Painting house for selling?
JeffJ318
We are going to sell our townhome. I am not sure on the square footage.
The home is a regular size townhome. (which they used to call rowhome)
Three bedrooms, dining room, living room and hallway spaces. Not that big.
I have had a couple of estimates ($5,000, $3,800) and these seem high in light
that we just want to get the house ready for sale. We are buying new carpeting
to brighten up the place.
The paint on the walls now is ok. The house has not been painted for years and
there is some wear and tear in certain areas.
Do you think we should paint or just let it be? Is there another place to look
for less expensive ways to paint the house? We are not painter and really do
not like to paint.
Thanks,
Jeff
dyi...@hotmail.com
>
> We are going to sell our townhome. I am not sure on the square
footage.
> The home is a regular size townhome. (which they used to call rowhome)
> Three bedrooms, dining room, living room and hallway spaces. Not that
big.
I just had someone painted the interior of the townhouse. It is
a 2 bedroom 2 1/2 baths around 1000 sq.ft. It costs me $700.00.
Not too bad.
>
> Do you think we should paint or just let it be? Is there another place
to look
> for less expensive ways to paint the house?
Definitely repaint the house. It will the cheapest investment you ever
made to bring up more value for the house.
Hope it helps!
Doug
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Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
davefr
much rather get an allowance and do any restoration work myself.
I've heard horror stories of people painting over oil based paint with
latex just to make it look good enought to sell. Unfortunately the
new owner will have walls of paint falling off in no time.
Just tell the prospective buyer that you will provide an allowance for
repainting or knock it off the sales price.
Please don't do lousy work!!!! Lousy work is much more costly in the
long run.
On 03 Sep 1999 02:19:28 GMT, jeff...@aol.com (JeffJ318) wrote:
>Hi
>
>We are going to sell our townhome. I am not sure on the square footage.
>The home is a regular size townhome. (which they used to call rowhome)
>Three bedrooms, dining room, living room and hallway spaces. Not that big.
>
>I have had a couple of estimates ($5,000, $3,800) and these seem high in light
>that we just want to get the house ready for sale. We are buying new carpeting
>to brighten up the place.
>
>The paint on the walls now is ok. The house has not been painted for years and
>there is some wear and tear in certain areas.
>
>Do you think we should paint or just let it be? Is there another place to look
rric...@lanminds.com
(davefr) wrote:
>Although it's prudent to make the place look nice, I as a buyer would
>much rather get an allowance and do any restoration work myself.
>
>I've heard horror stories of people painting over oil based paint with
>latex just to make it look good enought to sell. Unfortunately the
>new owner will have walls of paint falling off in no time.
>
>Just tell the prospective buyer that you will provide an allowance for
>repainting or knock it off the sales price.
>
>Please don't do lousy work!!!! Lousy work is much more costly in the
>long run.
>
Plus, that way you don't get stuck with whatever color the current
owners decide on.
Rebecca
Gary Sanders
JeffJ318 <jeff...@aol.com> wrote:
>Hi
>
>We are going to sell our townhome. I am not sure on the square footage.
>The home is a regular size townhome. (which they used to call rowhome)
>Three bedrooms, dining room, living room and hallway spaces. Not that big.
>
>I have had a couple of estimates ($5,000, $3,800) and these seem high in light
>that we just want to get the house ready for sale. We are buying new carpeting
>to brighten up the place.
Whatever you do to the house will you make the money back in the sale?
If your house will only sell for X and you add $5000 worth of upgrades
will you house go up by that amount? Is the house sellable as it is now?
Will the color you pick be what the buyer wants? My take would be to
mark the house up by the approx cost of the pain job, then offer to
throw it in as part of the deal. If they dont want that reduce the price by
the painted price and let the new owners deal with it.
--
Gary W. Sanders g...@infinet.com
Brad Murray
>
> > We are going to sell our townhome. I am not sure on the square
> footage.
> > The home is a regular size townhome. (which they used to call rowhome)
> > Three bedrooms, dining room, living room and hallway spaces. Not that
> big.
>
> a 2 bedroom 2 1/2 baths around 1000 sq.ft. It costs me $700.00.
> Not too bad.
>
> to look
> > for less expensive ways to paint the house?
>
> made to bring up more value for the house.
Painting the interior does not bring up the value any more than it costs
to do, especially considering that the buyer may want a different color.
T
>
> Hi
>
> We are going to sell our townhome. I am not sure on the square footage.
