Long term planning of selling your home?

[plowhog]

Holy crap, $200k in permitting for that?

Just across the border in NV, I built a residence over 5,000 ft, with separate detached garage over 3,000 ft, for about $3,500 in permit fees. Just the dinky 1,200 ft "accessory dwelling unit" on the other side of the border is $16k-- and only because the County (all counties in CA) got their hands slapped by the state.

Yes the push to $200k included all sort of impact fees-- who knows what all that was? Roads, schools, air quality, climate change, save the whales, low income housing, free needle exchange, money for a "sister city" in a foreign land, planting trees, subsidy for marijuana farms-- who knows? (just kidding of course. well ... some.)

 

[Sigarms]

Still going through a crapload of pics from the old mac to the new mac (no cloud for us LOL).

Greatest feature about our property?

Probably has one of the best hills in the county for sledding along with night time sledding to boot!

And some obstacles are even thrown in for fun, being the well down there, the light pole, and another pole from the 1950's when a house was originally built down there!

Kids were sledding all night and it still snowed and then went at it the next day.

During daylight...

Not certain if sledding in North Carolina is a selling point though LOL

 

[Sigarms]

I'm repeating myself, but it's the biggest mistake most sellers make. Do not hire a realtor until you talk to at least five. Only hire the one that is brutally honest with you on what your home needs to sell quickly, and for top dollar.

If someone wants to give me a quick call on my professional advice in my own business, no worries, I'll tell them what I think of the situation.

That said, if I'm asked to come out to a home or business, my expectations do change a little...

Never been a realtor, never want to be one I think LOL.

If we have a 5 year plan to sell our home, how do you solicit professional advice on what you need to do to sell your home without actually "hiring" a realtor?

My wife bought her place in NC before she met me (afterwards, we bought our own place together).

When we got married and bought this home (which brought me to this website), her realtor that sold her first house in NC got pissed off at her and basically told her so because my wife didn't use her to buy our current where we've been for the last 19 years.

Honestly, it hurt my wife's feelings and because of that, wife really doesn't want to call her if we're looking at putting our house on the market in the next 5 years.

 

[plowhog]

If we have a 5 year plan to sell our home, how do you solicit professional advice on what you need to do to sell your home without actually "hiring" a realtor?

5 years out is an unusually long time frame. That is a long time frame even for a commercial property, which typically are much longer than residential.

I can't recall-- are you in the HVAC business? How would you respond if someone wanted you to visit their home, and give professional advice, after informing you their decision time frame was 5 years away? I'd think most people in business would say: "call me when you get closer."

You have gotten a lot of information in this thread. What other information are you looking for, at this stage, that you think is missing?

 

[plowhog]

it hurt my wife's feelings and because of that, wife really doesn't want to call her

Real estate professionals are all about relationships. If you do good work and build a solid relationship with a client, it is difficult if that client then goes to a stranger to conduct a next transaction. It happens all the time, but leaves wounded feelings along the way.

I've done the same behavior that you are your wife have done-- but I always went back to the prior RE professional first to explain what I was intending to do and why-- before proceeding with a next deal. I've found that it is one thing to deal with unhappy news, but quite another to deal with unhappy news as a surprise after the dust has settled.

19 years is a very long time for wounded feelings to persist. I'd move on.

 

[Sigarms]

Real estate professionals are all about relationships. If you do good work and build a solid relationship with a client, it is difficult if that client then goes to a stranger to conduct a next transaction. It happens all the time, but leaves wounded feelings along the way.

I've done the same behavior that you are your wife have done-- but I always went back to the prior RE professional first to explain what I was intending to do and why-- before proceeding with a next deal. I've found that it is one thing to deal with unhappy news, but quite another to deal with unhappy news as a surprise after the dust has settled.

19 years is a very long time for wounded feelings to persist. I'd move on.

We looked on our own at a buttload of properties because we knew we wanted at least 3-4 acres, something off the road, and something with a basement.

I called the number associated with the home, NOT my wife. My wife bought her first home down her before we met.

My wife did call her to explain the situation, and that's when the real estate agent decided to say some things she shouldn't have. I think this same woman walked away from being offered to sell my wife's old home.

The agent we dealt with basically on our home was more a commercial / land agent, and happened to be personal friends with the seller (you never see his company advertising residential homes).

