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Over the past few months my wife and I have seen more than our fair share of houses in our attempt to find a larger home. Our experience has been eye opening and I wanted to share a couple of things if you want to attract serious buyers.
1. Hire a maid to clean the place up. If I see one more filthy house I am opening my mouth.
2. Hire a landscaper to fix up the yard. Sod is cheap.
3. Hire a pressure washer team. People think just because mold grows everywhere that people can't see it.
4. Last but most important, Make sure your Agent lists your home appropriately. If it is a crap hole then say it is a crap hole. Don't stage the place for pictures then take the furniture away.
If you see a listing that says immaculate or move in ready then move on to the next listing. You have a 99% chance on seeing a crap hole if the listing starts off that way.
We saw everything from a house with a dead body smell to one with trees growing out of the roof. These were some of the better listings. Remember lots of people drive by the house to scope it out before asking to see the inside. You need to have a good first impression.
Another item: fix the roof if it's obvious that it will need redone soon. With heavy rain storms around here, it's a huge turn off to see a house with obvious roof issues (and likely underlying water damage that will continue getting worse until closing).
A couple of more tips (I am not a Realtor but know several and have a little experience in exploring the "For Sale")
Become a member of one of the Real Estate sites; gone are the days when only Licensed Realtors had access to listings. Make your own list of places and go see them - from the outside obviously. Call the "listing" Realtor for the places that appeal to You. I know, too much work and You prefer to let your 1 and only realtor make the choices...mistake.
Learn a bit of the lingo, "Window Treatments" can mean a bathroom rod with bed sheets. "Needs a little TLC (Tender Loving Care)" means You'll probably will come close to demolition before repairs. "Newer Roof" means a cheap coat, over two or three defective roofs already in palce. But You already found the "Immaculate" sounds religious to me and "Move in ready" (means desperate to sell)
Do not rely on pictures, go see the place.
If You are seeing many places with the conditions You describe, perhaps, a slight adjustment of affordability/size should be considered.
a fresh coat of paper n a good clean can add 10s of thousands of dollars to a sale. i used to flip houses and only spent 20-30k on ea before selling to maximize earnings. once you start digging in too far its hard to get your money back
These are houses between 400k and 600k. It's not about the price it's about the people thinking they can list trash and try to sell it as like new. I have seen million dollar houses that need to be torn down. One was listed as "Ready for your personal touches" Yeah with a wrecking ball.
In the bay area the listing pictures some are so bad. It's like a kid took the pictures. With that being said those homes sometimes go pending within a week or so. Then some homes with great staging, pictures and great curb appeal. Take months to go pending. Sometimes it comes down to being priced right out of the gate.
The most important thing is Market Value. If you dont have the resources to accurately determine Market Value, or you dont listen to your REALTOR's advice on value, it may spend months without being sold, and cost you every month.
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