> The home is a regular size townhome. (which they used to call rowhome)
> Three bedrooms, dining room, living room and hallway spaces. Not that big.
>
> that we just want to get the house ready for sale. We are buying new carpeting
> to brighten up the place.
I'm not sure if you really need to paint the inside much -- as a new
homebuyer, I know half the fun was painting over the weird colors the
previous occupants had on the walls.
Depending on trim and outside materials, you might want to consider
getting the *outside* painted, though -- I guess some federally funded
loans will require the seller to paint before sale. When our sellers
had two offers in front of them, one of them required that they paint,
and they took ours at almost $4k less.
Michele Mauro
prospective buyer may not have your choice in color (or coverings - same
goes for wallpaper and carpet much of the time), and a neutral color
will let them see it with their stuff in it, instead of seeing your
color choices, which they may not be able to see past.
Spend $200 in paint and do it yourself - it's a weekend job at best. Cut
in the edges with a brush, and roll the rest. Unless you've got some
fancy walls or cathedral ceilings, it is not a difficult job... well, I
take that back. I never thought of it as difficult until I saw how badly
my sister painted a room! <g> But $3500 seems a bit high on the estimate
side.
When I sold my last home, I gave a carpet allowance because if they
didn't like the one I installed, it is much more expensive to replace
then repainting all the walls I had just painted white.
One more bit of advice... remove all your knick-knacks and personal
touches (paintings, sculpture, etc) from the house. Rent a small storage
area and pack up EVERYTHING you won't need for a while. Too much of
"your" clutter makes it hard for a buyer to see "their" clutter in the
home... and that includes your garage - don't pile all your clutter in
boxes in there, either! <g>
Keep the house spotless, keep animals out of the way, children's toys
must be put away too - not all home buyers like children and their mess,
no dirty dishes in the sink, and preferable a loaf of bread baking in
the over when folks come to view the house.
Good luck, Michele
--
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JeffJ318 <jeff...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19990902221928...@ng-fw1.aol.com...
> Hi
>
> We are going to sell our townhome. I am not sure on the square
footage.
> The home is a regular size townhome. (which they used to call rowhome)
> Three bedrooms, dining room, living room and hallway spaces. Not that
big.
>
> I have had a couple of estimates ($5,000, $3,800) and these seem high
in light
> that we just want to get the house ready for sale. We are buying new
carpeting
> to brighten up the place.
>
> The paint on the walls now is ok. The house has not been painted for
years and
> there is some wear and tear in certain areas.
>
> Do you think we should paint or just let it be? Is there another place
to look
Katie
homes in the past 2 years (2 homes in different markets), it's pretty
standard for people to paint the walls white and put in neutral carpet
before putting the houses up for sale.... so the house is in "move in"
condition and will sell faster (i.e. no one will be turned away simply
because the current paint/wallpaper will clash with everything they own).
In a market like this, when you're seeing house after house with the uniform
white walls and beige carpet (I grant this is boring, but at least it's
neutral), it is a real turn-off to walk into a house with teal carpet
everywhere or where everything is a shade of pink (I've seen several of
these!). So in those cases, I would say, "oh god, I'd have to gut the place
before I could even stand to walk through the door," and it's overwhelming.
One pink house was identical to the house we did end up buying (and priced
several thousand less), but we nixed it just because of all the work we'd
have to do up front (we were spreading ourselves thin enough just to get the
down payment etc together).
So... my suggestion would be to call a bunch of painters and get more
estimates. $5k or whatever you said sounds *way* high to me for painting
all the walls white. And if it's that small, you could do it yourself in a
couple weekends and it would cost a couple hundred dollars tops in paint.
Katie
--
To reply by e-mail, take out all the x's.
Michele Mauro
the house an easier sell (e.g.: it will sell quicker).
The buyer will ALWAYS want a different color, but if you repaint in a
neutral, it's much easier for the buyer to "see" his color on the walls,
than if your walls are dark green, or blue or orange or whatever.
Have fun, Michele
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Brad Murray <BradM...@SeeSigIfThere.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.12399113f...@enews.newsguy.com...
> > > Do you think we should paint or just let it be? Is there another
place
> > to look for less expensive ways to paint the house?
> >
Deborah Byrd
IMO, you shouldn't paint the house. I just bought a house that had
been decorated either with the last owners or just before (they weren't
there long so it's hard to tell) and it's just been a pain.
Most of it seems to be ok from a distance, but up close, it's shotty
and the paint over paint over paint, etc is making it harder for me to
redo anything.
