Fixing up a house to sell it.

amother

Wed, Jul 06 2011, 3:57 pm

I was just wondering what others thought about this.
I know that there are two schools of thought on this.
I always thought that a homeowner, who is looking to sell their house, should fix things and fix things up so that someone coming to look at the house will see the best house there is.
The other side of the same coin is that I want to sell my house at a certain price, I dont want to think about all of the things that need to be fixed, the person who will move in will fix it.
Now, I am not just talking about painting the walls or ware and tare. I am talking about structural things, like a leaky roof, a garden that is beyond repair and needs a lot of work, mold problems. All of these things because the house is an old house and was not taken care of for many years.

I am not the home owner, I am the person who would love to buy the house but the price is not fair for the amount of work that needs to be done.

What do you all think? Which way is more fair?

Sherri

Wed, Jul 06 2011, 4:02 pm

I don't think it's a matter of fair. "A handyman's dream" is definitely not priced the way the way a ready-to-move-in house is. The price is what it is, either someone will pay for it, or not. People can ask for whatever prices they want, pretty much.

Tamiri

Wed, Jul 06 2011, 4:03 pm

All you can do is offer what you think is a fair price, possibly quoting what you believe it would cost to bring the house up to snuff. People become very emotionally attached to their homes and have a hard time understanding why someone else can't live in what they live in. It's particularly hard when there is no realtor around for a reality check. Just make your offer and ask him to get back to you when he is ready.

busydev

Wed, Jul 06 2011, 4:05 pm

they are both fair. it really can go either way.

you as the buyer need to count the price of the house as the price you pay+money that will need to be put into the house to fix it up. therefore if (yes these are mega low numbers) the house is $200,000 and fixing up will run about $50,000 then you should think of it as the house is $250,000

generally sellers whose house needs work will ask for a lower price then houses that dont need work. but ultimatly they can ask for whatever they want... and the buyers have to try to bargain or just find a diff house.

cip

Wed, Jul 06 2011, 4:46 pm

if a house needs fix up for suppose $70,000, the price for the home would be knocked by much more than $70,000. Thats because the renovations expenses would need to be in cash and can not roll into a mortgage.

Wed, Jul 06 2011, 5:02 pm

Im about to be the seller, and its a quandary!

As part of the selling process the buyer makes a list of things needing to be fixed and submits it to the owner to fix the problems or to get a price reduction.
If its a long list the agent will try convince the buyer to just submit a partial list during negotiations, but the fear is the buyer may just walk away.
My fear, as the seller, is that if I fix up the things I see are wrong the buyer still will come up with a list after inspection and the price will drop to a point where I am at a loss.
Another up side to not fixing things is that the buyer may have a lousy inspector and the issues I would think of fixing may not even come up.

amother

Wed, Jul 06 2011, 5:02 pm

We're new homeowners....keep in mind that when you seek a mortgage, the bank will have the house appraised and your purchase price can be negotiated based on that. Say the house is $400K but the bank says it's only worth $375K. You go back to the seller and tell them the appraisal came in low and your new bid reflects that. You will have a harder time securing a loan for an overpriced house.