Peaceful Dove
My grandfather left me his three bedroom brick home some months ago. The house is 46 years old and has had only one owner. It needs some TLC. The house needs painting, the bathroom fixtures & windows need replacing. Otherwise, the home is beautiful with hardwood and poured floors. I don’t have any money to fix it up, though. Do you real estate agents ever have clients who prefer a fix-er-upper or do most want ready to move in?
There will always be two types of people in this world. One would prefer a move-in condition home and the other prefers a do-it-yourself home. You need to target your prospective tenants accordingly.
Most people want to move into a house in “new model home” ready condition. Psychologically speaking the human mind preceives “new” as good and “old” as bad. The only exception to this a history buff coming across a one-of-a-kind property, such as an antebellum house, which has sentimental value/historical significance. Banks hire apppraisers, who view older properties as having dated or obsolete features, which lower their overall value when compared to others in the area. Fixer uppers do sell eventually, but require a longer period of time to get the right buyer, usually at a drastic discounted price. Ask yourself, would you buy a used 20-year old coach or a new one for your house? Most people go with the new. Another test, if you were offered to choose between two one-dollar bills (one being a crisp new dollar bill, the other a torn/taterd older bill), which would you choose? They both have the same monetary value, but 9 out of 10 people choose the new dollar bill. We are conditioned to pick the lowest price and then the best condition of a property when buying. That’s human nature. Hope this information helps you. God bless!
To sell a fixer upper, you have a few choices: 1) sell to a 3rd party at lower than market rates (home investor); 2) use a realtor and pay the commission (don’t be fooled into thinking they are a waste of money….realtors average 16-20% more money received from a buyer than a FSBO…even after paying commission you put more money in your pocket; remember-they do this for a living, they know all the ins and outs to get a qualified buyer); 3) donate the property to a non-profit for a tax deduction 4) put the property in your kids name by creating a living trust to pass along to other family members 5) rent it out and/or sell it (especially if you live in a college town, housing for college age adults is often hard to find).