Your response to SeattleEric’s comments are sooooooo true! I really appriciated your comments about the value differential for work not done. That is something I have know for sometime, but not ever been able to articulate as clearly as you did. Thanks! Also I totally hear you about the the seller shooting the messenger, not fun, but true.

The seller will actually be “realistic”, by discounting price for the actual cost of improvements needed. But that is not how the market works.

Say a house would sell for $550,000 if it had $15,000 worth of work done in it. The seller wants to price that at $15,000 less or $535,000. His math is correct, but a buyer wants that to be at $499,000 and not $5xx,xxx anything, because it doesn’t look good.

So yes, the seller is angry that his house will sell for $35,000 less than it should because of $15,000 worth of work not done. But that’s just how it is if you don’t get your property in its best showing condition. That doesn’t mean new kitchen, but it does mean stripping that wallpaper and painting the dark wood trim and replacing that floor.

Cosmetic improvements can bring two to three times their cost in sale price, but they will conversely do the same negatively on price, if the seller does not do them.

That’s the denial/anger/acceptance process. Why should a buyer get a $25,000 discount for a $5,000 improvement needed? That makes them angry. But apparently not angry enough to put in that new floor and replace that light fixture

A good agent will keep fighting with the seller to make small improvements, and roll up their sleeves and help them do it, before they list the house. A not so good agent will just put a sign up front as fast as possible and let the seller take the hit.

Sometimes the agent who fights with the seller and makes them see this hard truth, is not the one who gets the listing. The seller hates that agent, makes the improvements that agent recommended, and then hires someone else to sell it. That’s why agents are afraid to tell clients the truth. They “get it” and shoot the messenger at the same time.

Vicki,

I still have a hard time with agents making profit on homes, other than my personal residences, rather than passing on those great deals do clients. But I think I am going to do one to three myself, if for no other reason that a realistic, real life, how to! Maybe I’ll do a two week condo flip in the fall when it’s slower.

Of course I’ve done these over the years in my own homes, but didn’t take step by step photos and the cost considerations have changed. Doing one now would make a lot of sense for proving out the numbers.

Also, great advice about working side-by-side with the handyman. Not only does he know that you are keeping an eye on his work, but you are also available to make quick decisions if unforseen problems come up and you need to make any adjustments to your plans.