Let the new owners decide what color the walls are, papered,
whatever. If you truly believe that it should be repainted, let that
be a part of the sale. Just provide $x amount to cover painting/wall
decorating for them to use as they wish. If they want something more
expensive, they make up the difference. Get several estimates and
average them to decide how much goes into escrow. If you just get the
lowest price, chances are it won't go over well with the new owners
when they try and work within that price. Remember, you get what you
pay for, so if it's too cheap, the job will be too.
I think you should let the buyer decorate though. Layering paint
without expecting it to stay long is wasteful as well as troublesome
for the buyer. :) Just my opinion!
Good luck!
Deb
In article <19990902221928...@ng-fw1.aol.com>,
jeff...@aol.com (JeffJ318) wrote:
> Hi
>
> We are going to sell our townhome. I am not sure on the square
footage.
> The home is a regular size townhome. (which they used to call rowhome)
> Three bedrooms, dining room, living room and hallway spaces. Not that
big.
>
> I have had a couple of estimates ($5,000, $3,800) and these seem high
in light
> that we just want to get the house ready for sale. We are buying new
carpeting
> to brighten up the place.
>
> The paint on the walls now is ok. The house has not been painted for
years and
> there is some wear and tear in certain areas.
>
> Do you think we should paint or just let it be? Is there another
place to look
> for less expensive ways to paint the house? We are not painter and
really do
> not like to paint.
>
> Thanks,
> Jeff
>
Michael Edelman
>
...
> Whatever you do to the house will you make the money back in the sale?
> If your house will only sell for X and you add $5000 worth of upgrades
> will you house go up by that amount?
Sometimes a paint job can make a big difference
with respect to how quickly the house sells.
If your walls look dingey, a fresh coat of white
paint will brighten the house and make it feel
larger, too.
HollyLewis
to paint it all off-white.
The next-door neighbors say the paint crew showed up one day and was done in
about three hours. I can easily believe they did *no* prep work at all.
(There is paint slopped onto the miniblinds. Not the mounting hardware, the
blinds. Which can be removed without even unscrewing anything.)
It is such a poor-quality job that even if I liked beigey off-white walls,
which I don't, we would have had to strip everything and repaint. Our own
painting job would have been *so* much easier if the previous jobs had been
done *right*. (We closed a month and a half ago and we're still painting.
Many hours of sanding and stripping, lots of wood trim and tight corners.)
And this is such a fast real estate market that I have to say it would make
zero difference to us or to any other buyer if the paint had not been freshly
done or if there were strange colors. Yes, it can make the house show better,
but when even probate sales are going 15% over asking price within a few days
of going on the market, why spend money on something that in the end is only
going to aggravate the buyer?
If the walls really need paint and you're not in such a crazy market, then
fine, repaint everything off-white. But do it (or pay to have it done) WELL.
Holly
FNO Toolman
house. I would spend a weekend painting the place myself and save a
bundle. You could probably paint the entire house yourself for around
300 bucks. I don't like to paint either (next to taping and mudding,
painting is my least favorite) but there are ways to make the job go
faster and easier. For instance, a Wagner power roller if you are
going to do the entire place is worth the 70-80 bucks IMHO. Roller
edging paint pads, and corner paint pads are also worth the couple of
bucks they cost. Invite all your friends over for a paint party, serve
pizza and beer and your place will be done in a heartbeat. Do the
painting BEFORE you install the new carpet, that way any drips will
not cause serious problems, and your friends will stay friends.
I would also suggest using very light neutral colors (antique
white?) so that most every color scheme would fit with the color you
choose. Keep this in mind when choosing the carpet color as well.
Remember, the money spent on painting and carpeting will not raise the
house value, but it will add to the "saleability" of the house making
it easier to sell.
FNO Toolman
--
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JeffJ318 <jeff...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19990902221928...@ng-fw1.aol.com...
CharlieDIY
>x-no-archive: yes
>>I wish I could kill whoever gave the sellers of our house the standard
>advice
>>to paint it all off-white.
>
>It must have worked. You bought the house!!!
>
Give some thought to the idea that there may well have been other, far more
positive, factors that overrode distate for the no-color scheme. If a house
offered features I wanted, and offered a color scheme I hated, I'd buy it
anyway: painting interiors is probably the least difficult job to do around a
house, short of washing windows.
Charlie Self
Word Worker
Michele Mauro
not see past the orange walls to see those other features that they
want... they just move on to viewing the next house.
In a good seller's market, orange walls might not make a difference, but
in an average market, it will slow down the sale of the house.
