reputation: 10014
Maybe your "professional" photos are doing their job of getting people into the house, but they possibly are making the house look like something it's not. Many times, people love the photos, but then they get inside and say it's nothing of what they pictured.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-13-2014, 04:20 PM
 
Location: Tucson for awhile longer
8,869 posts, read 16,282,217 times
Reputation: 29230
Quote:
Originally Posted by willow wind View Post
... Then there are the idiots. I have a young cousin currently looking for a home with her hubby. They have looked at least 40 houses over the past 8 weeks. They know exactly what they want. The houses they have looked at are not remotely in locations or types of homes or room counts that they want. So why are they looking at so many homes. They feel they have to " shop around". They would not be happy looking at the few suitable houses that will come on the market that would be viable options. " only three' - it's not enough- we want to see more " They feel they have to explore everything. I have no idea why their agent is putting up with them. He must be ready to throttle them by now.
This mindset is especially common with first-time home buyers. So if your house is in the price range or a neighborhood that would attract younger people, you can't avoid this. They don't know what they want, even if they do they often can't articulate it to their Realtor, and they might change their minds many times before they sign anything. Also, you'll be lucky if more than two opinions aren't involved. Many parents who are chipping in cash for their child's first-time home purchase want to issue their opinions on the purchase and require their own tour. I don't know how Realtors' stand it, but in this market I guess most of them have to take what they can get.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-13-2014, 04:27 PM
 
22,356 posts, read 11,886,395 times
Reputation: 20198
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sassygirl18 View Post
Interesting! Do they really think the furniture comes with the house? Craziness.
Buyers are often not able to look past the furnishings. Even though, logically, they know that the house won't come furnished, they still get turned off if they dislike the furniture of if the house is cluttered. I like to watch HGTV. Many times, realtors would tell buyers "Look past the furnishings. Remember that they don't come with the house".

I see that you are in NJ. I know from my daughter's apartment hunting experiences in Northern NJ, most of the housing stock is old. She was unable to find an apartment in her price range that had at least 1.5 baths! So, if lack of enough bathrooms is an issue in apartments, then I would imagine the same thing goes with houses that weren't remodeled. That said, if you are in Southern NJ, perhaps things are different.

We had a hard time selling our first home because it had 1.5 baths. We had bought it new and the base model just had 1 bath so we had to pay extra for that half bath. Yes, we would have liked 2 full baths but had we tried for that, it might have pushed the price of the house out of our range.

Still, since it was a starter house you would think that people looking for that type of house shouldn't expect to get everything that they want. Our realtor mentioned that old expression, "Before you can walk, you have to crawl". She said that she had seen buyers who didn't even want to walk, they wanted to run.

Be sure that since your house has 1.5 baths that is priced lower than similar homes that have 2 baths in your area. Somewhere there is a buyer who wants to live in your area but can't afford a home with 2 baths. In that case, your home will be attractive to them.

As for realtors taking buyers to a house that has some deal breakers for the buyer --- Before we bought our first house, we told our realtor that we wanted at least 1.5 baths. Yet she brought us to a few that only had 1 bath. Needless to say, we didn't end up buying one of those. In fact, we would tell the realtor if only that house had that extra half bath...sigh!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-13-2014, 05:08 PM
 
2,888 posts, read 6,523,543 times
Reputation: 4653
We had 6 cats and an older carpet that literally had to be "raked" to look acceptable. Fur removal and piling the cats in the car were a bear. It took us an hour to make the house look presentable. We had an immediate offer that fell through before closing (buyer was laid off). Within one day, we had another full price offer.

Just breathe deeply and accept that the right buyer will come along and the house will sell.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-13-2014, 05:57 PM
 
11,337 posts, read 11,008,074 times
Reputation: 14993
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sassygirl18 View Post
Our house isn't really a "high roller" house. It's not a starter home, but it's not a richy-rich place either. But even if a high roller was interested, I would think they wouldn't bother looking at a house that didn't have the things they wanted.
The only feedback you want is an offer. Keep it simple and do not request feedback. Simply have your agent ask the buyer's agents that come through if they want to make an offer. Nothing more. The rest is nonsense anyway since you are not going to add a 1/2 bath or install a new kitchen or anything else.

Other than that, FORGET THAT YOU ARE ON THE MARKET. Just let the process move forward and don't participate in it too closely.

You've done all the preparation you are going to, now just do what it takes to process an offer. You really don't need to know what buyers think about your house, so don't ask.

