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Selling situation
My H and I bought our house 5 years ago, when the market was at its lovely high point. We have done great with our finances and have been able to pay the mortgage down 25% of what we bought it for.
We've decided to move closer to family and have had our house on the market for 3 weeks. We had one showing and two open houses (which NO ONE came to - either of them!). We are in a desirable school district, but I think our pictures and price are not working for us. Our realtor is hiring a staging company and having a photographer come in to take pictures, which I think would really help. We have seriously decluttered, but I think our house does not photograph really well.
The reason why I am rethinking the prices is because we checked out the competition this weekend by going to a couple of open houses in our area. One of them had decreased their house by 10k that morning, which would make them 15k less than what we are listed at. While we were there, there were 2 other couples there. The owners of that house did a great job with updates - carpet, appliances, etc., but our house has a better layout. That is something I am wondering - to those looking at houses now, if there was a house that was priced well, but doesn't have the new appliances and carpet, it is a dealbreaker or do you recognize that you can pick out what you want, knowing that you are getting the house at a great price? Also, do you see the layout of a house and make decisions on that, or are you struck by the cosmetics of the house first?
The other part of my series of questions - we have been looking at houses to move to and found some great ones that we could go into with equity built in because they are priced so well. If we are really wanting to sell quickly so that we can move to another house, and other houses in our area are more competitively priced, (a) would it look really bad to potential buyers if we drop our price after 3 weeks in order to compete with the others (I'm thinking 7-10k, so 200k to 190-193k), (b) will it work? and (c) is there any reason to NOT sell our house and just break even (after all of the costs) if it means we can move into a bigger, newer, closer to family house within our current budget.
I realize that we can't get everything we want. We can't make a profit on our house and buy one at a great price, while getting a low interest rate. I just want to hear what others think, if anyone has done this from the buyer or seller perspective. It would obviously be much better to sell our house for 10k more than 10k less, but if it means we sell sooner vs. 4 months from now, I would love that.
Re: Selling situation
I'm a buyer in the market. My husband and I've been looking at houses for over 6 months.We have looked at 30+ houses.
We recently ran into a situation where there was this one house, let's call this house "A", that was only a year old that had a really nice layout with a great yard on a cul-de-sac. There was no landscaping done. All of the light fixtures were 'standard', the carpet in bedrooms were all cheap, the bathrooms had cheap tub, fixtures, etc. The people who lived in it already moved out, so it was move-in ready. And it's only a year old, so it's practically brand new!
We also found another house with similar layout, but not exactly the same. Let's call this house "B". This house has a decent yard, not all perfect since it has slopes. It's not at the end of cul-de-sac. This house is 5 years old. All of the light fixtures were high end, the railings were iron-wrought, the carpets in all bedroom were high end, the bathroom had tiled showers with details, etc. etc.
House "A" is about 17K more than House "B" and this shocks me and my husband. They're very similar as far as layout concept. However, House "B" had all the high ends/ better quality carpets, fixtures, appliances. All that adds up. We immediately threw house "A" off our list even though it had the perfect leveled yard sitting at the end of cul-de-sac. I understand that we can replace all the "standard" items with higher end items, but they're expensive and we'd be paying much more than we should. My husband and I even talked about how if House "A" was actually more than House "B" we'd still go for House "A". We feel that we'd get more bang out of our buck.
However, if it was one little thing that can be updated, we'd not eliminate the house for that reason. For instance, if everything in the house is perfect except for the kitchen counter top we'd still be interested in the house. Counter top is something we can change for a reasonable cost.
P.S.
My husband and I prefer to focus on the layout over the cosmetic aspect. However, if the price is high and everything is outdated or cheap we would not consider buying the house regardless the layout. We just keep on looking, because it's a buyer's market, there's no rush for us.
This market is hard because there are so many homes listed in distress (foreclosure, short sale, desperate sellers) - and those houses priced low, but often not updated or maintained. We were on the market 3 weeks with no showings - then tons of showings for a couple weeks and were under contract after 35 days total.
I was overwhelmed when we listed - we have a 1800 sq ft ranch, 23 years old but updated (new roof, siding, gutters, hvac, lighting, counters, faucets, etc), and maintained. We are on a cul-de-sac with a huge yard for our area - fully fenced.
At the same price point as us was a house twice the size that was on a lot half the size and near a busy road - and wasn't updated or maintained. And they had more showings than us (but no offers)
Eventually, buyers did come around and we had lots of showings, but it took several weeks to pick up speed. Hang in there.
