Today's Sellers: Biting Two Bullets

Two Bullets

Would-be Sellers of upper brackets homes now -- the slowest part of today's housing market -- often have to bite not one but two bullets.

The first is pricing their home consistently with "the comp's": similar, nearby homes that have sold recently.

In fact, better than the comp's, depending on what's currently active nearby.

Bullet #2 is ponying up for anything that's out-of-commission (or close) -- like an aging roof, badly dated flooring or walls, etc.

Sellers can certainly skip tackling any deferred projects -- but then they had better expect to price accordingly.

Often times, the needed discount is $2 or more for every $1 in repairs.

Cushioning the blow of bullet #2, especially for long-time owners: they may need to spend a few thousand on cosmetic updates . . . but it's a good bet they paid virtually nothing for their house, way back when.

For example, I recently worked with long-time owners whose home was "only" worth $800k last year (down from perhaps $1.1 million, ballpark, at the peak), but who paid $75k for it decades ago!