All buyers are sitting on the hotsheet, waiting for new listings – and when they hit, there is an early rush to check them out. It happens a lot these days that when you come across a hot new listing, there will be other people will be there looking at it too. What do you do?
If there is an agent buried deep inside the house who is showing buyers around, as a courtesy, I stay outside and wait for them to conclude.
But if they are lingering near the door or outside the house, and they see me – I’m going to walk into the middle of it to diffuse. The more interest they have in the house, the more they are going to freeze up and panic over the incoming threat, and they won’t want to leave.
I want to gauge their interest, because I might be in a bidding war with them later.
Instead of fumbling around with fake handshakes, I’ll just hit them right between the eyes with the old reliable, “How do you guys like this one?” Usually they are taken by such surprise that they answer honestly, or you can tell by their reaction how they really feel.
When the shoe is on the other foot, and I’m showing people around when another agent arrives – I want to leave immediately without saying a word, and go talk in the street.
Here is the listing for this one, they just paid $300,000 last month.
can it be difficult to get an appraisal on a home for 470 when it sold for 300 the previous month?
umm, yes, and in the first place, it’s difficult to find a buyer who doesn’t notice or care about a 60% increase.
Here is the alternate D90 version:
http://youtu.be/KUdFe5ohd-4
I don’t see how this one goes for $479K, $400/sf but if it does the housing frenzy is back. The rundown ones are listed at $250/sf and the upgraded ones are slightly over $300/sf in this neck of the woods. We’ll probably see the token price drops one this one. 479, 474, 469, 459, then craigslist homes for rent, beautiful 3/2 in clairemont $2000/month.
That looks like an Eichler home. Maybe that’s why it’s hot.
You can actually get in to the house while someone else is showing it? My mom the realtor complains that some agents take the key from the box and then lock the door behind them. More common then it should be, she says.
I was thinking something like Cliff May, his homes get a 100k premium over similar sized homes in Long Beach. Maybe this Henry Hester is the same way.
We shot this one too. More photos here:
http://www.ranchophotos.com/3455Aldford/flat.html
I like that strategy for the competition, if they were smart they would sandbag, hide their own interest: “eh, overpriced, kinda ugly, we’ll keep looking…” While they really are putting together a strong offer.
That actually looks like a pretty nice layout – anyone have the floor plans?
Jim,
“That grass thing” is a median strip. I enjoy your videos.
It looks like Tom’s midcentury modern renovation, but minus the cool lighting fixtures.
nice ikea kitchen. The floor looks like the cheap bamboo that scratches easily.
When I am out “house shopping”, I make sure my agent stays close and I let the agents (mine and the sellers) do all the talking.
I have the gift of gab, but when it comes to house hunting it is best to keep one’s mouth shut.
just common sense.
Here is the listing from when they bought it:
http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-120007855-3455_Aldford_Dr_San_Diego_CA_92111
It looks like the typical flip, unlike Tom’s that had full reno.
I’ve heard that called a “devil strip” before. Usually owned by the city.
Cool house but there are so many factors working against it. Location/neighborhood (92111 zip), 300K comp (itself), used lower-quality materials than they should have.
My dual-master, 4-br, 1700 sq. ft canyon house on a 9000 sq. ft lot in 92117 just appraised at $460K for a refi. My interior is not that cool but very nice and there is space to park 9 cars on the property, not including the over-sized 2-car garage.
Even if someone wanted to pay $400K for that house, I’m not sure they’ll get the appraisal they need. A buyer at $450K will need $175K down!
Those before pictures are looking pretty rough. They could’ve easily put 80-100k into the flip to do that kind of transformation
It’s cool, minimalist, and very retro modern.
Who knows about pricing? Flippers are back… inventory is down… pricing is going wacko…
We will only know 2 or 3 years from now if it is the start of a new bull run or fizzles out in 6 months. You would think that there is still fairly little upside until money trickles down to the masses, but there’s still a lot of unmet demand from 2006 onward.
Chuck
Can you still shop for appraisors?
JtR,
On a side note: Great work on length of video and the wide angle is a bonus with HD to boot.
I am sure the size of the house helped too 😉
Wish I could watch it at more than 480p, but I’m glad that when I go full screen, it takes up the full width of my monitor. The old videos had a black border all the way around.
That sharp slope so close to the one side of the house is worrisome.
All that original glass, the one thing that should have been addressed, and looks like it wasn’t. Energy efficiency concerns right away for me.
That Mt Everest of a Pine Tree right out front would keep me up at night until it was chopped to the ground. One good bark beetle infestation and that thing will snap like balsa wood.
First off on the HD cam, very nice and professional.
Now the house. It seem very bland with Jim’s video, but of course, look at lot nicer with the realtor shots, tells me you can make everything look good with the right camera and lighting.
The house was a disaster zone before the purchase, so good job to the flipper cleaning all that up. Did the flipper end up putting in completely new roof? That would have been a major cost here. I like the kitchen and bath, the bamboo flooring a nice modern touch.
Agree with Sol on the windows, almost a half a million dollar house and the buyer’s going to have to deal with that outdated and squeaky aluminum sliding door? Bad idea keeping the same colored garage door. You walk by and the whole thing just looks yellow with the only break being the door. Is it me or the walls give the apparence of being paper thin. I would hate to see the gas bill with temps dip down to the 50’s. That huge crack in the driveway is a major turn off too. It just screams half a century old… And it is!
If this goes at full price, then yes, the frenzy is back.
On the photoshopped images:
1. They show the home as spectacular, which should create maximum interest.
2. When buyers arrive, they are disappointed at the ordinary look – and they feel deceived.
I often wonder, is it worth it to photoshop? You can argue that maximum interest is imperative to achieving top dollar, but honesty sells well too.