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.
I have dealt with both seller's agents and buyer's agents. I currently shy away from direct contact with seller's agents because they are trying very hard to please the seller. I have had numerous seller's agents not tell me things about a property a good buyer's agent would have. But as mentioned above, good luck finding a competent buyer's agent.
On the other hand seller's agents are deep into the game. Case in point - about 10 years ago I was regularly talking with a seller's agent. Even looking at other properties with him. He calls me up out of the blue and tells me I should put an offer in on the original property. He would not help me with a number but he said, put in an offer I feel comfortable with as the property has to be sold. I pass. Long story short the property sells for over 200K below asking to a flipper. It is my guess I got the first call. This was in a very good area, still a very good area..
Thanks much. My Realtor has told me on more than one occasion that a historic home I'm interested in is above comps for other historical properties, so it's suspect to me. I'm also told that assessed tax amounts are not a gauge either. If I have to hire inspectors and appraisers, etc. etc. What good is an agent for?????
Thanks much. My Realtor has told me on more than one occasion that a historic home I'm interested in is above comps for other historical properties, so it's suspect to me. I'm also told that assessed tax amounts are not a gauge either. If I have to hire inspectors and appraisers, etc. etc. What good is an agent for?????
Your agent sounds like he/she may be right when they say a particular historic home is worth more on the market than what comping other homes would indicate. It depends on the individual historic home. The problem with pricing a very unique home, is comps do not compare with it. It is an individual home, with nothing to compare it against. It can be quality, condition, uniqueness, and the history of the home that sets it apart.
I know of one home in South West Montana in a small town. It sold for and would resell at 3 times what any other home will sell for. It was built in late 1800s, and is the only home from that time period remaining. It is built of good size rocks. It has old fashioned Iron Work. It is large, but about the size of our home, which is one of largest homes in town. It is known as the Stone Mansion. It is absolutely beautiful, inside and out. There is nothing in town to compare it with. There is no way to compare it with other homes so you cannot price it by comps. Due to the uniqueness and history of the home, if you came up with a value by comps, then you would raise the price to 3 times the available comps even on the same block, and that is what it has been bought for already in the last few years, and would sell almost instantly if it went back on the market today, using that same formula.
You are asking a Realtor to do a comp analysis to set a price. You do not believe your Realtor when they say you have to pay more for a certain unique historic home. You want to buy a historic and unique one of a kind home, and pay for it like it was a run of the mill housing tract home. It does not work that way. You are angry at the Realtor when they tell you that you have to pay more.
Unique historic homes are like Old and Unique automobiles. Example: In 1955, I bought a Sunbeam Talbot 90 touring sedan. I paid $700 for a 1952 model that was like having spent most of its life in a garage. That model was a big winner in the road race circuit in Europe up to a second place win at Monte Carlo. A father sold it, when his son would not return home from Europe. He wanted the son to come home and start taking over a large lumber company so he could retire. He was a late in life father. The son was a painter (artist) and would not do it. I got trapped in the middle of a 3 car accident on Bay Shore Freeway south of San Francisco.
They are very rare today, and I have seen restored ones priced according to quality of restoration and condition for sale for from $24,000 to $100,000 which would be bringing it back to the condition mine was when I bought it.
What you are not realizing is that Unique Historic Homes are priced like Rare old Cars. You cannot make a comp of modern cars or houses to come up with a value. Each is valued for it's uniqueness, rarity, history, and current condition.
Forget Comps, as they mean nothing in the valuation of the historic homes you are considering unless there are several similar historic and unique homes that actually compare with the home.you are considering.
As for historic homes, if there are other comps, then the only other thing i can think of that would play on the price would be the history of that particular home.
If a historic figure lived in, stayed in, or visited that home that might change things. Other than that, i dont see why it would be priced higher if there were comps in the immediate area.
Thanks all. I really appreciate it. I have had a hard time getting an agent to A) tell me how much to offer, and B) what some of the features of the property are that may add to or detract from its value. Concerning point A, they give me comps but tell me that the comps don't matter, that the home I chose defies the comps, etc. (so I should offer more). How can EVERY home I see be worth more than comps? Regarding point B, I need an agent who offers insight similar to what might be expected of an appraiser, so that I can get a good idea of what price to offer. To note, this is complicated by my seeking an historical property.
Our first time with a buyers agent who was to represent us. I had only heard that term for the first time when we sold our house last year.
My expectations were that they would represent us by exactly what you were saying. She gave us comps that were not as complete as the list I had and told us to offer full price. I didn't feel that was really giving any special information because I could have offered full price on my own.
Oldtrader, yes, the homes I have been looking at are in an entire neighborhood of similar old, historic homes from the same period.
The big question is, how is the home you are interested in different from the other homes. There must be some features, etc., that make the home more attractive to you over the other homes. Just because a home is from the same period, does not mean it is comparable in value to the other homes. Some will be worth less, and some more than the typical homes in the area.
Things that matter. Homes from that period, have had to be restored. Level of restoration, and quality of the restoration are a big factor for difference in value. Uniqueness of different features can make one home worth more than another.
If you really want to know the value of the home and one that others will respect, get an official appraisal done on the home, which will be needed anyway if you are going to get a mortgage. It is a way, to convince the owner to take your offer if you match the appraised value with your offer.
What your post sounds like, is you are wanting to buy a higher priced home than you can afford, and are trying to get someone to tell you how to get the price lowered down to fit your budget.
What you should do, and what I would recommend to a buyer before I retired, was figure out the most you will pay (which apparently is less than the agent feels you can acquire it for) and make a firm offer with few if any unique conditions, and see how they respond. If they make a counter offer, it may be one you will accept. It not, counter back that you will extend your original offer for 3 days. I have seen this work many times, as you signaled back you are not going to change your offer. The seller has to accept your offer or turn it down.
You are asking for someone to tell you some way to justify what you want to buy the home for, and the seller will sell it for. There is no such formula. With unique homes, they are all different, and have different values.
The only solution is to figure what you will pay, and make an offer. This is the way it has always worked, and still works today. If your agent will not write the contract and present it, get another one that will as the first has given up his claim on the commission when he refuses to write the contract.
I didn't feel that was really giving any special information because I could have offered full price on my own.
If providing comps was all a buyer's agent did, they wouldn't exist. You can offer on your own but you better understand a few things in addition to fair market value according to the comps you can find. You may feel you can find equally good or better comps than me (you'd be wrong) but I will cover your shiny behind that you'll probably leave flapping in the breeze when offering on your own. You're welcome very much.
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.
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.