Have fun, Michele
--
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CharlieDIY <charl...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19990906114926...@ng-fy1.aol.com...
HollyLewis
>advice
>>to paint it all off-white.
>
>It must have worked. You bought the house!!!
Ya, but you gotta understand the market here. We paid $60,000 over the asking
price, which barely beat out the next two bids. This was *despite* a number of
pest problems, a truly hideous fireplace, a chimney in need of replacement, a
somewhat strange kitchen layout, ugly bathroom tile, etc., etc. The overall
floor plan was right for us, the hardwood floors were in *excellent* shape, and
the bathroom and kitchen were functional by modern standards (not true of many
of the 1920s and '30s homes we saw).
We wouldn't have cared if the walls were puce and chartreuse. We knew we would
repaint anyway (and any buyer in this market would be prepared to do so), so
the seller wasted her money on paying people to come out and do an awful job.
Of course it wasn't until *after* close that we looked closely enough to
realize what we were dealing with in terms of poorly done previous paint jobs
-- if we'd realized sooner we might've made some claim on the seller's payment
to the painters (which she paid through escrow). Now, it's more trouble than
it's worth.
Holly
Gary Sanders
HollyLewis <holly...@aol.com> wrote:
>>>I wish I could kill whoever gave the sellers of our house the standard
>>advice
>>>to paint it all off-white.
>>
>>It must have worked. You bought the house!!!
>
>Ya, but you gotta understand the market here. We paid $60,000 over the asking
>price, which barely beat out the next two bids. This was *despite* a number of
You paid $60K over the asking price and are happy. WOW, I dont understand.
I paid $4K under the asking price and I was happy.
rric...@lanminds.com
wrote:
I can understand her feelings. I live in an area where you see ads
for "Extreme fixer-upper - 350k" and hear about houses with 50k worth
of unfixed termite damage going for 100k over the asking price, and
where some people are offering money to sleep on people's floors.
Here, it's a seller's market. You have a space, you can sell it to
someone.
Rebecca
Sean Smith
news:37d6730...@nntp.lanminds.com...
The market sucks where you are then. I bought my house for $17,000
UNDER the original asking price. They put it on the market for $77,000,
then dropped the price to $65,000 after they did some minor repairs because
it had been on the market for a year already, and we got it for $60,000 and
the seller paid around HALF of the closing costs.
You're obviously looking at houses in the wrong places, snooty housing
developments and snooty neighborhoods do nothing for you but make the
property value go up and limit the amount of things you can do to your house
and yard.
Sean
T
> The market sucks where you are then. I bought my house for $17,000
> UNDER the original asking price. They put it on the market for $77,000,
> then dropped the price to $65,000 after they did some minor repairs because
> it had been on the market for a year already, and we got it for $60,000 and
> the seller paid around HALF of the closing costs.
>
> You're obviously looking at houses in the wrong places, snooty housing
> developments and snooty neighborhoods do nothing for you but make the
> property value go up and limit the amount of things you can do to your house
> and yard.
>
> Sean
Apparently it depends on your definition of "sucks." If a house has
been sitting on a market for a year *with* extra repairs added *and*
having the price dropped by 15 percent, that sounds like hell. Why
isn't anyone buying in that town? Why are prices so deflated?
Our home was on the market for about two weeks when we made our offer,
and we were their second (serious) offer. We paid about 2500 less than
asking, and we have the most fabulous house we could ever hope for.
rric...@lanminds.com
<sean...@racemark.com> wrote:
> The market sucks where you are then. I bought my house for $17,000
>UNDER the original asking price. They put it on the market for $77,000,
>then dropped the price to $65,000 after they did some minor repairs because
>it had been on the market for a year already, and we got it for $60,000 and
>the seller paid around HALF of the closing costs.
>
> You're obviously looking at houses in the wrong places, snooty housing
>developments and snooty neighborhoods do nothing for you but make the
>property value go up and limit the amount of things you can do to your house
>and yard.
>
> Sean
Heh... I wish! No, it's a problem of an economy that is growing twice
as fast as housing, in an area that was already underbuilt, and my
desire to have a less than 90 minute commute. Which might, I guess,
be classified as looking in the "wrong places". The average house
price in this area is 350k. The average in the "low-end" areas is
around 200k. I, personally, would seriously wonder about the age,
condition, and neighborhood of any house listed under 100k given the
current market conditions here.
