Are you a realtor or have you recently sold your house?

[Paper Roses]

I need some advice. As a widow and senior citizen, I have come to the conclusion that I can't handle everything required to care for my 200 year old house. Last winter was awful, the weather sandblasted the paint from the side of my house which had just been painted 5 years ago.
Heat is expensive but I can handle that, taxes are a fact of life that I cannot avoid.

My kids are worried about me . They think I freeze in the winter, cannot care for the exterior any more and that I might fall down the very steep stairs I commonly use. I have a second staircase but it is not as convenient.
In keeping with their wishes, the girls came Saturday with a realtor. He came earlier with one of my daughters to check the house.

I am not happy with his assessment of the the value. I am willing to look at Condo's to see if I can find something smaller. Don't yet know what will happen there.

The realtor is a friend of my kids. I thought he was very nice but.....his assessment of the value was about $75,000.00 lower than I would ask.
I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but I'd rather stay here than take any offer based on his price estimate. Been here for 44 years and have seen what has happened in this town. My poor old house is worth more than he suggested. I ran his thoughts by friends and neighbors. All think he is way off base.

He...and my kids..said that a new buyer might want to change the kitchen around, add granite, update the bathrooms.
Is it my problem that someone else may want to update things? The house is clean, neat, and functional. I don't feel I should offer it at a really low price so that someone else can come in and change things to their liking.
Am I way off base in my thinking?

[babylonsister]

1. Neither, but

why don't you talk to a few realtors to see what someone else might value your home at? This is a big step, you need to look out for your interests. I'm sure your kids would understand that. Good luck with all this!

[renate]

6. I'll second that

This is a big deal. I'm sure your kids' friend is nice but you should talk to other realtors to make sure that you're not off base with your own assessment of the home's value.

I can't remember the book I read about this--probably something by Malcolm Gladwell or maybe it was Freakonomics--but the author(s?) looked into realtors' motivations for pricing a home high or low, and while it's true that the realtor makes more money if the house sells for more, the house sells more quickly if it's priced low. So, perhaps counterintuitively, the realtor may have an incentive to undervalue the home if he/she thinks it would sell faster that way. I'm not impugning realtors, I'm sure their personal and professional code of ethics prevents them from underpricing a home too much, but it can't hurt to get a second or even a third opinion. Plus, home prices are going up quickly in some parts of the country, so the price that the market will bear is changing every day.

Good luck!

[Mosby]

2. is the realtor an appraiser also?

Spend the couple hundred bucks for a home inspection and appraisal. If the house sells the bank is going to insist on one anyway, using their appraiser.

Edit - also know that with rising home prices time is on your side, take your time with this.

[enough]

3. Everything depends on your LOCAL market. Zillow is a very good resource

for finding out what houses in your neighborhood have sold for recently. You can also find out what houses are for sale, the asking price, how long they have been on the market, and how far the price has come down since the house was originally listed.

You can also compare sales of other houses in your neighborhood that are the same age as your house, the same size, etc.

You can put your zip code in the search bar at and learn a lot about your neighborhood real estate market. Especially since the housing bust, people tend to have an unrealistic idea of what their house is worth, especially if they have lived there a long time.

Good luck, this can be a long journey.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

17. 2nd on Zillow.

Also your property tax assessment may indicate houses in your area the Tax Man thinks are comparable.

[SharonAnn]

4. Also, you can privately hie an appraiser. The real key to a house's value is

what the market will pay for it. Appraiser's look at your house, sq. feet, condition, etc. and compare it to similar houses that have sold recently. That will give you a good idea what the market will pay.

It's not that expensive to hire an appraiser and you'll have better information.

It's an unfortunate fact that real estate, in many areas, sells for less than it did 5 years ago.

[Scuba]

5. Realtors are primarily interested in making money, so will price your house at a level ...

... where they think they can flip it fast.

Get multiple opinions, and compare your house with others similar to it. realtor.com is one good site for doing that.

Good luck!

[alsame]

7. I am not a realtor but I have sold a

few homes.

