Author Topic: Listing a Home Question  (Read 1249 times)

Montecarlo

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 671
Listing a Home Question
« on: August 01, 2020, 06:41:15 AM »
My wife and I are moving out at the end of the month and we are trying to make a decision on whether we list our home now, and show it while we are preparing for the move, or if we wait until we are out and get some staging furniture.

We don't have an immediate need for the money from the sale, it's paid off, and she's 6 month pregnant, which is why we are leaning towards not listing until we are out.

On the other hand, the very next weekend is labor day, and while we don't need to get the cash out of the home right away, I'm worried we won't be able to sell the home for as much post labor day.

The good news is the home is in a bad school district and the area is mostly inhabited by empty nesters and dinks, so I think the school dynamic doesn't play as much a factor.

So my question to the forum is, how worried should I be about waiting to list, and are there any specific weekends I should aim for (or avoid) initial showings?

Papa bear

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1838
  • Location: Ohio
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #1 on: August 01, 2020, 07:47:27 AM »
I think I’d list now and not care much about how it looks outside of a decent cleaning. If the market is hot, it will sell.  Some thoughts on why I think that way:

There are some people who think that August is the month when the economy finally shits the bed. 

The market is hot right now, basically everywhere. 

Traditionally, spring and summer are the best times to sell a house.  Late summer/fall starts to get into people’s scheduling issues like schools, holidays, etc.

You can dictate when showings are, it’s still your house, do it in your schedule. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Metalcat

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 17394
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #2 on: August 01, 2020, 08:36:25 AM »
This really, really depends on your market.

If houses are selling in bidding wars, with no condition, over-asking offers within a few days, then just list it and don't worry about it. A dead body in a trash can probably couldn't get your property value at that point.

As for post labour day, again, that depends on your market. My particular market slows a bit by the end of summer and then has a second significant bump *after* labour day. It's like a back-to-school bump. I suspect it has something to do with winter here, because the moment summer ends, everyone starts dreading winter, and anyone who was considering moving suddenly feels like there's a rush to do so before the snow comes.

I sold last year in October and the fall bump was an even more aggressive market than that spring had been, so the timing was perfect.

Talk to a few Realtors and see what they have to say about the market where you are. We were in a condo complex where all of the units were basically identical. Ours was beautifully staged because we had already moved out. A neighbours was crammed with dated "antiques" and had a creepy room full of dolls. We sold for almost the exact same amount, which is exactly what my realtor predicted.

Montecarlo

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 671
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2020, 10:45:48 AM »
We raced to get the home on the market.  Listing just went up.  Wish us luck!

Papa bear

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1838
  • Location: Ohio
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2020, 01:00:58 PM »
It’s been 2 hours.  How many offers have you had??

I’m only half joking, the market is so stupid hot, I wouldn’t be surprised if you had interest already.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Montecarlo

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 671
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #5 on: August 06, 2020, 01:11:55 PM »
haha.  We have a showing for Saturday booked so far, that's it.  I've been tracking the views and likes on Zillow, seems to be doing okay.  142 views and 14 likes, which from looking at other listings that went up today seems better than average.  I don't think the market is as hot here in Indianapolis as others have described it.  Most homes get snapped up quick, but it seems if people price a little on the optimistic side (which we did) they'll sit for a bit.

Metalcat

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 17394
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #6 on: August 06, 2020, 01:19:17 PM »
It’s been 2 hours.  How many offers have you had??

I’m only half joking, the market is so stupid hot, I wouldn’t be surprised if you had interest already.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep, in my example of my house last fall, I had a full asking offer within 30 minutes. Granted, it was listed wrong and we weren't supposed to get any offers until the next monday to create a bidding war; incidentally, those same people did actually get the house.

Montecarlo

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 671
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #7 on: August 06, 2020, 01:29:18 PM »
Yep, we are holding off on showings until Saturday, have an open house on Sunday, and said we'll accept offers after the open house.  Trying to do the same thing - get the bidding war juices flowing.  We should know soon if there is enough interest.

