Comments on: House #12: Major Marketing

By: jp moses

jp moses — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:43:34 +0000

Loved the staging and the video slide show – well done. Good looking house. May you now liquidate it with a quickness and get paid.

Regarding the appraisal coming in low, seems to be happening a lot more lately. Appraisers as skiddish and coming in shyer than ever. It’s not just you.

…jp

By: J Scott

J Scott — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:00:56 +0000

Bilge -

I think we have a tendency to “over-rehab” our properties as it is…

I take the attitude that if you’re going to upgrade some stuff (like light fixtures) you need to upgrade everything, so that nothing looks old or neglected. So, we basically have two speeds on our rehabs:

1. Do essentially nothing and wholesale to an investor;
2. Do a full rehab, and replace/repair/upgrade pretty much everything

Historically, we probably lost a little money by over-improving, but I agree that with the current market, there’s a bit more competition, so the over-improvement is actually more necessary…

That said, this month there seem to be a lot of desperate buyers (tax credit about to expire), so I think it’s somewhat a seller’s market if you’re doing entry-level homes this month…

By: Bilgefisher

Bilgefisher — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:37:27 +0000

Interesting point on the price drop. Ive been talking to several local flippers. There having to put much more money into each property to make it compete. Have you noticed any changes like this?

By: J Scott

J Scott — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:36:16 +0000

Scott -

In this market, we’ve only seen good things with a price drop. In fact, when we get offers immediately after a price drop, they tend to be full price (or very close). I think the mentality is that, “Oh, there was just a price drop…there could be a lot of competition…I better make my offer a good one so I don’t get out-bid…”

Of course, that’s only the case when the price drop reflects a good price. We’ve had cases where we dropped the price and got no offers at all. But, once we hit the “right” price, we generally get a full-price offer pretty quickly.

I don’t think we’ve ever been low-balled after a price drop, though…

By: Scott Costello

Scott Costello — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:47:36 +0000

J Scott, have you ever noticed any loss of interest from multiple price drops on a property? or when you do get an offer it’s lower then your asking price because the buyers might think you are more desperate to sell?

Just curious, thanks.

By: Steph

Steph — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:18:46 +0000

Hi Carol,

I think that’s a great idea- I’ve actually seen some staging jobs that make the house look worse than if it was left empty…

I also pride myself on being a thrifty shopper, especially when it comes to home furnishings. Not sure if you have Ross stores in Atlanta, but they have some really great bargains there, too.

Keep up the great work, and congrats on the little one.

By: Bilgefisher

Bilgefisher — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:17:50 +0000

Carol,

I think thats a brilliant idea to market to other investors. Many folks don’t have the time to collect the furniture or the knowhow on staging it. I think you’ll do quite well.

Jason

By: Carol

Carol — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:34:02 +0000

Hey Steph! Thanx for your compliments on the staging. I’m actually now working on some materials geared towards staging/marketing for other investors–we’ll see how it works out. The flower pic in the kids’ room was a TJMaxx Clearance rack special… I’m such a super thrifty shopper )

By: Steph

Steph — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:53:15 +0000

Thanks.

By: J Scott

J Scott — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:48:40 +0000

Thanks guys!

Steph – I’ll ask my wife and let you know…