Here's my advice - check out the comps for your neighborhood or area. It should tell you what similar properties have recently sold for. Of course, the condition of homes factors into the pricing, but you should be able to get a ballpark figure.

Try to find these on the websites of local realtors, almost all of them have pages of homes they recently sold and show the price along with square footage, property size, etc. Many also have photos of the rooms, so you can really compare.

Also, don't use a realtor you don't feel comfortable with. There is nothing wrong with asking another local realtor to come and give you an assessment of your home.

Lastly, don't sell until you are emotionally ready to leave your home. Before you even list the property, go out and see what your options are. Go to Open Houses, search online and drive through neighborhoods you are interested in. Make sure there is a place waiting that will make you happy and is affordable.

Good luck

[MineralMan]

8. An independent appraisal is the answer.

It will cost around $300 or so, and it will be a detailed appraisal. Since you're paying for it, you can ask the appraiser to explain the appraisal and why it is what it is.

Armed with that, you can decide whether cost-effective things like repainting or other repairs are worth making and how much they would affect the selling price.

While home prices have begin rebounding, that's pretty much only for homes that are in very good condition. Homebuyers are less eager to buy homes they have to spend a lot of money on these days. At least that's true where I am, in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.

I spend a lot of time looking at real estate listings, in my work writing content for a major real estate broker's web site, and track trends pretty closely here.

[geek tragedy]

9. It wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion from another realtor. I would NOT use an appraiser

The appraiser won't know anything about its market value that a realtor/agent wouldn't know. And, from the experiences I've had over the past few years, the talent level in general amongst appraisers has declined due to decreasing profitability. That was for a refi, which may make a difference. Appraisers have been lowballing properties to cozy up to banks.

In general, though, it's very common for homeowners to think their property is worth more than the market does. We love our homes, but the market prices them.

Obviously, without seeing what's sold in your area hard to say who's right.

Regarding upgrades, they do matter in the price of a house--a house with updated kitchen and bathroom (granite counters etc) will sell for more money than an identical house without the updates.

If you have misgivings about selling, don't.

[Gregorian]

10. One variable in the sales price equation is whether you want to sell fast or not.

And how unique the property and house are.

And then there are other factors like who the buyer is. I have potential buyers of my property who were looking at a place that was twice the price of mine, but they finally gave up trying to get a loan. So even though my place is priced higher than it should be (theoretically), it may appear to be the perfect buy for them.

Also, beware that often a realtor will price a house below it's real value just to get a sale.

[magical thyme]

11. he should have done a set of comps...

That is, a comparative analysis showing what similar houses in similar neighborhoods in your area recently sold for or are currently listed at.

And take it all with a grain of salt. If several RE brokers do comps that come in the same, then that is one thing. If a single broker does it, that is another.

I had a broker out last year who ran comps and then suggested a sale price that was $75-85K *less than his comps* put my home value at! Then he came out to see my place and started moaning about a wonderful place that had just sold at that extremely low price.

I said one sentence to him that shut him up immediately. "This is not a bankruptcy sale."

I then reminded him of a few things he left out of the comps (he "forgot" about my 9 year old barn, probably assumed it was a falling down antique like so many you find in these parts), that the 2 houses in his comps that had sold at rock bottom prices had working train tracks running through their back yards in a neighborhood that *always* was tens of thousands less than my area, etc. Ultimately, though, I dumped him for insulting my intelligence.

Bottom line is a lot of realtors (probably the decent, honest ones) were shaken out of the market post-08. The survivors did so by selling bankruptcies to investors at rock-bottom prices, and that's mostly what's moving right now. Even when they talk about prices rising 8-10%, that's rising from rock, rock bottom bankruptcy prices. Eg, half the actual market value, sold for cash.

There are mostly sharks out there scavenging right now, so you have to be very, very careful who you deal with, be very tough yourself, and just bide your time.

[ohheckyeah]

12. His assessment of the value should be based on the

comparables in the neighborhood. He should have printed those out and shown them to you.

I highly recommend you hiring your own real estate agent if you decide to sell. You don't need to worry about "hurting feelings" that way. This is about you, your home, and your future....not your kids and not the real estate agents.

In keeping with their wishes

What are your wishes?

