If you have been out looking at homes for sale since the first of the year, you will clearly see that sellers are NOT all on the same page.
I deal primarily in property North and East of Downtown Seattle, so I do not speak for Tacoma, Renton, Auburn, Federal Way, Kent or South Seattle. The lower priced single family homes I am seeing are in Kenmore, Bothell parts of Kirkland, Lake Forest Park , Shoreline and the lower part of Snohomish County.
I am seeing two groups of “seller thinking”:
1) The first group of sellers are over-priced with meticulously maintained, clean, “updated” and sometimes staged homes.
2) The second group of sellers have more realistic asking prices, but they are not even bothering to clean up the dishes in the sink for a showing.
Many of the sellers who are bothering to clean and stage their homes, are also asking more for their homes than they should be in today’s market. By the time a seller gets to the price where they feel they are “giving the home away”, they don’t want to put any effort into its condition. They are thinking that at THIS ridiculously low price (in their opinion) the buyer should “suck up” much, but that is NOT the case.
It’s a buyer’s market, and buyers want it ALL. They want a good price, a home they can move into without much work, AND they want a cleaner inspection at the end of the day than they expected in the higher priced hot market.
“Fair Market Value is the price at which neither party is exceedingly happy.”
There is always a lot of crying and whining in a Buyer’s Market. Sellers aren’t happy at the prices they are getting. Buyers are walking away from the home inspection because there is a squeak in the floor, or because the bathtub needs some caulk.
Sellers, remember that people who are choosing to buy right now are very afraid of the future. Pulling the trigger on a purchase is terrifying, even if they are getting “a screaming deal”. The reality is that you have to do ALL the things you would be doing to get a great price. Forking out money for professional staging may not be in the picture for many sellers, but do the best you can with what you have to work with.
1) Dirty homes with pet odors sell for less, always. It doesn’t matter that you “reduced your price by 20% from peak”. A dirty, smelly house is going to sell for less…in any market.
2) Stacking all of your belongings into the garage, because you don’t want to pay for storage in this economy, is not the way to go. See if your friends can each take a portion of the items you want to store. Better yet, get rid of things you know you won’t be moving with you when your home does sell. Not being able to go into the garage because it is filled to the brim with crap, is not going to help your home sell.
3) Thinking you are NOT going to address ANY items that come up in the home inspection, because you were pinned to the mat on sale price, makes NO sense. Just because you accepted a lower price than you wanted, does not make the inspection phase any different. You can scream “AS-IS” all day long…that won’t keep a buyer in escrow if the home inspection reveals items that need to be addressed. Staying in escrow is just as important as getting into escrow. Refusing to address minor repair items could cost you dearly in the long run, when you later sell your home for even less.
You have to work at least as hard, and sometimes even harder, in a difficult economy. This is true of both workers generally, and sellers of homes. Getting less doesn’t cut you any slack in terms of the effort you must expend.
I’ve utilized the “box” storage systems where they come out to your home, you pack a giant crate and then they take it away. It works out pretty slick…plus, once you move to your next place, they bring your stuff back to you.
I can’t help but wonder that all sellers still do not get it. This is a a buyer’s market. Ardell what gives on the sellers part? Has the notion that houses go up in price every year been the thinking on the part of all home sellers for the last how long? 20 years? Is it adjusting to a new reality? This market has been in decline for 18 months now.
mike,
“Don’t get it” works both ways. There are some buyers who look at a ready to sell house thinking they want to take 20% off current asking price, when it is already priced 20% under peak. They turn around two days later and it’s gone.
As to “all sellers” or “all buyers”, there will never be 100% of people thinking the same way…ever. I could never get 3 kids to want the same thing for dinner, let alone all buyers or all sellers to agree 🙂
To add, as a buyer: (1) A cluttered house gives you the feeling you’re intruding. Your social instincts tell you to get out of their bathroom and bedroom; you see someone else’s cramped home, not a house. (OTOH totally vacant spaces look sad. When I started looking I thought staging was artificial and silly but I’ve come to the conclusion that it totally works.) (2) Lenders seem to be getting stricter about appraisals: even if a buyer might be willing to overlook an inspection issue in the interest of closing a deal, the appraiser may not.
Colin,
All excellent points. Thank you for taking the time to give us your perspective.
I also have used the b”box” storage system and it really dose work great. Nice bank for your buck.
This blog really is a description of two different types of personalities.
a) The first personality are meticulous but often egotistical.
b)The second personality is one of a somewhat laze. More loose gooses. They have less of an ego because they don’t try as hard and don’t expect as much. All of this is fine by them.
A perfect scenario would be a mix of the two personalities but for some reason that’s a tough combination to find.
As far as sellers leaving money on the table, that happens in every market. The current recession has very little bearing.
I also have used the b”box” storage system and it really dose work great. Nice bank for your buck.
This blog really is a description of two different types of personalities.
a) The first personality are meticulous but often egotistical.
b)The second personality is one of a somewhat laze. More loose gooses. They have less of an ego because they don’t try as hard and don’t expect as much. All of this is fine by them.