As to your original question, buyers often don't know what they want. Or, they can't afford what they want, so they need to look at what you are offering and see if they can live with it even though it is not what they want. Or, a buyer may know that your home will not meet his needs as-is but is willing to renovate it so that it will. So he still needs to see it despite the fact that your pictures clearly show that it is not something that he wants.

Don't take any of this personally. It will simply make you crazy. Just go about your life, forget you are on the market, pay attention only when an offer comes in that needs consideration. And detach yourself from your house. It is now a watermelon in the produce aisle, nothing more.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-13-2014, 06:10 PM
 
Location: NJ
983 posts, read 2,768,806 times
Reputation: 1902
Thanks so much, everyone, for all of your thoughtful replies. I feel much less aggravated now, knowing that there are many reasons this may be happening. The truth is, it's not an emotional reaction I am having to negative feedback. I don't care if someone doesn't like the house, thinks it's ugly, hates my furniture, hates the layout or whatever. I just get aggravated that people who want things like a remodeled kitchen come in and waste our time when they know from the photos/listing that we do not have a remodeled kitchen. But I do see all the reasons, now (thank you) that this happens....indecisiveness, partners not agreeing on what they want/need, people not really knowing what they want, people wanting to take a look to see if they can remodel, etc.

Couple of comments....

We have no kids. Hubby does most of the showing prep and he rocks. (Although I make the beds because I have particular way I like them to be made - I am something of a Martha Stewart ha ha ha). We do try to keep things clean all the time but it's a big house (2600 square feet) and we do live in it. I have not been cooking much lately (because of the showings) but we still eat, so things get messed up. I try to do the laundry on off hours, but I hang a lot of my clothes to dry (I don't like to put certain things in the dryer) so I have to plan this out. Dust gathers quickly in this old house, as does the cat hair, litter being tracked around, etc. We do quarantine the cats for showings, but I am absolutely not going to send them off to grandmom's while our house is on the market.

No matter how you slice it, the lawn has to be mowed regularly, the trash has to be taken out, the beds have to be made, the kitchen floor has to be mopped and on and on. It's a royal PITA.

I know the house is okay on smell because we just got back from a 10 day vacation and I could really "smell" the house (you know how that happens? You can truly smell your house only when you've been away from it for several days). I did smell our home's scent, but it didn't smell like cats (thankfully).

As far as pricing, so far we've had about 20 showings and 50% feel the house is priced "just right" and 50% think it's priced "too high". No surprise that nobody said it's priced "too low". Our realtor did as best she could with helping us set price. Comps were almost non-existent as there were very few sales over the long winter and the ones that did sell were not much like our house. Our house is one of the biggest/grandest ones in the neighborhood, which is something of a problem with comping it. Our house lacks in number of bathrooms but has compensating features like 2 bonus rooms (on top of 4 bedrooms), a huge screen back patio, 2 car garage, 2 wood burning fireplaces, high ceilings, original wood floors, new heater, 2-zone AC and other stuff.

Sorry so long-winded! I do appreciate all the insights.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-13-2014, 06:16 PM
 
Location: On the Chesapeake
45,119 posts, read 60,226,663 times
Reputation: 60719
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sassygirl18 View Post
Can you explain WHY, though? If I could wrap my mind around it, or even understand it a tiny bit, I might feel less frustrated.
Your answer is rooted in all the home buying shows on HGTV, among others. Watch a couple and you'll see people wanting to "update" brand new work.

How old is your house? Older than 1940ish you're selling to a specialized buyer who likes old houses and accepts, or adapts, to the eccentricities of those houses.

Ours is CA 1916. It can be a pain in the ass to work on.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-13-2014, 08:46 PM
 
Location: NYC
16,061 posts, read 26,694,582 times
Reputation: 24848
Pictures rarely show a house how it looks. I have seen houses that fit all my criteria, beautiful pictures, however I walk in and the house is nothing like it looks! I think that is the job of the photographer. You entice someone to see he house, hopefully see more they love!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-13-2014, 09:58 PM
 
98 posts, read 235,039 times
Reputation: 129
We have our house on the market too, and have many kids (we basically have 4 children ages 4-8). We want to show a "q-tip" clean home, it takes us 2+ hours to get ready for a showing also.

We also get frustrated with our feedback, SO frustrated that we stopped looking at it completely. If your client is not making an offer, I don't want to read why they do not want our home!

After watching all of the tv shows of people buying houses, I think 75%+ of buyers are not to smart, lol. They get stuck on dumb things like paint color or sellers furniture. Realtors, you have a hard job! I could never have the patience to deal with people like that
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Real Estate

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:51 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top