[FarCenter]

13. Get your own appraisal, but don't worry about whether someone will remodel the kitchen, etc.

Be happy that someone may move in who wants to improve the home you've had and continue to live there and make use of it.

In many cases, a 200 year old house would be demolished and a new one built.

[seabeyond]

14. i have found realtors put price of house where they think will be a quick and easy sell. low.

both houses i sold, i was higher than what was suggested. first house i knew i could get the price and was not in a hurry to sell. i got my asking price. the other, i lowered cause i wanted to sell. and still higher than realtors.

you set the price. not a realtor. and work with the offers.

they work for you.

[HereSince1628]

15. The only thing you can really use is comparisons of nearby recently sold homes.

The SO will be selling soon. I see issues some big, some small. All things that can be addressed for a price and that price is what she needs to think about when she negotiates her final sale price.

A few years ago she spent a couple thousand on countertops in the kitchen, but she left the wall that divides the kitchen from a formal dining room. Current fashion doesn't give a damn about dining rooms, but taking out a wall will destroy some of her granite countertops. I don't recommend a change.

Upstairs, it's a 1930's sort of home. Very limited closet space (3 ft by 3 ft wide spaces, one in two rooms and 2 such spaces in the other large bedroom. So there are NO walk in closets something EVERY 25 yr old woman on HGTV wants). One full bath for 3 bedrooms which... based on a 1950's lifestyle the house is built on...would be perfectly fine for a family of 5, but it isn't 1955 and so that ISN'T acceptable.

I discourage her from doing any serious changes and argue that she needs to be flexible with her pricing. Any change she makes will cost money and it very well may not address the desires of a buyer. I think she's better off entering into negotiations that get specific about what deficits the buyer perceives and how willing she is to accept that her house isn't a 2013 McMansion.

IMO, she could very well rent the house as it is to 2 medical students or residents (the MCOW...medical college of WI is just 3/4 of a mile away) and do better than selling. Rental properties in quality neighborhoods close to the medical school are in a bit of short supply.

[mnhtnbb]

16. Common wisdom is that houses need to be in top shape, turn key ready

to bring the highest prices on the market.

Kitchens and bathrooms sell houses. And location, location, location.
If your house is not in top shape, but has a fabulous location, you
may have more demand for the house. If your house needs work, updating,
painting...it will not bring top dollar.

In your shoes, I would find out which realty company is tops in your area,
then ask for the top listing agent. Ask that individual for a market assessment.

[haele]

18. Get another appraisal -

And don't change anything in your house. Know what might need fixing (plumbing, electrical, walls, roof, floorboards, etc), and be prepared to identify what isn't to code, but don't invest in changing anything that isn't a building code violation! Whatever little thing you might think of doing (usually painting or flooring) will be changed by the new owner anyway.

A 200 year old house has a value that the average "move in now" buyer might not appreciate. But there is a dedicated market for restoring Federal and Victorian homes that doesn't include adding granite to the kitchen counters (ugh!), creating an "open floor plan" or knocking out walls to create a master-bath with jaccuzi and steam shower.

When my parents sold their 1911 "owner built" house in Seattle, it had last seen a major renovation in the 1940's (the son of the original builder got rid of the coal chute, adding a new gas furnace, outlets, and a downstairs bathroom/office). According to the neighbors, the new owners only changed the electrical and plumbing to bring it up to code, took out the asbestos wallboards, re-painted, and repaired and refinished all the woodwork and cabinets.

They wanted to return it to as close to original as they could. And they didn't quibble on the price.
Mom told me the new owners fell in love with plaster-details on the ceiling of the diningroom/front-room, the staircase with window-seats, the old kitchen with the original wavy-glass upper cabinet doors, worn wood countertops, 1950's gas stove, and original pantry; we still had original flour bin and ice-box (with a screen over the area the ice would have been loaded from outside) in our pantry.

So, good luck with your house, and I hope whomever buys it loves it.

Haele

[kudzu22]

19. Realtors just want to sell the house and get their commission

So they want you to price it to move. It's your house -- you sell it for what you think it's worth. If you price it too high and it doesn't sell, you can always come down.

