What Makes the Biggest Impact on Buyers?

What Makes the Biggest Impact on Buyers?

Yesterday, I got the opportunity to view a home in Old Town Manassas, off a little traveled, very short, one way side street.  My buyer has been looking for a home that is walkable to shops and has a main level master bedroom for her downsizing.  The big three story single famly home in the suburbs of Bristow is just overwhelming with her kids grown and gone.

It isn't often that we actually get a chance to tour the homes that she finds.  Most times, the homes are under contract within hours of hitting the MLS...if they last that long.  Either that, or they are out of the budget.  After all, Old Town Manassas is a sought after location. 

At first blush, we thought we had found "the one."  It was just the right size, impeccably updated and had loads of curb appeal.  For goodness sake, all I need to show you is this kitchen with the soft close, antique white cabinetry, granite counters and stainless steel appliances to get a feel for the place.

There was a detail overlooked.  The back yard.  Behind the one car garage was a pile of crap that you wouldn't have seen if you stopped at the garage.  You can almost not see it in the overgrown brush on the left of this photo, but there is a table with a pile of stuff on it.  The items are all indiscernable from time and weather.

Some of that pile of junk may have belonged to the property next door, which appeared to be condemned.  This picture from the back end looks a lot better than it appeared at the front.  But the windows were boarded up and the chain link fence brought in high and tight next to the property to keep intruders out.

And the fact that there may be intruders was evident on the front porch of the renovation we were visiting.  No detail should be overlooked when looking at a home with a buyer.  A discarded can of beer and take out container of food on the covered front porch was a likely clue that someone had been using the porch as a shelter at night.  A covered front porch at a vacant home, during the rainiest summer our area has known, is quite a nice shelter for someone without a home.

This perfectly pleasing, renovated home in Old Town Manassas just so happened to be on the other side of the tracks.  Not kidding.  It was just across the railroad tracks from the side of Old Town where our home search normally takes us.  There was only one other home on the short street that held to the standard of this renvoation.  The rest were either old and haggard at best, or unkempt and waiting to be condemned.

So what made the biggest impact on my buyer?  Was it the impeccable renovation with the finest finishes, or the junk and questionable activity occurring in the area?  My buyer had come to the conclusion, before I even arrived, that the junk and questionable activity of the area were setting off alarms in her head that have her continuing the house hunt.  

A decade or two from now, this little street will be a sought after location as investors gobble up these homes begging to be torn down and rebuilt.  What I know as an agent, representing a buyer that looked at the second renovation on this street, is that it was too early in the evolution of this area for my buyer to feel comfortable.  Particularly at the jacked up price the investor wants for this renovation.  Perhaps a little less flash inside to compensate for the things the investor can't do anything about, like the neighboring properties, so they can list at a more likely price for this particular location.  It is going to be a little while before this side of the tracks catches up to the other side of the tracks.  Location, location, location is still the most important thing when it comes to determining value.