Btw, the people who were selling the house with the termite damage had
20 offers on it. A housing developement of 26 houses in the 250s sold
out in 6 minutes, according to a news article on the housing situation
in the area. This is why I am still in an apartment. Like I said, if
you have a space, you can sell it!
Rebecca
Sean Smith
> Sean Smith wrote:
> > The market sucks where you are then. I bought my house for $17,000
> > UNDER the original asking price. They put it on the market for $77,000,
> > then dropped the price to $65,000 after they did some minor repairs
because
> > it had been on the market for a year already, and we got it for $60,000
and
> > the seller paid around HALF of the closing costs.
> > You're obviously looking at houses in the wrong places, snooty
housing
> > developments and snooty neighborhoods do nothing for you but make the
> > property value go up and limit the amount of things you can do to your
house
> > and yard.
> > Sean
> been sitting on a market for a year *with* extra repairs added *and*
> having the price dropped by 15 percent, that sounds like hell. Why
> isn't anyone buying in that town? Why are prices so deflated?
It was a "fixer-upper" but in excellent condition. The upstairs had not
been renovated, so it's pretty much original, and it has an older boiler but
in excellent condition. The taxes are a bit "high" compared to some places
but we're in a very nice neigborhood and there are just about all the
conveniences we would want within walking distance. The prices are not very
deflated, they're REALISTIC. What people are asking for houses in some
places is rediculous thinking that it some sort of sellers market.
> Our home was on the market for about two weeks when we made our offer,
> and we were their second (serious) offer. We paid about 2500 less than
> asking, and we have the most fabulous house we could ever hope for.
Good for you. As long as you are happy, it's really all that matters.
I do believe that many people are being ripped off thinking that they don't
have a choice in the matter though.
Sean
Gary Sanders
>On 8 Sep 1999 08:22:28 -0400, g...@user2.infinet.com (Gary Sanders)
>wrote:
>I can understand her feelings. I live in an area where you see ads
>for "Extreme fixer-upper - 350k" and hear about houses with 50k worth
>of unfixed termite damage going for 100k over the asking price, and
>where some people are offering money to sleep on people's floors.
>Here, it's a seller's market. You have a space, you can sell it to
>someone.
I guess PT Barum was correct!!!
David Clarke
> > >HollyLewis <holly...@aol.com> wrote:
> > >>>>I wish I could kill whoever gave the sellers of our house the standard
> > >>>advice
> > >>>>to paint it all off-white.
> > >>>It must have worked. You bought the house!!!
> > >>Ya, but you gotta understand the market here. We paid $60,000 over the
> asking
> > >>price, which barely beat out the next two bids. This was *despite* a
> number of
> > >You paid $60K over the asking price and are happy. WOW, I dont
> understand.
> > >I paid $4K under the asking price and I was happy.
> > for "Extreme fixer-upper - 350k" and hear about houses with 50k worth
> > of unfixed termite damage going for 100k over the asking price, and
> > where some people are offering money to sleep on people's floors.
> > Here, it's a seller's market. You have a space, you can sell it to
> > someone.
>
> The market sucks where you are then. I bought my house for $17,000
> UNDER the original asking price. They put it on the market for $77,000,
> then dropped the price to $65,000 after they did some minor repairs because
> it had been on the market for a year already, and we got it for $60,000 and
> the seller paid around HALF of the closing costs.
>
> You're obviously looking at houses in the wrong places, snooty housing
> developments and snooty neighborhoods do nothing for you but make the
> property value go up and limit the amount of things you can do to your house
> and yard.
>
> Sean
Oh my, this is a rather narrow view. Housing markets vary a great deal
from region to region. There's a whole constellation of factors that go
into the price of housing, so judging someone else's market from the
point
of view of your own makes for a dubious comparison, to say the least.
I've lived in places where 60K was a nice house, and others where it
wasn't but a decent down payment on one. Seems that every place I go
at least half the people believe they live within some convenient
distance
of the center of the universe. That's great for them, but it doesn't
mean that they're any more right that anyone else.
------------
David Clarke
T
> I do believe that many people are being ripped off thinking that they don't
> have a choice in the matter though.
You're right, it is a matter of choice. If a person *chooses* to live
in a world-class, metropolitan city with tons of amenities and facil
access to arts, culture and entertainment, they're going to pay more
because that space is in greater demand. If a person *chooses* to work
in a field that pays out lots of money, such as much of the high tech
industry, and that industry is fairly localized in a few smaller pockets
of the land, again, housing costs will rise because people are willing
and able to pay those prices. If a person chooses to live in a more
moderate, average area, like, oh, say *MILWAUKEE*, they're more likely
to find housing commesurate with income because the demand isn't as
far-fetched. If I chose to live with many of my friends in the Bay
area, I would probably never be able to buy my own home and I would
probably spend a lot of time commuting to anywhere interesting, because
I would choose to spend less money on my housing costs.