I wouldn't drop your price too quick - IMO that makes you look desperate, and if I were a buyer, I would probably low-ball you.
And yes, if you can afford the move, your plan is a great 'play' - that's what we are doing. We are selling our house (not making any $$ on it, for sure, after all those updates) - and buying a great house at a low price for a crazy low interest rate. That is our 'forever' house. A 10 minute look at an amortization calculator to look at how much money in interest you will save buying now versus at a 6.5% interest rate over 15/30 years will make you feel better about this decision.
I think you shouldn't compare yourself too much to that other house on the market, worry about your comps more. If you are priced right, your house will sell. And focusing on the layout isn't really important because you can't change theirs or yours and one buyer may agree with you that you have the better layout and another may disagree.
Your competition is good to look at but more importantly, look at your comps. If you go on trulia and look at your listing, scroll closer to the bottom and click the green heading that says 'Sold Homes Near Your Area' and make sure it pulls up the Recently Sold Homes tab. It's not your realtor's professional opinion of your comps but it's pretty accurate anyway.
What is it about your house that doesn't photograph well? Do you need to change up your lighting? De-clutter more? Fresh, neutral paint in some rooms?
1 showing in 3 weeks and no one at either open house would make me nervous. I'd consider a price drop. I wouldn't worry much about what buyers would think about a price drop at 3 weeks in, people overprice and drop all the time. I tended to look more skeptically at houses that were on the market for long periods of time than those that had a price drop or two. What does your realtor say?
You could always freshen the place up and do some updates and re-list in the spring when the market picks up since you're not in a big rush. You'd have a bigger selection of houses to buy then too.
When we bought our current home my DH and I were more concerned with location (you can't change that), layout of the home, and the mechanics -including the roof- not appliances.
Our home has a great location- great schools, in a neighborhood of large lots and at the end of the street (dead end). It is quiet.
When we first walked into the house all I could see was bad sponge painting- all over the f-ing place. It was bad bad bad. Then there was the stained carpet, popcorn ceilings, and oak trim and cabinets. However- the house had a new roof, well maintained furnace and ac unit, fully fenced yard (that pvc fencing), a three car garage, a layout that allowed for good flow, large rooms, and a man cave.
We hired a painter/decorator to paint every room- no more sponge painting- and remove the popcorn ceilings, put new carpet in every room that had it. We will be updating the kitchen later- the cabinets are quality cabinets just not my style. When we do that we will update the trim too. Oh and I bought new appliances.
We looked at many homes that had all sorts of updates- many were not my stly and I am sorry I am not going to buy a house just because they have upscale upgrades.... I like picking out my own.
We are selling our old home- we are not replacing the carpet or the fixtures. We priced it accordingly- plus it does have original hard woods under the carpet and while I was planning on refinishing them- I then had twins so that scraped that idea. But it does have a new roof, a new furnace/ac unit, Painted in 09. It also is one of the largest lots in the neighborhood and is fully fenced.
Layout is all in the eye of the beholder. While you may think your layout is better, another person may prefer the other. So, toss the idea that you have a better layout out of your mind since it is so subjective.
As for compairing the two homes. I will disagree with the pp that you shouldn't look at it. That is what buyers are doing, so you are smart to consder how your home stacks up to what is on the market. Now, that is not to say that you make moves on your pricing/upgrades based on the other home. But do understand that buyers are comparing the two so if they see the two as relatively equal, the upgrades and lower price might be more attractive.
Interesting story. We looked at three homes in our neighborhood before we purchased (the only three on the market at the time). Of the three, we narrowed it down to 2. They 2 homes had very different layouts and pros/cons. Ultimately, we chose the one we preferred and ended up purchasing it. Recently, we met the couple who purchased the other house we had considered. We found out that they had also looked at ours, but ultimately decided that it wasn't the right one for them. So, it is literally in the eye of the beholder as to what is desirable.
My Valentine Bookends (2~13~13, 2~15~09)
No two buyers are the same. What one prefers, another may not.
The biggest item on our list was the location. It had to be in a fantastic school district.
The second item on our list was the layout. Did it have the features we wanted? Was the floorplan a fit for our lifestyle?
The last item on the list was the condition of the home in relation to the price. IMO, those two go hand in hand. There are three other homes with the same floorplan as ours in this neighborhood, and they are valued (as in, if they were to go on the market right this second, the comps would support the price) at 75K over the asking price on this home. It needed cosmetic work, but it was a great chance to get into a home that otherwise may have been out of our price range.
I was not willing to pay top dollar for a home that needed updating. If it was at the high end of comps, then it needed to also be move in ready.