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Need some suggestions - review listing
How important is it that the closets be clutter free for showings? We live in a condo and with the baby, our closets are jam packed. The place itself is clutter free and I try to break down all the baby stuff (travel crib, jumper, etc.) for every showing but that just fills the closets even more. I wasn't really worried about it since our realtors never mentioned anything but now I'm wondering if maybe we should get a storage unit. Can people visualize or do the closets have to be perfect too? No one who has toured the house has mentioned anything about the closets as far as I know.
Our bug struggle now is the view (but our price reflects that we have no view). Our realtors want us to try to cover up the bad view (hanging flower pots outside the window, etc.) What else can be done about it?
DH and I really want to sell soon and did a small price drop. We haven't had one personal who has come through say it's priced too high and our realtors think we are priced very very competitively for our area. What gives? Why are we getting so many showings but no offers when we are priced less than the competition on our street and we have some upgrades they don't? I also just found out that our HOA didn't renew their FHA status in time and so now it will be another 6 months until our building is FHA approved again (and we are a new building!) That can't be helping...
Can anyone look at our listing and give me any suggestions? Different pics? Move anything around? Also, the window in the first pic is the one where our realtors want us to try to block the view
I will remove the link shortly - just need some advice!
edit: link removed
Re: Need some suggestions - review listing
I think the closet thing can go either way. As someone who has a lot of clothing (and a very large closet where the poles are threatening to buckle) I can gauge closet size full or empty. I think it looks neater if it's got some room to move though, and it makes me less scared to walk into the closet and get a better feel for it.
I looked up your listing and went through the same process I go through whenever I'm looking up a property which involves pulling information from multiple sites (why can't any of these real estate sites have it all in one place!). I also looked at similar listings around you. Take this for what it is given that I'm not familiar with your area and may have missed something major.
- Your pictures are dark and don't give off that light-airy loft feeling. You might be able to brighten them up with Picasa to avoid taking new ones, but after looking at the other listing in your building I think they're hurting you.
- I think you have a newer luxury condo which is kind of a niche market. There are several buildings built in the 70s that have larger units at lower prices and if it's been renovated people might not mind it being older.
- The number of short sales on the market would worry me.
- Make sure you make it easy for people to find your HOA fee. Yours isn't bad in comparison to some of the others in the area and it definitely factors into the monthly payment. Some agents advise hiding them, but it's not like people don't know they exist. You might as well make it easy for them to compare you to the higher ones.
- I think you should ask your agent what it is that is making you well priced. As someone only looking at things online, I can find plenty of competition that looks to be priced better:
http://www.sawbuck.com/property/Los_Angeles_Metro/Los_Angeles/Playa_Vista/9911408-4115-Glencoe-Avenue-109 --- still newer, lower association fee, more square footage
http://www.sawbuck.com/property/Los_Angeles_Metro/Los_Angeles/Playa_Vista/9495102-4115-Glencoe-Avenue-313 -- same as the last one
http://www.sawbuck.com/property/Los_Angeles_Metro/Los_Angeles/Playa_Vista/9754651-4738-La-Villa-Marina-J -- If I was looking in that price range, this is what I would buy. Outdoor space, only $10 more a month for hoa, more sq footage
http://www.sawbuck.com/property/Los_Angeles_Metro/Los_Angeles/Playa_Vista/10112428-4330-Glencoe-Avenue-6 -- Only $10K more, bigger, private outdoor space, seriously cool layout, BUT has a higher HOA fee
http://www.sawbuck.com/property/Los_Angeles_Metro/Los_Angeles/Playa_Vista/9963630-4215-Glencoe-Avenue-227 - In your building, 100 sq feet smaller and 20K cheaper with better pictures
A few of these and others I saw are around your price point, size and building age and also come with outdoor space. I think you mentioned people complaining about that and if they can easily get it at the same price or $20K to $30K higher (which let's face it, isn't much in a mortgage payment when you're at that price point) they're going to.
If there is something that I've missed that you have that some of these other listings don't, make sure you photograph it and include it in the text.
I hope that's helpful and not too rough. Good luck!
Important - yes. A full closet will make a buyer think there is not enough storage.
It should not be more than 1/2 full. Take stuff out - put in rubbermaid bins and store in a garage, storage unit - etc. Kitchen cabinets/pantry should also not be stuffed, but show plenty of room.
I would clean out the closets. Normally I would say get some under the bed storage containers, but it looks like you might have a platform bed so that wouldn't work. For me with a condo, storage would be very, very important.
I found the pictures to be dark, somewhat blurry maybe, and just not of that good of quality in general. I found my self squinting at a few pictures.
Thank you so much! I will definitely talk to our realtors about these other properties and see what they have to say. I haven't seen the others so I don't know all the facts - I believe they are short sales but I will find out more. One big plus ours has is 3 parking spaces. Most untis on our street only have a tandem which is no fun. The parking spaces can't be purchased - if they don't come with your unit you can't buy an extra. I know the other one in our building is a terrible layout. The bedrooms are very small and the en suite is off the tiny tiny bedroom not the master so guests have to walk through the guest bedroom or use the bathroom outside the master (that would probably be used as the master bath since there is none). They also do not have the extra parking.
The townhome units are great but very old (and most of them aren't in great condition), though the 4330 unit you mentioned has been updated. I like that unit actually, looks nice and if we weren't looking for a 3 bedroom I would defiinitely look at that place so I can see how it will be serious competition. Most of the properties in our town have a land lease fee (which can be very expensive) on top of property taxes and HOA so that's a monthly fee that has to be factored in. Our building is exempt from that but not sure about the townhomes. I know the highrises down the street pay a hefty land lease every month.
Thank you for your feedback. We can afford to drop our price a bit more if we need to but we want to leave room to negotiate. We are willing to negotiate but need to get an offer to do that!