In your example, if the house price were "realistic," especially
considering low interest rates over the past year or so, there's no
reason for the house to have been on the market for over a year. Home
sales have been astronomical nation wide. With the information you have
given me, the situation sounds like a combination that
-- The original price was not low enough for the market to bear, and the
original seller wasn't willing to lower the price quickly enough.
-- The housing market in your area was fairly weak, possibly partly
because of the higher tax rate.
-- There were probably other comparable houses that weren't fixer-uppers
at similar prices, making people take advantage of move in condition.
HollyLewis
>developments and snooty neighborhoods do nothing for you but make the
>property value go up and limit the amount of things you can do to your house
>and yard.
>
> Sean
Ever been to California, Sean?
Average sales price of a non-newly-built home is about $300,000 in the Bay
Area. This is the average for all homes -- the seven-bedroom mansions in
snooty developements and the one-bedroom cottages in the slum areas.
We bought a very modest two-plus bedroom, one bath home in a decent
family-oriented neighborhood. It was originally built in 1929, around the same
time as the rest of the houses in the area. There is no owners' association to
tell us what we can or cannot do with our house or yard, and it is definitely
not snooty. You want a snooty development in these parts, you're talking $1
million for a house.
Holly
HollyLewis
>for sale.
Well, that's kind of my point. However, it's still true that the
best-cared-for homes attract 20 bids rather than 3 or 5, and thus may sell for
20% or 30% over asking rather than only 10% or 15%.
And naturally the pest problems were taken into account for in the asking
price, and the problems like ugly tile are admittedly a matter of personal
taste.
I just don't understand people who do something to their house without
bothering to do it *right*.
Holly
sh...@ecn.ab.ca
: > You're obviously looking at houses in the wrong places, snooty housing
: >developments and snooty neighborhoods do nothing for you but make the
: >property value go up and limit the amount of things you can do to your house
: >and yard.
: >
: > Sean
: Ever been to California, Sean?
: Average sales price of a non-newly-built home is about $300,000 in the Bay
: Area. This is the average for all homes -- the seven-bedroom mansions in
: snooty developements and the one-bedroom cottages in the slum areas.
Personally, I am looking forward to when the inevitable "Big One" creates
a "level playing field" in the Bay area.
: We bought a very modest two-plus bedroom, one bath home in a decent
: family-oriented neighborhood. It was originally built in 1929, around the same
: time as the rest of the houses in the area. There is no owners' association to
: tell us what we can or cannot do with our house or yard, and it is definitely
: not snooty. You want a snooty development in these parts, you're talking $1
: million for a house.
: Holly
--
Bilbo Baggins
> : Average sales price of a non-newly-built home is about $300,000 in the Bay
> : Area. This is the average for all homes -- the seven-bedroom mansions in
> : snooty developements and the one-bedroom cottages in the slum areas.
Makes you wonder: Why do kids and unfortunates not aspire to higher
goals rather than waiting for Clinton or AlGore to hand them a crumb..
Steve Dropkin
Sanders) wrote:
> In article <19990907171605...@ng-cl1.aol.com>,
> HollyLewis <holly...@aol.com> wrote:
> >Ya, but you gotta understand the market here. We paid $60,000 over the
asking
> >price, which barely beat out the next two bids. This was *despite* a
number of
>
> You paid $60K over the asking price and are happy. WOW, I dont understand.
> I paid $4K under the asking price and I was happy.
I'm surprised his mortgage company went for it. How expensive was this
house for $60K to not take it out of its market?
--
"This is only temporary -- unless it works!" -- Red Green
Steve & Joanne Dropkin: change .not to .net in the address!
Gary Sanders
HollyLewis <holly...@aol.com> wrote:
>> You're obviously looking at houses in the wrong places, snooty housing
>>developments and snooty neighborhoods do nothing for you but make the
>>property value go up and limit the amount of things you can do to your house
>>and yard.
>>
>> Sean
>
>
>Average sales price of a non-newly-built home is about $300,000 in the Bay
>Area. This is the average for all homes -- the seven-bedroom mansions in
>snooty developements and the one-bedroom cottages in the slum areas.