[newfie11]

20. You can set the price you want

If that realtor doesn't want to show it then get another.
Also what are other similiar homes in your area selling for?
Having bought 8 homes and sold seven, I can tell you it only takes one person that wants it .
The youngest home we have ever owned was 60 years old and the oldest was built in 1860, a stage coach stop for the Cheyenne-deadwood stage.
We bought it and undid all the horrible renovations done in the 60s.
Your home would definitely appeal to folks like us.
I agree don't change anything that is working.
Be aware if you underprice it in the beginning and people make a lower offer it will be even lower then the realtor priced it ( if you accept the offer)!

[Nite Owl]

21. A lot depends on

location
property size
condition of the house and property

Your kids might be right about the updating, people don't want to pay full price and then have to add a bathroom or kitchen.
I'd get three realtors to look at the house. It's like any project you do, get the estimates. Bargain the commission they ask too. Paint the kitchen and bathroom cabinets if they are showing age. Get new towels . Add some annuals. Maybe you have done this already, just some ideas. It's a lot of work to sell a house and it is exhausting.

I sold my house fairly quickly about a year ago.

[Oilwellian]

22. We just bought a home...

and are about to move from a home that's 200 years old as well. The company my husband works for owns it and it was recently appraised for a third of what it could be worth if it were modernized. The realtor you met probably knows what the market value is for homes in your area, but will say BEWARE. We fired two realtors before finding someone we could trust. You may want to find the market value of your home and use that as an asking price without having to hire an appraiser. If you get an interested buyer, they will be required to hire an appraiser and that cost will be on their dime. A lender won't lend for more than your house is worth so you may have to compromise. Assessed value and market value are two entirely different animals. Counties tend to assess the value of property much higher for the sake of taxes, but that number doesn't necessarily reflect what the average person is willing to pay for any given piece of property.

It's definitely a buyers market these days, not so much for sellers. Interest rates are ridiculously low right now so it's a good time to consider a move. You may not get as much for your home as you had hoped, but you'll also find on the buying side, you get more for your money than you did 5 years ago, so it all may balance out for you and you can find something that's affordable and easier to maintain.

Someone above mentioned Zillow.com and I highly recommend that site as well. It gives you an assessed value of your home (the price is usually pulled from your county assessment for tax purposes), and then will give you the market value meaning what people are willing to pay in your area. You can also see what other homes in your area have sold for and we found in our area, 75% of the homes sold for less than the market value. So again, for sellers, not so good, but for buyers, it's great. They also have filters you can use when looking for a new place to live...you mentioned a condo or town home and you can filter the site where you see just those for sale in your area. It was a great help for us when looking for a home to buy and I'll be happy to help if you reach that point.

Also, Google Earth which you can download for free, is a fantastic tool to use when searching for a home. It saved us a lot of money in gas because you can enter the address of a house you may be interested in buying, plug it in to Google Earth, and drop down right in front of the house. Using the wheel on your mouse allows you to drive up and down the road the house is on and see the neighborhood. Plus you get a good bird's eye view of the property as well. Doing that ruled out a lot of homes we thought we were interested in until we saw the neighborhood.

One other thing we did was check our local county records on assessed values of properties and the last selling price of a piece of property you may be interested in. You may want to see if your county has a website that offers that information. It's good information to know when making an offer to buy.

I also highly recommend shopping for a mortgage broker when looking to buy. We used Zillow for that as well and found a broker that saved us $3000 in closing costs. That was really nice. LOL...I could go on and on because we just went through the whole process, but found if you do your homework, you can save yourself from a lot of headaches. I will be happy to help you through it if you decide to enter the game.

Like you, I've lived in this ole' house for quite some time. It's where I've raised my sons and now entertain grandchildren. You could almost say I've been institutionalized, and it's scary taking a leap into the unknown. But now that I've taken that leap, and have found a really cool place to begin my golden years, it was worth facing those fears and working through them. It doesn't get any easier maintaining such an old home, and it feels great letting that burden go and finding a place that works for me instead. Best wishes for success in whatever you decide, and I'm here if you need help.