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Have YOU ever purchased and sold your own residence? From the gist of your questions, I'm pretty sure the answer is "no". And that's okay - but if I'm correct, then you are uneducated about the process. Maybe the siblings are asking for your opinion to be polite, especially since you're giving them money.
No? You'd be wrong in your assumption. Being that you state you are from Phoenix, you should know that real estate varies greatly from Phoenix to California, it's almost like buying in a different country.
Money is not always the final factor there are also the terms to consider. The best monetary offer might come with caveats that the buyer needs to sell another property first or maybe they are looking to get a larger mortgage and then the bank appraisal might not work out.
Someone could agree to pay you a million dollars for your $300,000 house but a bank would not make a mortgage on that if the appraisal came back at $300,000. The sale would be dead unless the buyer came up with cash and the house would go back on the market and people would wonder what is wrong with it.
Closing sooner or later? I wouldn't want to wait because in waiting alot could happen that could stop the sale.
In the end more money means more commission for the agents involved. The first offer is usually the best. Getting the best price with the best terms is the best way to a closing.
If the sellers were not comfortable or had questions they should have asked to the point of satisfaction before moving on.
Very true, I didn't ask for the details of the buyers nor do I want to know. I'm sure they made the right decision but as the older brother I want to watch out and make sure he did good.
No? You'd be wrong in your assumption. Being that you state you are from Phoenix, you should know that real estate varies greatly from Phoenix to California, it's almost like buying in a different country.
How the market value of a home is determined is the same in all states. It's done from comps.
Anybody who has ever purchased would know this. And anybody who purchased would know that the two homes in your OP are clearly NOT COMPS. They are not in the same area, not the same size, not the same number of levels. You are comparing the proverbial apples and oranges, which makes me firmly believe you are inexperienced in home sales (not that there's anything wrong with that.)
Further, you are apparently fixated on price per square foot. While this is one way at looking at value, it's one if the least accurate methods of comparison. Again, your inexperience is showing.
How the market value of a home is determined is the same in all states. It's done from comps.
Anybody who has ever purchased would know this. And anybody who purchased would know that the two homes in your OP are clearly NOT COMPS. They are not in the same area, not the same size, not the same number of levels. You are comparing the proverbial apples and oranges, which makes me firmly believe you are inexperienced in home sales (not that there's anything wrong with that.)
You do understand comps are much more difficult in an older area of 40 - 60 year old homes, right? Especially when many homes may have been modified / remodeled several times over the years, with additions and other structural changes.
This is not like like Phoenix where most homes are only 20 years old in the every-expanding developing areas and many tract homes are easily comparable. There is also a huge supply of new homes to compare existing homes to, in Phoenix, as additional data points.
I believe you somehow failed to understand how different markets work, and perhaps are not too experienced in more established areas with difficult to comp situations, especially when supply is tight and there are not many homes changing hands in a shorter period of time.
As an aside, San Diego is one of the hottest real estate markets in the nation, due to very limited supply of homes, low interest rates, and interest from foreign buyers. It's a unique market totally different from Phoenix or North Carolina. Perhaps you didn't understand that?
-- Even if you're pricing houses in the exact same neighborhood, the general rule is that the smaller the house, the higher the price per square foot.
So, a 2600 square foot house is going to have a lower price per square foot than a 1600 square foot house.
-- Houses from the 1960s are quite desirable in the area I live in. Houses from the 1980s, not so much. I don't know if it's the same in San Diego right now.
-- Rancho Penasquitos is not a comparable area to Rancho Bernardo, especially RB with a golf course view.
Those reasons -- to me, anyway -- would be a large part of the difference in price per square foot.
(And ps, I was living in Mira Mesa when that house was built in PQ!!)
-- If you're pricing houses in the exact same neighborhood, the general rule is that the smaller the house, the higher the price per square foot.
So, a 2600 square foot house is going to have a lower price per square foot than a 1600 square foot house.
-- Houses from the 1960s are quite desirable in the area I live in. Houses from the 1980s, not so much. I don't know if it's the same in San Diego right now.
-- Rancho Penasquitos is not a comparable area to Rancho Bernardo, especially RB with a golf course view.