>
Like sean said, you looking for a house in the wrong place. Try another
state!
Sean Smith
news:19990908220650...@ng-cl1.aol.com...
> > You're obviously looking at houses in the wrong places, snooty
housing
> >developments and snooty neighborhoods do nothing for you but make the
> >property value go up and limit the amount of things you can do to your
house
> >and yard.
> > Sean
> Ever been to California, Sean?
No, since it's going to fall off the map soon, property values should be
dropping. $300k is too much for a house, move somewhere else, someplace
safer.
> Average sales price of a non-newly-built home is about $300,000 in the Bay
> Area. This is the average for all homes -- the seven-bedroom mansions in
> snooty developements and the one-bedroom cottages in the slum areas.
Then people are stupid. Simple as that. There's no reason that housing
costs should be that high. I detest NYC and the housing costs are also
astronomical there, for some reason stupid people see value in this. People
need to smarten up. Refuse to pay these prices and the prices will have to
fall. It's the laws of supply and demand. People shouldn't demand to live
there and they won't have to pay because the supply will be more than teh
demand. It's unbelievable how much people will pay because they think one
area/state is better than another.
> We bought a very modest two-plus bedroom, one bath home in a decent
> family-oriented neighborhood. It was originally built in 1929, around the
same
> time as the rest of the houses in the area. There is no owners'
association to
> tell us what we can or cannot do with our house or yard, and it is
definitely
> not snooty. You want a snooty development in these parts, you're talking
$1
> million for a house.
> Holly
You're lucky then. Even some of the crappy small towns around here can
be snooty, zoning laws telling you what color you can paint your house, what
color curtains you can have in the front windows, what mailboxes you can
have, etc. It's pretty stupid.
Sean
Brad Murray
> > : Ever been to California, Sean?
> > : Average sales price of a non-newly-built home is about $300,000 in the Bay
> > : Area. This is the average for all homes -- the seven-bedroom mansions in
> > : snooty developements and the one-bedroom cottages in the slum areas.
>
> goals rather than waiting for Clinton or AlGore to hand them a crumb..
Because then they wouldn't vote for them.
rric...@lanminds.com
<sean...@racemark.com> wrote:
> Then people are stupid. Simple as that. There's no reason that housing
>costs should be that high. I detest NYC and the housing costs are also
>astronomical there, for some reason stupid people see value in this. People
>need to smarten up. Refuse to pay these prices and the prices will have to
>fall. It's the laws of supply and demand. People shouldn't demand to live
>there and they won't have to pay because the supply will be more than teh
>demand. It's unbelievable how much people will pay because they think one
>area/state is better than another.
>
I am here because in my line of work I have 3 real choices to be where
most of the work is: California (mainly the Bay Area and down by LA),
Minnesota (esp. Minneapolis), and New Jersey. And I believe most of
the companies are in those area because the state/city offered them
some large incentives to build there. I was talking about this with a
coworker, and he made the very real point that if he were working
outside the Bay area, and wanted to change jobs, he has a much smaller
chance of networking and hearing about the good openings.
But it is driving away workers, especially those with families.
Another one of my coworkers just bought a house, and is looking at an
hour commute. As she says, she probably will quit next summer because
she doesn't want to be that far from her kids. Convince the companies
to build elsewhere and you will make many people happy!
Rebecca
T
> Then people are stupid. Simple as that. There's no reason that housing
> costs should be that high. I detest NYC and the housing costs are also
> astronomical there, for some reason stupid people see value in this. People
> need to smarten up. Refuse to pay these prices and the prices will have to
> fall. It's the laws of supply and demand. People shouldn't demand to live
> there and they won't have to pay because the supply will be more than teh
> demand. It's unbelievable how much people will pay because they think one
> area/state is better than another.
Sean,
How far away from work do you live? Most people prefer to live within,
say, 30 miles of where they work. They also prefer to live in areas
that offer entertainment they enjoy, and they like to live with people
who are somewhat similar to themselves. Many people who live in, say,
New York, the Bay area and Seattle, tend to work in fairly localized
industries and they tend to appreciate being near world-class
entertainment on a fairly consistent basis. Because these preferences
coincide with fairly high-compensation fields, you're going to see high
property values in these areas. Because they can.
On the other hand, if, say, you're an office manager and your priorities
include living near your family and specifically not paying astronomical
housing costs, there are a great deal more options available for you.