Honestly, the guy real estate agent) was the best thing that ever happen to us for THAT situation. House sat unoccupied for 8 years because the owner was hoping to give it to one of his kids. None of the kids wanted it. Real estate agent golfing with the guy and asks the guy to list it and he did because he was friends with him. Real estate agent happened to be the owner of his own company. The guy really did get us a price reduction on the house and land, with two separate loans (for house and 7 acres and the other for the other 30 acres). Guy even hooked us up with the farm bureau and walked us through everything with the farm bureau.

As much as people complain about real estate agents here, this guy was unbelievable good IMO setting everything up.

I've already asked the guy if he was interested in a 5 year plan with the house he sold us, but he said his last hurrah was a large development he was putting together on his own property and then get out. Guy is like 78 now and still owns his company.

 

[Sigarms]

You have gotten a lot of information in this thread. What other information are you looking for, at this stage, that you think is missing?

The information I'm specifically looking for is exactly what kind of updates should be done with the house and property.

I get it, don't spend money on improving the house as generally you'll never recoup the money.

However, what I don't want to happen is say in the fourth year we're ready to sell and we call 5 real estate agents to see who we like the best (per Eddie's recommendation which actually makes sense).

Yes, I agree with you perhaps to wait until I get closer, but I also don't want to wait until the last year and then all of a sudden some people make the same suggestion and find out were behind the 8 ball to get it done.

This is why I called the one real estate appraiser. He did give me some useful info on listing per price no matter when we decide to sell, but his point was that anything he tells me now could change in 5 years.

Yes, I am in the HVAC industry. I consider myself pretty good at what I do even though I can be an idiot.

That said, going to look at a new home with an engineer because he would like some opinions on some things. I'm wasting my time not because doing this visit will actually help me with my own work make money, but because I know what kind of homes this guy designs and know it will be a cool job to look at. This same engineer also sends people to me who have issues because he knows I actually care about our industry (this engineer does 5,000 square foot houses that only require 2 ton of heating and cooling and the issue becomes air movement).

Worse case, I'll see if some real estate agents that I think are good would actually just charge me a consultation fee on recommendations they would make in our 5 year plan.

What I do know in my own industry is every job can be unique, and NEVER trust the end user on the information they give you. You need to visually inspect the job first hand if you want it done right. What looks good on a set of plans may have it's own set of unforeseen consequences down the road without looking at the job first hand in person.

 

[riptides]

Five years out and your seeking what updates or improvements need to be done.

None. Maintain what you have. When the time gets closer to putting it on the market, say one year, see what's popular.

 

[plowhog]

You might consider getting a paid appraisal instead. It is a little "indirect," as an appraiser's job is to appraise what is there compared to what "could be" there.

But with a formal appraisal, you should receive a report showing all of the "adjustments" made to value-- downward and upward. These often include larger value things like lot size, square footage, etc. but I have also seen them adjusted for granite countertops in kitchen or bath, upgraded or remodeled rooms, etc. What you would be looking for is what "comparable properties" are being financially scored above yours and why?

If you go this route, I'd ask the appraiser how detailed their finished report would be-- so you are not disappointed. Or maybe ask to see a sampling of reports they have recently done for other properties.

My view differs a little from Eddie's. In my experience, it is accepted and not even questioned in RE circles that "kitchens and baths sell houses." Maybe you are attracted to land and outdoor features, as am I. But if a couple purchases a home, the wife/homemaker will have significant sway over a decision and kitchens and baths are where the family spends a great deal of time.

Finally, remember that no one can "tell" you what to do, as you are the sole and only one in control of how much money is spent, and what it is spent on.

I will repeat that prior to selling my personal residence, I remodeled the kitchen and bath. I limited the cost by having new (quartz) countertops installed in the kitchen, keeping the old cabinets that were in very nice condition. And new plumbing fixtures. I gutted the bathroom and did much of the work myself, which kept the cost down.

My house would not have been market-competitive without doing that, as in that class of home modern rooms were expected. Another thing you can do is grab a flyer on do an internet search on every home that comes up for sale in your nearby area. Find out what your home is "competing with," and adjust from there.

 

[plowhog]

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/12/fewer-homeowners-are-remodeling-but-demand-is-still-solid.html