Those reasons -- to me, anyway -- would be a large part of the difference in price per square foot.
Good info, thank you. It is a very interesting market to learn about...it would be tough to price a house right as a buyer / seller since there are so many variables, as I'm sensing. In Phoenix nearly every home is flat and level with no views, and most everything is brand newish so not much variations in house prices in close approximate neighborhoods. Our real estate market is so much more boring.
Perhaps I have been too harsh in my analysis of the situation, as I really didn't appreciate all of the nuances of the particular market compared to an easy market like Phoenix.
Good info, thank you. It is a very interesting market to learn about...it would be tough to price a house right as a buyer / seller since there are so many variables, as I'm sensing. In Phoenix nearly every home is flat and level with no views, and most everything is brand newish so not much variations in house prices in close approximate neighborhoods. Our real estate market is so much more boring.
Perhaps I have been too harsh in my analysis of the situation, as I really didn't appreciate all of the nuances of the particular market compared to an easy market like Phoenix.
Firstly, I haven't lived in Phoenix since 2012. Which has little bearing on this. But your comments on Phoenix not having older homes, or variation in home styles, and having "no views" show an notable ignorance of THAT market. Admittedly, obtaining comps in many areas if metro Phoenix is easier because of the large number of tract homes. But your generalizations are over the top.
I'll give you an example: Our last home in far east Mesa was a tract home, and comps were easy. But when we purchasedthe house, the appraisal actually wasadjusted upwards for the mountain and desert view (no home behind us) as well as the super sized saguro cactus in the front yard. Knowing this, we listed at a slightly higher price than comps indicated. Done in 6 days, sight unseen, with out of state buyers.
I was a broker from 1972 till I retired, so I know a little about real estate values. You say the houses are only 3 freeway exits apart and 10 minutes apart at freeway speeds. How about comparing distances in Phoenix area. How about comparing Scottsdale with median home price $414,600 at $204 average price per square foot, and 6.2 miles to Tempe where the median home price is $246,000 and an average sq. ft. price $157 per square foot, though about the same type of distance as those 2 areas of California. The houses in those two areas, are not selling for the same price per square foot in Arizona just as they are not selling for the same price in California.
I also know Arizona as my wife was raised in Phoenix area, and we have lots of her family there, and my daughter used to live in Scottsdale when she worked there, before moving to California for an executive job after I retired and I went down there to handle the moving and setting up the sale of her home for her. I listed the home under a power of attorney. The agent had a sign with her and put it up. As soon as she left the next door neighbor came over asked the price, called her best friend and told her it was available and the price. She said she would be there in 10 minutes. Called the Realtors office and she had just walked in, drove back to the house, and 30 minutes later, it was under contract and closed as agreed. Listed less than an hour. She paid full price, which was the maximum value my daughter and I felt it would bring. I called the movers to pick up her things, and went home the next day. Closed in 30 days by moving papers overnight delivery. Agent was an old timer who I know from being in and out of Arizona on business, and said that was the fastest selling home she had ever listed.
And...$/sq ft is generally much higher in a home that much smaller.
And...single story homes are more expensive than 2-story homes.
And...many times working with the 1 strongest offer has a better outcome than a multiple counter offer (yes we have a form for that in CA and seller can choose which of the signed counter offers to accept). Buyers hate that and often lose enthusiasm and walk because they don't want to get in a bidding war.
I can tell you that home prices vary quite a bit in our subdivision from street to street. I thought it was quite insane when I first heard it but went and checked it out and kind of understand it now.
Our street named "A" is broken into three sections within the subdivision. The first section was built by one builder, the middle by another and the last by yet another but all within 1 year of each other. Sizes are equal across all sections.
The first section is nice, well kept up. The middle, not so much and looks trashy. The last is pretty well kept up but mostly rentals (due to the crash).
Pricing shows what people see/perceive. The first section sells for a bit more than the last and way more than the middle which everyone calls "bad A street". It also seems that a kind of "dirtbag" element has taken up residence on the middle section. Some of it has to do with the builders as well and the homes they built.
Weird to be sure but it is what it is...
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