A perfect scenario would be a mix of the two personalities but for some reason that’s a tough combination to find.
As far as sellers leaving money on the table, that happens in every market. The current recession has very little bearing.
I don’t know what to make of your comment, Todd.
“This blog really is a description of two different types of personalities.
a) The first personality are meticulous but often egotistical.
b)The second personality is one of a somewhat laze. More loose gooses. They have less of an ego because they don’t try as hard and don’t expect as much. All of this is fine by them.”
I’d say we have several personalities at RCG and please don’t ever try to put mine in a box.
I don’t know what to make of your comment, Todd.
“This blog really is a description of two different types of personalities.
a) The first personality are meticulous but often egotistical.
b)The second personality is one of a somewhat laze. More loose gooses. They have less of an ego because they don’t try as hard and don’t expect as much. All of this is fine by them.”
I’d say we have several personalities at RCG and please don’t ever try to put mine in a box.
Rhonda,
I think you took that wrong. He meant blog post and the two different kinds of sellers, not “blog” and two different types of authors. The “egotistical meticulous” seller has a perfect house that is overpriced and the loosey-goosey, lazy seller has a dirty home priced well.
A lot of people use the term “blog” when they mean “post” and “post” when they mean “comment”. Todd’s from South Carolina, we need to cut him some slack with the blog terminology 🙂 Unless you want to be Ms. Loosey-Goosey and I’ll be Ms. Meticulous.
Ardell, thanks for translating for me! LOL 🙂 Forgive me, Todd!
I think the best way to put it to sellers around this whole staging question is that if you want to get the house sold then you must be both the best-priced and the best-looking house on the market in your range. Why would a buyer with choices, choose anything less than the best? 9 out of 10 houses probably won’t sell, so it’s not a question of either/or. I think staging is still an incredibly valuable tool, maybe more valuable than ever.
But you are totally right Ardell. It’s interesting to see the disparity in what’s on the market right now. I honestly think some of it also has to do with who’s in the market right now. There are a lot of short sales and distress situations, so I think aside from not thinking it’s worth the trouble to get their house ready for what seems like “less money”, there is also some other element of unhappiness in seller’s lives that is coming through in how they present their home. After all, whatever we are seeing when we go through some of these homes is only 15 minutes out of our lives, but it is how these people are choosing to live every day. That makes me kind of sad for them.
I think the best way to put it to sellers around this whole staging question is that if you want to get the house sold then you must be both the best-priced and the best-looking house on the market in your range. Why would a buyer with choices, choose anything less than the best? 9 out of 10 houses probably won’t sell, so it’s not a question of either/or. I think staging is still an incredibly valuable tool, maybe more valuable than ever.
But you are totally right Ardell. It’s interesting to see the disparity in what’s on the market right now. I honestly think some of it also has to do with who’s in the market right now. There are a lot of short sales and distress situations, so I think aside from not thinking it’s worth the trouble to get their house ready for what seems like “less money”, there is also some other element of unhappiness in seller’s lives that is coming through in how they present their home. After all, whatever we are seeing when we go through some of these homes is only 15 minutes out of our lives, but it is how these people are choosing to live every day. That makes me kind of sad for them.
I don’t think sellers get it and I know realtors don’t get it. A house may be priced at 20% below peak. But most people – as well as some of the more respected analysts on this industry – are expecting bottom somewhere between 30-40%. And they know that there is no certainty that it won’t go lower.
Right now, 20% below peak is not a well priced home – it is minimal cost of entry into the show. Buyers know there is enough downside left in the market to wipe out there 10-20% equity in a purchase, so sellers get no extra credit for no longer asking for the moon and the stars.
No one – and when I say no one, I mean no intelligent, reasonably well-educated, buyer-on-the-sidelines that I know – has seen appropriately priced home yet. Everything we have seen is either chasing the market down or coming in just a tick above reasonable and expecting to get 95% of asking price.
I remember the last big RE downturn (at the time it was big) – prices sat around bottom for over 5 years. In a deep recession, it is much smarter to wait for bottom than to try to anticipate it because waiting has no downside.
Anyway, I’ve always appreciated the information on this site. I think there is a reality out there beyond the general tone of the commentary on here now. I think your relevance in the community is diminished by the 24/7 RE mantra of “now is the best time to buy/the bottom is here” of Lawrence Yun.
In a down market, your credibility is diminished by this tone.
Rational,
I do appreciate your position, as I ‘m sure you appreciate mine. There are places that only talk always about how waiting is always best. There are places that always only talk about what a great time it is to buy.
We are clearly not either of those.
I speak for those who make intellingent choices, and part of that is not all about the money. When I can help someone get a house at 20% under peak, while Case Shiller is saying (per Seattle Bubble) that we are 16.5% or so under peak, and they have a personal compelling reason to buy now, I’m a happy camper.
I think your references to Lawrence Yun here is your own filter, and not based on what we do and say here. I doubt you are unbiased enough to agree. There is nothing in this post that would cause you to insult us, so I can only assume it is your own internal filter interpreting something that is not here. You appear to think anyone who buys a home is stupid. I do not agree.
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