Buyer's Realtors....Can You Please Explain this to Me? (property tax, inspection, offer)
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Another reason buyers might look at many possibilities, some of which appear not to meet their criteria, could be that they are new to the area and are trying to get a sense of what the local housing market has on offer.
That was true for us when we were house-hunting in our current community 15 years ago; we had moved halfway across the continent, from an extremely depressed, low-income and mostly rural region to a thriving and prosperous city, and it took us several trips with our realtor to get a sense of what realistic expectations were in our price range. We sold our 1980s 4-bedroom updated 1,800-SF home in the low-income region at the very top of the market for that part of the country, and wound up spending almost exactly twice as much on an unimproved 1,100-SF bungalow that dated back to the 1940s when we purchased here. That was still a heckuva deal for the area and the time, even though it only had 1 1/4 baths and two real bedrooms with a semi-finished attic that could be used as a third bedroom in a pinch, but we would have had no idea that it was that good a deal without looking at a number of other options in our price range.
As buyers, we have always been able to look past clutter and furniture at what a house really was. We looked at and liked quite a few messy places, even tried to make offers on two of them but got beat out by other buyers. Pets never bothered us, either. And the one house where the sellers left out a plate of fresh-baked cookies actually made us somewhat suspicious, not of the cookies themselves, just wondering what was so bad about the place that the sellers felt it was worthwhile to try to distract us with treats. So while I understand the logic behind cleaning/staging (and we did a whole lot of that to the house we sold), it's possible to find a buyer without doing that.
What do you mean? Do you agree that houses should be decluttered and depersonalized, or not?
Yes to the above, no to the over the top HGTV staging with breakfast in bed trays on the bed etc etc.
HGTV has some, not all, but some buyers totally brain washed. People forget these shows are for entertainment and go over the top.
Granite would not have been the must have beats all counters had it not been for HGTV....don't people realize they are "pushing" their sponsers products?
The house you grew up in? Buyers want more today, not the house they grew up in where everyone stood in line for the bathroom.
yet suprise suprise these homes, especially in urban areas still SELL.
I've seen 1.5 bathroom brownstones in Bklyn list for close to 1 million.
You are attempting to put your blanket of ideas of what should be on everything, it doesn't work that way. Not every home is going to have 2-3 bathrooms, 2 car garages or walk in closets.
Some homes built back in the late 1800 hundreds just can't be modified to todays standards, some can but others can't
I'm glad you found your perfect house, hopefully the O/P will land a perfect buyer who doesn't need 2 baths.
For the cats, I recommend throwing sheets over all the furniture (and the rugs, if you are keeping them). Then, for a showing, pull the sheets off and stash them somewhere. Presto, clean furniture.
And people who prefer old houses (there are many of us!) will think 1.5 bathrooms is a lot . To attract them, make sure your pictures and the text of your ad emphasise the 'old house' features -- the millwork, floors, windows, porch, vintage look, etc.
yet suprise suprise these homes, especially in urban areas still SELL.
I've seen 1.5 bathroom brownstones in Bklyn list for close to 1 million.
You are attempting to put your blanket of ideas of what should be on everything, it doesn't work that way. Not every home is going to have 2-3 bathrooms, 2 car garages or walk in closets.
Some homes built back in the late 1800 hundreds just can't be modified to todays standards, some can but others can't
I'm glad you found your perfect house, hopefully the O/P will land a perfect buyer who doesn't need 2 baths.
Then why hasn't the OP's house sold? If she has priced it in line with other 1.5 bath homes in her area, and they regularly sell, all else being equal, she too will sell her house, eventually. We are missing several pieces of the puzzle here (her price, her competition, etc) so we are all flying a little blind in our advice. But advising someone to declutter, depersonalize, and remove the pet odors is pretty basic stuff, but not everyone knows the basics.
BTW, I never said every home must have "2-3" bathrooms; wherever you are getting the 2 car garage and walk in closet commentary that you seem to be lumping in with my comments is from somewhere else, too. Don't attribute something to someone that they did not imply much less say. Instead, give the OP some constructive ideas; I have done that, as have others.
Your example of a Brooklyn brownstone selling for $1M has nothing to do with this thread and is only applicable to someone who is selling the same; what you leave out is what do brownstones with updated kitchens and 2 baths sell for, all else being equal?
Then why hasn't the OP's house sold? If she has priced it in line with other 1.5 bath homes in her area, and they regularly sell, all else being equal, she too will sell her house, eventually. We are missing several pieces of the puzzle here (her price, her competition, etc) so we are all flying a little blind in our advice. But advising someone to declutter, depersonalize, and remove the pet odors is pretty basic stuff, but not everyone knows the basics.
BTW, I never said every home must have "2-3" bathrooms; wherever you are getting the 2 car garage and walk in closet commentary that you seem to be lumping in with my comments is from somewhere else, too. Don't attribute something to someone that they did not imply much less say. Instead, give the OP some constructive ideas; I have done that, as have others.
Your example of a Brooklyn brownstone selling for $1M has nothing to do with this thread and is only applicable to someone who is selling the same; what you leave out is what do brownstones with updated kitchens and 2 baths sell for, all else being equal?
O/P did not ask for any advise she clearly stated house is decluttered etc.
She was looking for insight as to why when listing clearly states 1.5 bath and kithcen and bath have not been updated and people find this a turn off why do they waste her time in showing it?
Some posters have given her thoughts on why people do this. You are one of the posters that really made issue on 1.5 bath when she wasn't asking that.
For the cats, I recommend throwing sheets over all the furniture (and the rugs, if you are keeping them). Then, for a showing, pull the sheets off and stash them somewhere. Presto, clean furniture.
And people who prefer old houses (there are many of us!) will think 1.5 bathrooms is a lot . To attract them, make sure your pictures and the text of your ad emphasise the 'old house' features -- the millwork, floors, windows, porch, vintage look, etc.
Westbound: I don't think sassygirl mentioned how long her house has been on the market. It could have been just listed within the last couple of weeks for all we know. Some markets in the U.S are just a lot slower than others, even though it's improving as a whole.
If she had said her house had been on the market for over a year, then I'd think there may be other underlying factors. I read somewhere that the average time on the market in a hot market is 14-30 days, but a slow market averages 9 months.
The perfect buyer will come along sooner or later!
P.S. If it takes you two hours to tidy up you're probably like me! I'm a total perfectionist when it comes to people visiting, even when my house is neat and clean, I make sure every tiny nook and cranny is sparkling and every surface is dusted and polished before guests arrive!
It's not made much easier with a cat and a baby, that's for sure!
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. To attract them, make sure your pictures and the text of your ad emphasise the 'old house' features -- the millwork, floors, windows, porch, vintage look, etc.
