Thread: Tough decisions to make.....

Thanks for the open & honest constructive criticism. Answers below:

Originally Posted by Russ H

Hakrjak-

I looked at your site, and had a few questions/thoughts:

1. Is this a SFR? Looks like an attached house/townhome by the video. Are there CC&Rs?

These were actually originally built as patio homes, however the HOA was never established, so they are technically deeded 1/2 duplexes with no HOA. My Realtor has always represented them on the MLS as SFR's because they don't fit the condo mold.

2. Attached part (not the one you're selling) looks a bit overgrown/grass not as nice.

You're right.... the neighbor is an owner, but is not taking very good care of his property. I just got done mowing his weeds again today for him, and I painted the front and side of his house free-of-charge just to clean it up a little bit. Talk about a royal Jackass... Didn't even give me a "Thank You". I'm really starting to wonder if it's not THIS guy next door that is causing people to not want to move in... His yard does look like ass, front and back...

3. Does the REO on the corner look really bad?

The fence is mostly knocked down, there is an old shed, and the weeds were once 4 feet high in back. I have since cut them down on my own, and today I ran the lawn mower over the entire yard front and back to cut them as short as posible before winter sets in. The paint looks pretty bad, and you can just tell that it's an empty vacant house from looking at it (i.e. no curtains, etc)

4. You're right when you say "minimalist staging". No offense, but staging is designed to make people feel like they live there-- your place just looks empty, and cold-- to me. Some comfy chairs arranged in the living area (so people can sit and talk about things), a few well-placed pieces of artwork (nicely framed nature photos always work well), fluffy towels in the baths, and some fresh fruit in a bowl in the kitchen area would work wonders. A full sized bed (most folks think its' a queen) totally made up, with awesome comforters and loads of pillows-- so any girl just wants to fall back into it, and dream of what it's like to live there (they won't-- but it's a very powerful motivator-- believe me). Get your new wife to pick out the bedding at a discount store that has those "all in one" kits-- just make sure it's classy (should cost around $100). Add another $50 for a used mattress, a bed frame, and some pillows (get 'em all at a moving sale). That, a bedside table w/glasses and a book, and a few scented candles turns any master bedroom into something special-- for pennies.

Ok... I can do more staging... I'm probably falling victim to the "Wow, I've aleady put so much money into this house, and now I'm not going to be able to make a profit on it... I don't want to put another dime into it!" -- syndrome... Which I know isn't good. Sometimes it does just take a little extra money to turn a bad investment into a good one. Strange that I have been able to sell 3 other identical houses on the street with the exact same staging though....

You could get all of the other stuff at a local home store for less than a grand (or from a place like overstock.com). Cost Plus is a great place for little stuff--- like wire bowls for fruit. Granny smith apples are my fruit of choice-- they look good, and last for weeks.

Yep I've had good luck at Tuesday Morning, Michael's, Ross & Marshall's for stuff like this...

5. If the landscaping on the foreclosures (or your attached neighbor's property) could use a little spiffing up, what prevents you from trimming the suckers off their trees? Or watering their lawns? We did this on our block, and everyone loved us. We called the owners first, and told them we were just cleaning up a bit, and if they did not want us to do it, to call us at ___-_______ (they never called).

Well, I have been mowing their weeds and I painted the guy next door's house for free... The REO across the street doesn't have the utilities turned on, and it's almost winter time here anyway (Grass and weeds are going dormant) -- but it's something to think about in the future. If I could go back in time, I would have had my workers seed & water the grass over there while they were at the property working. I could be more aggressive about tree and bush trimming though. Maybe will get by there again this week.

6. Assuming you list this on the MLS. What kind of numbers do you have right now? How many places are in escrow? How many listings? Comps?

It's listed in the MLS, yes... It's a tough neighborhood to really do a lot of comps from, because we've got brand new construction homes on one side for $250k, and guetto houses on another side for $75k. Compared to the last 3 I've sold, $105k seems to be the right price point for us, and it's generated about 1 showing every other day right now.

7. Purely an esthetic critique (from a guy who did video post production for part of his life): Your video is very jerky and not easy to watch. I'd take some snaps, make a slideshow, set it to music, and LABEL things (w/subtitles) instead of narrate. Makes a big difference, and really doesn't take very long (once you have the photos, one long evening's work does it). Only video I'd include is a couple of slow pans (wide angle) and a nice evening static shot of seating around the fireplace (with the fire going). I'd also sugggest you lost terms like "faux wood" and "simulated granite". Change to "brand new countertops" and "custom window treatments". But that's just me.

Ok, that's fair... Those are good observations...

Clearly, what you've done before is not working. It might be time to ask yourself "what changes can I make that might sell this place?"

Sorry if any of this seems to harsh--no insults intended. I tried to look at it w/a hairy eyeball, so by necessity, my comments are going to be critical.

-Russ H.

Yep, that seems to be exactly what I'm doing. Looking at doing something different to sell this place. Thinking that if it's not gone by the end of October I'm going to de-list it for a few weeks, make some big changes and then re-list it... I am considering some of the bonus features like a hot tub or a big flat screen TV, which might make a buyer swoon. Also considering repainting the entire house again to a Beige color... I never liked the baby blue which is what was already there when we repainted, more or less... And am wondering if that has something to do with the lack of a contract!?!

Cheers,

- Hakrjak

I love the landscaping. Looks nice and fresh.

