Fix Your Home's Quirky Layout Before Selling?

Hello Dave,

We removed 2 walls in our bungalow as it was quite dark. Now we are selling and the layout seems to be putting buyers off, my agent tells me to leave things as they are as someone will love it, but I need to sell fast and not sure if I should replace the stud walls. The bedroom doors also open into the living area which is a privacy issue. 

Thanks so much,

Susie

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Susie,

Shoot…it’s hard when you make changes to your home that you are confident will make it better only to find out that you actually might have made things worse. If your feedback has been consistent that the change you made is now a hindrance to the house selling, then you might consider putting the walls back up. Before you make any hasty decisions, make sure that the layout feature that is putting buyers off is indeed the wall removal and not the fact that the bedroom doors open to the living area! I have seen it time and time again, if the master bedroom is visible from the living area when the bedroom door is open it is a major buyer turn off. A “funky” floor plan is worse than a floor plan that shows dark, but identifying exactly what is causing the hesitation is crucial. The last thing you want to do is fix the wrong problem! Regardless of the floor plan quirk that is holding the house back, often times it is hard for a buyer to see how to fix the problem. Actually, even if the buyer can identify it, they do not have the expertise or know anyone who can make the changes for them to make the home more livable. Obviously, as your agent suggested, you always have the option to just wait it out, rather than fixing the problem.

“I understand your agent’s perspective and advice as I always say, “there’s a butt for every saddle” and if you wait long enough, you will eventually find the right butt and that butt will love it! ”

I understand your agent’s perspective and advice as I always say, “there’s a butt for every saddle” and if you wait long enough, you will eventually find the right butt and that butt will love it! Sometimes waiting is not the best option, especially if you can easily correct the issue and make the property more sellable and “now ready.” This time of year waiting takes on a whole new meaning, especially for those who wish to sell quickly, since we are headed into the winter months. As we creep closer to the holidays, patience can start to take on a whole new meaning and playing the “waiting game” can be a bit of Russian roulette. A house that shows dark is not a good thing, especially in a bungalow where space is at a premium. In smaller spaces it is always a best practice to try and have it show as bright as possible! One, cost effective, way to add more natural light to dark spaces is by adding solar tubes. A solar tube can bring lots of natural light to any dark area at a very affordable price. If you decide to put the walls back, then adding solar tubes may be an effective answer to your “dark” problem. 

Regardless of what the problem is, you are doing the right thing by listening to your feedback and proactively trying to correct the problem. Identify the real problem. Get it fixed. Add a solar tube. Watch it sell! Best of luck! 

Dave Kimbrough
The Kimbrough Team

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Should You Leave Up Trophy Mounts When Selling Your Home?

Dear Dave,

My husband is a big game hunter and he has some incredible mounts in our home. Should we remove them or is it ok to leave them up? Of course, I think we have too many and he thinks they look awesome and they are prized possessions.

Betty, Fruita

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Betty,

This is a common theme for homes in Western Colorado. The fact that we live in Western Colorado and not Chicago, not that there is anything wrong with Chicago, makes trophy mounts more acceptable but there is a fine line of too much. Hunting is a way of life and not just a hobby, but in many cases, it borders on obsession. Many hunters like to showcase their mounts and in most cases, I am great with it.

“If your home has vaulted or volume ceilings then having a “mount or two” will generally be fine. Again, look at your home through the eyes of a buyer and ask your real estate agent what they recommend. ”

The key here is to make sure the mounts do not overpower your room. If you have low ceilings, there is no doubt it is better to remove and store them. If it is truly a “trophy” and you have low ceilings, it will make the room appear much smaller and more closed in. 

If your home has vaulted or volume ceilings then having a “mount or two” will generally be fine. Again, look at your home through the eyes of a buyer and ask your real estate agent what they recommend. The idea is to accentuate or complement your room and decor, not overpower it. Happy home selling and continued happy hunting!! Just sell it before he has a chance to add another one this fall! : )

Dave Kimbrough
The Kimbrough Team- RE/MAX 4000, Inc.

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Tips for Selling an Occupied Rental Home

Dave,

We decided to rent out one of our houses a few years ago. Now that the market is doing well and home values are up, we want to sell. The renter that currently lives there doesn’t want to purchase the home, but also doesn’t seem very keen about moving out. We’re worried that he will make the selling process more difficult than need be. What’s your advice for selling homes with tenants?

Thanks,

Rob, Orchard Mesa

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Rob,

Great question! Selling with a renter in place can be very tricky and can provide a significant obstacle if you don’t work to meet them in the middle. You will need their cooperation if you are going to be successful at selling and get anywhere close to market value. First, you must refer to your lease contract and use that as a guide on how to deal with your tenant during the process of selling. There should be language in the contract for how the process will work with your tenant, as far as showing and selling. If you still have months left on the lease, then obviously you will have to honor the remaining time and the new owner will inherit them as a tenant until the end of their lease. If they are under a month to month lease then things get easier as long as you provide ample notice (typically 30 days) of when they need to be out if the new owner does not want to keep him/her as tenants. Regardless of the contract language or length left on their lease, tenants typically (and understandably) are not thrilled about having the house they are renting sold!

“Let’s face it, put yourself in their shoes…from a renters perspective, how is showing a home for the landlord and potentially having to move out ever something they are going to get too excited about?”

