Selling A House, AS-IS no fuss offer or renovate and stage? Down sides to both.

W

WhatInThe

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Selling a house. To renovate and stage or sell as-is, clear cut. Know people about to sell a house. The reality is without at 20k-30K in work they will not get the price they desire. If they simply clean and straighten it up they can get a good AS-IS offer. Relatives in the neighborhood are hounding them not to sell as-is, "take your time, renovate, paint, fix, stage etc" Except those selling don't have time, limited storage to clear the house for a show/showing. Staging, fixing etc will financially and physically inconvenience them for months. If they don't get it back it could lead to financial demise. To top it off without the wow factor many buyers are used to seeing on these flip/house selling-buying shows basic fix ups, painting, staging won't up the price that much. This house is about land, space and bones/structure.

I see the trash people throw out prior to or during a sale under a realtors instruction along with the waste and replacement cost in their new home. Some might down size but many don't. Many wont' get that stuff or money back.w Until 20 years ago or so one didn't have to go through all of this renovation/staging stuff. It just had to be clean and you not there. If you want a gold mine by all means stage the house. If one needs cash accept what ever offer meets your needs and goals.

Another reason I bring this up many seniors are know being subject to mass telemarketing and junk mail enticing seniors to sell their house now for cash. Yes many seniors need cash and/or need to move into a nursing home or with someone. But I think these investors over rated the cash need for many seniors. Plus most want to pass in their own home, not a nursing home.

As-is for cash, no fuss or fix, stage for hassle and a gold mine?
 

IMO it can pay big dividends to deep clean and unstuff a house prior to selling it.

A little patching painting and freshening up but no major renovations.

Strip away the personal clutter of day to day life and make it look like an inviting vacation rental.

IMO the two biggest mistakes that most folks make when selling a home is not understanding the actual fair market value of the property and not taking into account the monthly carrying costs of the property.

Sometimes it's better to sell, cut your expenses, and get that money working for you than it is to hold out for a premium price.

Call the best realtor in town and work with them to get a fair price and a relatively quick sale.

Good luck!
 
Aunt Bea said:
.........

IMO the two biggest mistakes that most folks make when selling a home is not understanding the actual fair market value of the property and not taking into account the monthly carrying costs of the property.

Sometimes it's better to sell, cut your expenses, and get that money working for you than it is to hold out for a premium price.

.......

Good luck!
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'...actual fair market value...' Too many who don't follow the local market, repeat LOCAL market don't realize what's going on elsewhere and makes the news might not apply to them. But I know people who follow economic news headlines and basically talk uninformed. This market being near a city has always been a draw simply because of it's proximity because those who want out of the city get out yet stay close enough to travel to their job and visit people. Yet people acting like experts saying things like the gov't shutdown or China relations will drag the economy and housing market-maybe in downtown LA or Manhattan but most suburban communities aren't affected by lack of corporate millionaire money.

And yes the carrying costs of staying in the home including an existing mortgage, taxes and/or repairs/renovations. Know people who had to rush into an apartment lease or hotel dragging their finances down further and that's after some renovations no matter how basic. All these flip shows put $$$ signs in occasional home sellers eyes. Yes they might have made 'a' profit on the house but how much did it actually cost them.

One last note. Again with this mass marketing of 'we pay cash for houses no questions asked', not only have I seen and heard the junk and telemarketing but now hear ads on local radio which target demographic is seniors. They are also pushing sell the house to us then rent it from us, at that point I'm moving, I don't care if it's a hotel room and storage unit.

Again it is the individual situation and realistic expectations about the LOCAL market.
 

I would have the house in the best possible condition without going to unnecessary expense, but would always sell AS IS. You never know what unknown problem might be discovered that you may be responsible for
 
rkunsaw said:
I would have the house in the best possible condition without going to unnecessary expense, but would always sell AS IS. You never know what unknown problem might be discovered that you may be responsible for
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The prospective buyer's lender demands a professional house inspection, tho' and buyer pays for it. If there are big problems, the mortgage can be denied. Or the cost of the repairs can be held in escrow at closing until repairs are completed. Of course if no mortgage involved, the buyer may not care about an inspection.

Not sure if that's how it goes in all states.
 
It partly depends on the housing market in that area. In a hot market, where houses are snapped up the moment they are listed for sale, often with buyers bidding against each other to offer a higher price(!) it
would be foolish to spend any money fixing up the house. Just sell as-is, take the money, and run.

In a slower market, some renovations might be necessary. But I wouldn't bother with upgrading appliances, major changes (granite-topped island in the kitchen, for instance), or anything else that would take a
lot of time, inconvenience, and expense on the seller's part. There's no guarantee of ever recovering that money.

Also, there's the question of why you are selling. Some sellers are in more of an urgent hurry than others. Obviously, it varies from one seller to another, and that factors in.

Some repairs are necessary, as Radish pointed out. A home won't pass inspection with certain kinds of defects, and those have to be repaired, or the house will never sell.
 
Sunny said:
It partly depends on the housing market in that area. In a hot market, where houses are snapped up the moment they are listed for sale, often with buyers bidding against each other to offer a higher price(!) it
would be foolish to spend any money fixing up the house. Just sell as-is, take the money, and run.

In a slower market, some renovations might be necessary. But I wouldn't bother with upgrading appliances, major changes (granite-topped island in the kitchen, for instance), or anything else that would take a
lot of time, inconvenience, and expense on the seller's part. There's no guarantee of ever recovering that money.

Also, there's the question of why you are selling. Some sellers are in more of an urgent hurry than others. Obviously, it varies from one seller to another, and that factors in.

Some repairs are necessary, as Radish pointed out. A home won't pass inspection with certain kinds of defects, and those have to be repaired, or the house will never sell.
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Absolutely. Our friends, who live down the street from us, put their house up for sale last Tuesday, and sold their house and purchased another in 4 days. They sold their house on their first open house;there WAS a bidding war.
 
We're looking at buying another house and putting this one on the market. We'll probably buy and move first, then sell this house.

That's the debate we're having.....how much to do to it before we put it up for sale. Luckily, it's a pretty hot market in this area, so we shouldn't have to do much.

A friend said, "Oh, you HAVE to get rid of that popcorn ceiling before you sell!" I think we'll pass on that. Regardless of what "House Hunters" tries to show us, not everybody goes into cardiac arrest when they see a popcorn ceiling.

As for painting? Well, everything is white. If we repaint white, what's the guarantee that the new buyer isn't going to say, "Ugh, everything's white....I can't wait to put some color in here." If we repaint it something neutral...well...the opposite might happen. Same thing with the carpet. It's certainly not new but it's in good shape. It's neutral and that's what we'd put in IF we put in new carpet but the new owner might want grey industrial carpeting or Berber or something else.

Other than that, the house is in great shape. It could use a new outside paint job, but once again, who knows what color? Right now it's stucco painted a bluish-grey. In the last five years, we've replaced the HVAC system, the water heater, the roof, the chimney, the dishwasher, the garage door, and the refrigerator.

When I sold my house nine years ago, I just essentially said "here it is, take it or leave it" and they took it....
 
RadishRose said:
The prospective buyer's lender demands a professional house inspection, tho' and buyer pays for it. If there are big problems, the mortgage can be denied. Or the cost of the repairs can be held in escrow at closing until repairs are completed. Of course if no mortgage involved, the buyer may not care about an inspection.

Not sure if that's how it goes in all states.
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Basically how it works here, too. But even after a sale, as-is or not, if you know about something and don't disclose it to the buyer, you can be held liable.
 

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