5 Reasons Your Neighbor's House is Worth More Than Yours
Thank goodness for the re-blog feature on Active Rain!
Here's a real gem from real estate pro (and Broker) Debe Maxwell in Charlotte, North Carolina.
We regularly hear the question from our Madeline Island and Bayfield (Wisconsin) Sellers, "why did that house sell for more than ours?"
Sellers can be notoriously unable to be impartial when it comes to evaluating their own home for sale versus the features and advantages of competing homes in the same area. Explaining those differences takes a degree of diplomacy, sprinkled with a healty measure of reality. Some agents are good at this, while others are not.
Listing agents sometimes "chicken out" when it comes to telling a seller what they need to hear, instead of what they want to hear. It never works well to avoid talking with sellers about potential challenges and pitfalls, just in order to get the listing.
Read on!
5 Reasons Your Neighbor's House is Worth More Than Yours
It's time to list your home and you've been seeing the sales prices of the homes around you and you're overly excited that your home is going to sell for SO much more than you ever thought it would! Your neighbor's home did...so yours is bound to as well, right?
Not so fast! I've run into this on more than one occasion each and every week this month and here is my advice as to why your home may not hold the same value as your neighbors' homes:
- Updates, updates, updates! Updates are simply at the top of the list for home buyers these days - time is a factor in everything as we find ourselves running in 100 different directions each day and cannot fathom buying a home that needs updates. Therefore, if your home isn't updated to the latest 'wants' of home buyers in your area, you are going to have to reduce your price accordingly.
- Outdated updates. You did updates but, they were done 10 years ago. You're still not going to realize the same value that your neighbors who updated their home in the last 0 - 5 years will. It stinks but, side-by-side, the two homes will not compare to the more discriminating buyers that we are seeing in 2017.
You're short a bathroom! Your neighbors' homes have one additional full bathroom.
Yes, many of us were raised in a 3-bedroom, 1-bath home but, we have all become spoiled by the highly affordable cost of installing and maintaining extra bathrooms so, now we demand them. I recently had a seller add a full bath (stand-up shower) for $9,000. They got far more on the sale of that home because of that one additional bathroom with the sale of their home. That $9,000 pre-listing investment made them significantly more money!
- No pizazz! Buyers love pizazz these days and if your neighbors' homes have more of it, they'll sell quicker and for more money. The bones of your home may be better but, buyers are looking for that 'WOW home" in 2017. So, let's stage it and WOW them!
- Better First Impressions. Let's get the landscaper out, plant a few colorful flowers in pots by the front door, paint the front door and powerwash everything! First impressions truly make a difference!
I know what you're thinking - "Those last two don't have any additional value when it comes to appraisals." YES THEY DO! I can site listing after listing that have gone into multiple Offer situations and we anticipated issues with appraisals.The sellers were instructed to have their homes 'show-ready' for the second most important showing - the appraisal - they did so and it appraised!
Subjectivity is a fact of life that we have learned to deal with when it comes to appraisals!
So, if you're thinking of selling, let's talk about how these factors may come into play with your home sale. Let's go tour your competitors' homes and see what we need to do to make your home shine over your neighbors' homes!
Read More Charlotte Home Seller Tips:
Pricing Your Home for Sale, Myth vs. Reality
Selling Your Charlotte Home – Leave the Emotions Out of the Equation
Pricing is CRITICAL When Selling Your Charlotte Real Estate
Charlotte Home Seller Tips – Redefine Your Market Value
Charlotte Home Seller Tips – Do Your Research
Charlotte Home Seller Tips – Extend Your Selling Season
© Debe Maxwell | (704) 491-3310 | The Maxwell House Group | CharlotteBroker@icloud.com |5 Reasons Your Neighbor's House is Worth More Than Yours
(THE best Charlotte home search available - no kidding!)
Charlotte NC Real Estate Agents
Debe Maxwell, Realtor®/Broker/CRS
CharlotteBroker@icloud.com
Direct: (704) 491-3310
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