We need an advise.
We put our parents co-op appartment on the market 6 month ago and sign a contarct w/RE agent our contract with her w/b expired at the end of this month. This appartment is in NY in desirable area. So far we redused the price twice. We are selling this property as it is, need some cosmetic repaits. Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Are you sure you had it priced right? If a property is priced right, it will sell. Just because you reduced your price twice with no interest does not mean it was correct to begin with.
Have you had any showings or offers?
Do what you can to make the place look its best, even though it is ‘as is’. Get it cleaned and decluttered at a minimum.
When you say cosmetics…what exactly??
I have found that simply painting, replacing old carpet, an installing some hardwood floors can acheive INCREDIBLE results with very little money.
Painting…handyman guy’s are great for this work. I pay my guy $100 to $200/room (that includes trim)
Carpets…just did 1000 sq. ft. of a decent berber for $2100 HUGE return on that.
Hardwoods…Lumber liquidators has pre-finished 3/4" red oak for $2.49/ sq. ft. Installation can be done by a handyman for $2.00/ sq. ft.
All tallied you might spend $4000 to $8000 (depending on the size of the apartment) that may sound like a lot, but I bet you’ve already dropped the price by more than that.
This is very simple…you either drop the price until it sells because the market is telling you it’s STILL too high, or you fix some things that are keeping people from pulling the trigger. My choice is usually to spend a little to gain a lot.
Remember, you don’t have to fix every single thing in the house, just tackle the items I mentioned and that aprtment will be transformed.
I suggest that you fix it up enough that it doesn’t look like a fixer.
The kind of people who buy fixers are not buying so much in an unsettled market. They are afraid they can’t get it back on the market and sold before the price goes down. When they do buy, they want a gigantic discount.
New paint works magic. Nail down and repair anything that is obviously loose or broken and have the entire interior painted in a nice nuetral, using the same color in every room. Carpets and flooring, at a minimum, cleaned and repaired.
The type of people who buy at the retail level do not want to do any work. They want to unpack their stuff and that’s it. If they look at a house and it needs work, they are going to pass and go look for something that is move in ready.
It doesn’t have to look brand new and it doesn’t have to be completely renovated. Just clean enough and in good enough repair to move in without having to do any projects.
If you really can not get it fixed up you are going to have to discount the price really steeply.
There are two reasons why any property isn’t selling: either no one knows about it, meaning the marketing is inadequate. Or the price isn’t acceptable to the market.
Which do you think it is?
…Two Reasons properties don’t sell…
How about giving us some more information about the property.