One point you're not considering is that there are some areas that have
incredibly DEPRESSED values because of where they are. You're not
whining about how some beautiful, elegant, huge turn-of-the-century
architecture is being trashed and ravaged because of the neighborhoods
they're in, and you're not complaining about how huge tracts of the
inner city are being gutted and vacated because their neighborhoods are
dangerous and service-less because all the stores moved out. The market
economy goes both ways.
MikeC
Phisherman wrote in message ...
>> : Ever been to California, Sean?
>> : Average sales price of a non-newly-built home is about $300,000 in the
Bay
>> : Area. This is the average for all homes -- the seven-bedroom mansions
in
>> : snooty developements and the one-bedroom cottages in the slum areas.
>
>taxes around 500 a year. For 300K you can get a 12-bedroom, 5
>bath, 6-bay garage, 50 acres, and a lake with separate guest house.
>I wonder why/how people can afford the Bay area?
>
Whereabouts are you? I'm on the East coast (NY/NJ) and haven't seen what you
describe
in 25 years. Just curious. Maybe I'll be your neighbor when I retire <g>.
Hope it's not
down South. Can't stand the heat! Or the fire ants, scorpions, palmetto
bugs, killer bees,
etc., etc. <g> - no offense southerner's!
HollyLewis
>house for $60K to not take it out of its market?
Asking price was $290K. The mortgage company's appraisal came in at $354K, a
bit more than we paid. (And we ended up with about a $6K credit for the bad
chimney.)
Sellers continue to price their homes somewhat lower than what they know it
will actually bring, because the buyers also know they will have to offer more
than the asking, and thus won't look at houses with listing prices that are
more than 10% less than what the buyers can actually afford to pay. If the
seller thinks the house will sell for $350K, he has to put the list price at
closer to $300 or $330K in order to attract buyers who are prepared to pay up
to $350 or $360K.
And if he lists at $350K and the house isn't in contract within one week --
yep, 4 to 10 days is typical -- it's already "stale". Buyers wanna know what's
wrong with it, and they assume it's not worth what it's listed for because it
didn't sell right away.
I know, it's dumb.
This market is the result of a number of long- and short-term factors,
including the fact that the Bay Area is a wonderful place to live and has a lot
of employment in well-paying industries, but has almost no undeveloped land
left, the low mortgage rates, the rising stock market, the changes over the
last 10 or 20 years in underwriting (so that you can buy with 10% or even less
cash down rather than needing 20% or more), etc. There are just waa-a-a-ay
more buyers (some of them with lots of stock-option money) out there than
sellers, and have been for about two years.
We'll see if it cools down any now that mortgage rates are rising again.
Hasn't happened so far, because all the buyers out there are even more anxious
to find a house before the rates go even higher!
Holly
Sigurður E. Vilhelmsson
> Sheesh. You can actually buy a decent home here for 50K, property
> taxes around 500 a year. For 300K you can get a 12-bedroom, 5
> bath, 6-bay garage, 50 acres, and a lake with separate guest house.
> I wonder why/how people can afford the Bay area?
Out of curiosity, where would that be???
Siggi
PaulMmn
*sigh*
I saw one house with the colors intact. The bedroom had purple walls
and a purple carpet. I could tell the realtor was embarassed, but I
didn't mind the colors; I could still see the house as it could be.
This house was empty at the time.
I think the problem is that with a house full of furniture, and
'strange' colors on the walls, it's difficult to imagine the house
with your furniture.
As far as re-painting goes, even though the house I eventually bought
was mostly 'neutral' to start with, I did repaint the white walls
white.
I even liked the former owner's taste in wallpaper (although the
installation was clearly not a professional job...).
--Paul E Musselman
Pau...@ix.netcom.nospam.com
On Mon, 06 Sep 1999 14:53:54 GMT, webm...@cableid.com (toddh) wrote:
>x-no-archive: yes
>>condition and will sell faster (i.e. no one will be turned away simply
>>because the current paint/wallpaper will clash with everything they own).
>>In a market like this, when you're seeing house after house with the uniform
>>white walls and beige carpet (I grant this is boring, but at least it's
>>neutral), it is a real turn-off to walk into a house with teal carpet
>Or a refreshing change of pace. This feverish push for neutrality is
>driven by the realtors. It is easier for them to present a neutral
>house and stir the buyers' imaginations with visions of redecorating.
>
>As a seller, I'm not trying to sell my house to 20 people - I'm trying
>to sell it to one. I'd rather have one buyer love my house than a
>dozen who merely "like" it. If the best that can be said about a house
>is that it doesn't make you throw up, it isn't likely to sell anyway.