Montecarlo

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 671
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2020, 05:33:33 PM »
My agent said 3 showings on Saturday would be okay and 6 would be strong.  I never listed a home before, but that sounds unambitious to me.  We’re up to 3 already though

Montecarlo

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 671
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #9 on: August 09, 2020, 12:51:33 PM »
Off to a good start.  We had 11 showings on Sat and 14 come in for the open house today.  We already got one offer, another person said they will submit one in the morning.  We came back 30 minutes after the open house should have ended, and one couple was leaving and another just arriving.  A Texas couple who seemed very nice, and concerned that they might not have time to get their offer in.

I hope to update later today or early tomorrow with a signed contract.

Papa bear

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1838
  • Location: Ohio
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #10 on: August 09, 2020, 06:31:44 PM »
Nice!  Congrats on a busy weekend. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Montecarlo

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 671
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #11 on: August 10, 2020, 08:15:57 AM »
TLDR: we’re under contract for more than list price

Long version:
First offer was 3pm yesterday.  10k under list, but they had an addendum “escalator” that said they would beat any offer by 2,500 up to 20k over list.  We met them when coming home after the open house, nice couple who live a few blocks away, empty nester age, who needed a single story for disabilities, where they could easily install a ramp.

Second offer came it late, 10:30 pm.  It was for list price, but also had an escalator promising to beat up to 10k above list price.  The couple is also in the same neighborhood.  They were looking to start a family and needed a little more room, and their current house had a wood stove like ours, so they were in love right away as well.

We thought list price was pretty optimistic as it was, so we were a bit worried about getting outside a reasonable appraisal, so we didn’t have the appetite to go “best and final” to try to get into the +20 range.  We countered the first people at +11 and they accepted.

LostGirl

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 298
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #12 on: August 10, 2020, 03:15:54 PM »
TLDR: we’re under contract for more than list price

Long version:
First offer was 3pm yesterday.  10k under list, but they had an addendum “escalator” that said they would beat any offer by 2,500 up to 20k over list.  We met them when coming home after the open house, nice couple who live a few blocks away, empty nester age, who needed a single story for disabilities, where they could easily install a ramp.

Second offer came it late, 10:30 pm.  It was for list price, but also had an escalator promising to beat up to 10k above list price.  The couple is also in the same neighborhood.  They were looking to start a family and needed a little more room, and their current house had a wood stove like ours, so they were in love right away as well.

We thought list price was pretty optimistic as it was, so we were a bit worried about getting outside a reasonable appraisal, so we didn’t have the appetite to go “best and final” to try to get into the +20 range.  We countered the first people at +11 and they accepted.

Holy moly, good for you! So quick from start to finish. I hope that inspections and closing go smoothly. I can't believe that happened with no staging and prep.

I don't think things are moving that quickly here (SF Bay) at least in the homes in my neighborhood. 

Montecarlo

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 671
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #13 on: August 11, 2020, 12:27:17 PM »
I wouldn't say no prep.  There was a lot to get done to get ready to list.  Landscaping was in shambles (my bad) and there was junk from my stupid aquaponics hobbu and horrible looking furniture that needed to go fast.  Luckily a few hundred dollars and craiglist helped make a lot of problems disappear.

Perhaps it's motivated reasoning, but considering we only had two bonafide offers, I think the effort (and sacrifice of paying someone to take a thousand dollars worth of aquaponics supplies away) paid off handsomely.

Montecarlo

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 671
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #14 on: September 11, 2020, 08:43:27 PM »
Closed today!  Appraisal came in good, which I was very happy about since I expected the worst.  We had a little back-and-forth over the inspection.  Nothing too dramatic, mostly they kept asking for an inspection to reinspect the roof over the front porch, and we were trying to impose a time limit.  The big items we quickly came to terms on.

I super appreciate the advice to list sooner rather than later.  The outcome was way, way better than what I was hoping for.

fishnfool

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 393
Re: Listing a Home Question
« Reply #15 on: September 11, 2020, 09:42:30 PM »
Congratulations!

Our house sale is supposed to close next week. I too was worried about the appraisal since we aimed high and not many houses sold recently in our area for good comps. Thank God for the low interest rates increasing demand for housing in spite of the pandemic.

Ciao