The staging is not bad, but you can go to u haul and get some moving boxes. Stack them together to make a bed. Same with a night stand. Throw in a comforter, think goodwill, and a couple of pillows. Get some fabric and throw it over the box as a night stand. Super cheap way to make it look like a bedroom.
Love the bathrooms with the tile and the kitchen is nice and clean looking. These are the two most important things to a woman when buying or even renting. You might consider a decent 20.00 shower curtain rather than just the liner. Add a matching towel to the equation.
I don't know about Colorado but here in Texas it is almost guaranteed to have a ceiling fan in every room. The bedroom light looks to be Home Depot contractor pack.
I think with a minor upgrade on minimal parts you can sell it.

As far as getting someone in it soon, I would make sure that everybody who looks at it is pre-qualified by the realtor. No sense in the agent showing it if the potential buyer can't qualify for a loan.

Owner finance/ Agreement for Deed.........Make a deal with the real estate agent for a set commission if they find you a buyer through your company's owner financing program. You will be getting all of the people that the agent can't help. Bankruptcy, divorce, crappy life etc. Get 4k down (less than they would have to put up for a down payment on 100k). Finance 40 years, 9.5% interest for a 117k note, with a payment of 915.37 plus taxes and insurance. REfi in six months with a guaranteed renter in it already. Long term hold.

Rick

Thanks bud -- I am considering maybe listing it for rent as a 6 month lease by the 1st of November if we don't have a contract... I figure for 6 moths maybe the renter won't damage it too bad, and then I can try listing it again in the Spring when things might be a little better. Interest rates were below 5% here a couple days ago, and that didn't seem to prompt any action... Although we've been getting showings every other day since I dropped the price to $105k, so we'll see. 3 weeks to go!

- Hakrjak

Of course I bitch online about a house, and that does the trick... Got an offer coming in this afternoon!

Keep your fingers crossed it's a good one

- Hakrjak

Ah spoke too soon -- Buyer was a Jackass with a lowball bid... Refused to negotiate after I declined their opening bid.

- Hakrjak

Keep bitching maybe you will get another...

Yep that is definitely a pet peeve of mine.... People who see 150 DOM (Days on Market) and automatically assume they can send the seller an insultingly low bid. That's a total rookie move, because anybody who has been in the business for over a day knows that a high DOM number usually means the seller has already lowered his price numerous times, and may already be at his or her rock bottom ask.

Oh well, NEXT!!!

- Hakrjak

Think of it from the buyers side. If it has been on the market for 150 days, and their agent has told them how many times it has been marked down, as a buyer I am going to throw a low ball offer out and find out how motivated you are as a seller. 5 months of holding costs are a definite signal for me.

Just out of curiosity how low was the offer if you don't mind telling?

My ask is $105k, their offer was $94.5k... I countered with full price....

Buy walked away, said she would never pay about $95k -- her agent even said she was "snooty" about it....

90 mins later, I just got another call that the offer is now $102k.... I countered with $104k, if they will do it "AS-IS" (I don't want to risk them beating me up on the inspection with a bunch of BS)...

Waiting to hear if we have a deal now....

- Hakrjak

See if they stick around. Personaly I would have taken the $102k just to be done with it.

Me too. 100K, and get rid of it.

Of course, if your buyer is anything like we are, they'll do multiple inspections and then ask for more off-- yes, even w/"AS IS"-- b/c we tell them when we put in our as is offer, we had no idea of all the problems we found during dd.

(but hey, that's just our negotiating strategy).

We finally got called on this in our last deal-- seller agreed, but told us that selling price, credits, etc would not go below $XXXXXXX. Kind of wrecked our strategy.

Time to cook up another one!

-Russ H.

I do the same thing from time to time Russ, which is why I decided to try the as-is clause on this buyer. Got a feeling she's the type to want to beat me up for every cent.

- Hakrjak

Originally Posted by hatterasguy

See if they stick around. Personaly I would have taken the $102k just to be done with it.

Well if ths deal falls through, I can probably still accept that offer... It sounds like she really likes the place, or she would have truly bailed when I rejected her $95k offer.

- Hakrjak

BTW, Hak, we do lowball offers on 150-300 DOM props all the time. We put them in a few days from the end of the month (when the seller is paying their mortgage).

We'll sometimes even use different buyer names to put in offers on the same property. If the seller keeps seeing offers coming in that are, say, exactly $30 or $40K below what they'll take, after a few months of this (and no other offers), they usually wise up.

Of course, there are always the "permanently on sale" props, that no realtor even takes seriously (things listed for too much on the MLS, hoping to find that one special sucker . . . ). Always gotta laugh at those!

-Russ H.

Even at the low ball offer of 94.5k would you make a profit?
Is it worth holding out for another 2 months to make another 5k on the house minus holding expenses? Sounds like something to be sold for any profit available.

Originally Posted by rcardin

Even at the low ball offer of 94.5k would you make a profit?
Is it worth holding out for another 2 months to make another 5k on the house minus holding expenses? Sounds like something to be sold for any profit available.

Nope... At $94.5k I would have lost about $5k... I've got them up to $102k right now... Waiting for a response still on my $104k/as-is counter. That will put me slightly above even. I might even make a K or 2.

I dunno, I hate having to sell a house for less than what I think it's worth. I still genuinely feel like this one was worth $120k... But sadly did not have the cash reserves in the current environment to sit on it for an extended period of time.

That's the difference between my business and some others right now that seem to be doing better... Cash on hand... The less cash you have, the more of a position of weakness you are bargaining from....

Cheers,

- Hakrjak

Originally Posted by Hakrjak

That's the difference between my business and some others right now that seem to be doing better... Cash on hand... The less cash you have, the more of a position of weakness you are bargaining from....

Amen to that, bro.

-Russ H.

Latest update... they agreed verbally to my $104k/as-is offer... Now just waiting on the written contract. Will believe it when I see it!

At this level I think I make about $2500 for 6 months work... Wow, that's the hardest $2500 I've ever made!

- Hakrjak