The Real Story…
News and commentary about the real estate market and related topics.
Dave Parrish, ABR®, CSP, GRI, ePRO®,REALTOR ®, RE/MAX MarketPlace
The opinions expressed here are my own and don’t necessarily represent those of RE/MAX International.
Picky, Picky, Picky …
Today’s buyers want a deal… or so they say… and yet they walk away from the best deals on a pretty consistent basis. Before going much further it is probably wise to define what a deal is. While the exact definition may certainly vary from person-to-person, the consensus is that a deal is when you are buying a home at a price that creates an equity position pretty close to immediately.
Now obviously, you still don’t want to buy a home that doesn’t meet your needs… That is you probably aren’t going to buy based on price alone… You do have to find that right mix of what you need or want and price. But at the same time there are attributes of a home that are easily changed and then some that are unchangeable. The wise buyer focuses on the important items… those that cannot be changed.
I cannot begin to count the number of buyers (usually first-time buyers) who opted for something move-in ready in an inferior location over a home in a wonderful location that needed a little work and paid a higher price to boot. Yes, we have buyers who turn away from well-priced homes because they do not have granite countertops, they need new carpet, or they have wall colors not to their liking.
Often those homes being ignored by today’s buyers are priced much lower than the cost to have the required work done professionally. For most of these homes, the buyer could purchase the home at a discounted price and utilizing a FHA 203K loan have those repairs and upgrades professionally done by licensed contractors to the Buyers’ exact liking with that cost rolled into the mortgage payment and still have a lower monthly payment than the “move-in” ready home. All this done without ever getting their hands dirty… Sounds like a deal to me.
At the same time, I don’t imagine that hearing these facts is going to make a dramatic effect on Buyer behavior. So now Sellers a word to the wise… get your home “Move-in Ready” or be prepared to pay the price.
May the market be with you.
