Recent Real Estate Experience needed

[fintstone]

Problems are: wrong time of year, very expensive home for Austin (so few buyers for an expensive home), $ per sq ft not always a good indicator over homes are new, have pools, etc.

Otherwise a beautiful, big house. Looks to be in great shape. Some dark granite in the kitchen would really help (tile counters are pretty pedestrian for a home in that price range as are the plain, painted cabinets).

Personally, I would not look down on verbal offers. Just don't consider them binding on either until you have a written one. I have bought many houses (I have 6 rentals now) and always make verbal offers. I am not going to waste my time with an offer that is something you would not consider and am trying to feel you out for what might make both of us happy. Hell, I already have a house to go home to, so I can wait forever for the right deal. There are plenty of houses for sale if you want to be a dick (unless you are in CA and people make offers for more than the list price and almost everyone in real estate is a flipper/dick). It just tells me that if you are not willing to talk about it, I need to play hardball. The last house I bought (live in it now), their realtor would not present a verbal offer or let me talk to the owner. (I was at full price and just wanted to keep a couple curtain rods so I would not have to put them up) Annoyed me enough thats I made the written offer at $50K less plus keeping all the curtain rods, curtains and their best furniture (my time is money). ..which they eventually took. I ended up buying the house and they lost a great deal of money.

[fintstone]

Painting wall paper is never a good idea in a high end house you want to sell. It looks like painted wall paper (wonder why?). It only takes a couple hours to remove it. Buyers think you half-assed it and wonder what other repairs/problems are half-assed (painted over).

[notfarnow]

What is your agent saying?

price per sq/ft is not a very solid benchmark for comparing against other homes.

Easiest way to look at it, is to take a sample of 2-3 SOLD homes nearby that were as similar to yours, and try to gauge how much $$ a buyer would have spent to make yours comparable. (kitchen, bathrooms, fixtures, windows). Ultimately, that's what buyers are doing... they don't care about price per sq/ft or how much you have into it, or what quality of plywood was used (I have heard sellers try to use that as a reason to list for a higher price, no kidding)

In summary: the core issue is how the BUYERS see the value of your house vs the competition.

[notfarnow]

those pictures are terrible. The agent take them with his cell phone, or did he go all fancy and use a $90 digital camera?

[asphaltgambler]

Originally Posted by notfarnow

What is your agent saying?

price per sq/ft is not a very solid benchmark for comparing against other homes.

Easiest way to look at it, is to take a sample of 2-3 SOLD homes nearby that were as similar to yours, and try to gauge how much $$ a buyer would have spent to make yours comparable. (kitchen, bathrooms, fixtures, windows). Ultimately, that's what buyers are doing... they don't care about price per sq/ft or how much you have into it, or what quality of plywood was used (I have heard sellers try to use that as a reason to list for a higher price, no kidding)

In summary: the core issue is how the BUYERS see the value of your house vs the competition.

^^^Really solid advice clearly based on factual information - no different than when pricing a vehicle for sale. I don't care how much money and time you've invested, it's only worth what the market dictates^^^^^^

[gprsh924]

The realtor should be having the house photographed by a pro. It makes a huge difference, although I noticed a lot of the listings have terrible photos.

Also, the decor is hurting you. A modern staging would help, as people lack vision. I got a great deal on a house that needed some updating and sat on the market for 9 months because no one wanted to take on the project.

At a minimum, a buyer is going to need to gut the kitchen and master bath.