Let’s face it, put yourself in their shoes…from a renters perspective, how is showing a home for the landlord and potentially having to move out ever something they are going to get too excited about? Cooperation is NOT in their best interest and let’s be honest again…the entire showing process (allowing stranger after stranger to march through your home) is the most stressful and inconvenient part of selling any home and your tenant is the one that will have to deal with showing process. It’s hard to take even when you are motivated to sell! With that in mind, there are many tactics you can use to help ensure that your renter is cooperative with the sales process. One way we encourage tenant cooperation is by showing them respect. Really respecting a tenant and treating them as if they were the homeowner goes a long way to gaining their trust and cooperation. Do your best to work around their schedule and family time, as long as their expectations are realistic and still allow ample days and times for showings. Being grateful is also a great way to gain their cooperation. Acknowledge that the process can be a painful one and that you are appreciative of their cooperation. Empathy is a powerful tool, especially when teamed up with respect. If respect, gratitude and empathy don’t get what you are after, you can always offer them incentives to cooperate. Just like kids, tenants love incentives.

If their rent is $1500 per month, offer to lower their rent by $300-400 a month until the home closes and watch their cooperation level increase significantly. $300-$400 a month is real money and a significant amount. It’s like a free car payment! You must tie this incentive to keeping the house clean and show ready and allowing showings to occur without resistance or the deal's off. Let them know you are going to check with the listing agent each month to evaluate their cooperation so you establish some accountability, but this tactic generally works well. You can also offer moving incentives, a one month buy out of their rental contract etc. Trust me, if you offer the tenant a month’s rent in payment upon move out, that’s pretty good incentive! Don’t be afraid to get creative with your incentives to encourage their cooperation. You can offer to hire a house cleaner, yard maintenance crew, daycare 3 days a week…whatever it takes to get the cooperation needed to sell. 

The bottom line, set up a win/win and you will generally get a better outcome. If it turns out to be only you who gains, expect resistance. A win/win is always the best way to get your desired result! 

Dave Kimbrough
The Kimbrough Team

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What are common closing expenses for sellers?

Dave,

We are currently in the process of selling our home and it just went under contract—yay! We want to know what to expect financially from this point forward. What are common closing expenses for sellers?

Thanks!
Cheryl, Palisade

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Oh my gosh, this is such a great question and one that I get ALL the time! As a seller you have the privilege of paying the sales commission you agreed to with your listing agent, assuming your home is listed with a Realtor. Costs associated with selling your home that are the seller's responsibility are varied, but you can almost always calculate an additional 1% if your sales price is UNDER $300,000 and .7% if your home is over $300,000. If you calculate it that way you will, almost always, come up with a slight overestimate of your closing costs. 

The most common cost that is overlooked is your property tax. What most people don’t fully realize, as I did not prior to becoming a real estate agent, is that our property taxes are paid in arrears. It’s probably something most folks just don’t think much about and it often times is a bit of a surprise. How it works is, the title company will pro-rate the current taxes from January 1 to the day of closing and you will have that amount debited on your settlement sheet. The two largest debits you will see (outside of real estate commissions and your mortgage payoff) will be the taxes and the title insurance policy. Title insurance simply indemnifies that the title to the property will be passed from you to the new owner in good standing and free of any liens. For a $250,000 home you can expect this expense to be in the $900-$1000 range. These costs are on a sliding scale based on purchase price.

The most discussed fee on the seller's settlement statement is often the charge for water & sewer. The bills for water and sewer, if left unpaid, can be held as a lien against the property and thus MUST be settled at the time of close to ensure the passing of a clean title (as discussed above). In order to ensure that the amount that is owed is covered, the title companies always hold out an amount significantly over (generally around $200) your typical water and sewer bill. This ensures there is enough to pay it off and they will refund the difference back to you shortly after close. This one always creates a fair amount of discussion about how you never have had a bill that high etc., but believe me they will refund you the difference in short order. Always remember that your other services like gas, electric, telephone, television etc. are your responsibility and you should call 24 – 48 hours prior to close and let them know you will be moving and the service will be transferring to a new owner on the date of close.

One last tip. Your mortgage statement always provides a payoff for you to reference, however, the day it is printed you start accruing interest so your payoff is always higher than what is printed on your statement. I always tell our sellers to just add one extra payment to the amount on the settlement statement and that will provide a safe payoff amount. In my experience when closing day comes people are happy they overestimated and get a little money back, rather than under estimate and have to go digging for that little extra! I hope this helps and by following these guidelines you should have a safe estimate of your closing costs. Congratulations on getting your home under contract and best of luck on your new journey!

Dave Kimbrough
The Kimbrough Team

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Outdoor Living Features with Excellent & Poor Resale Value

Dave,

We want to do some outside renovation to our home this spring/summer and are considering all of our options. In your experience, what do you think people value the most in outdoor living spaces?

We’re considering all options, from a built in BBQ, to a hot tub, maybe even a pool. We enjoy being outside in our wonderful Colorado weather and want to look ahead to when we sell our home as we undertake this project.

Thank you for your input.

Todd and Lacey - Fruita, CO

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Todd & Lacey,

I think any improvements to your outdoor living area will be beneficial and be a selling feature when you eventually sell your home. Most important I would suggest you evaluate your lifestyle and the family activities that you enjoy most and design your new outdoor living space to fit what your family enjoys most. 

This question is with perfect timing, I was just speaking with one of our builders this week about outdoor living spaces and how valuable they are to consumers. This value is magnified in our location, because of the wonderful weather we enjoy 8 months of the year (virtually all 12 months this year!). An outdoor deck or patio with pergola and built in BBQ or fire pit can be a neighborhood gathering area and the spontaneous parties with friends and family will provide memories that can last forever. This kind of upgrade is very valuable and fairly cost effective in the grand scheme of things and generally found to be of added value to most any home buyer. Hot tubs and pools can be much more polarizing.

If you are considering a hot tub remember they are often one of those, “we can take it or leave it items” for most buyers. It is my experience that a hot tub generally does not move the needle very far in either direction when it comes to perceived value. A pool is one feature that is VERY polarizing. If you are going to put in a pool, do so for your own enjoyment. Do not add a pool looking for a large return on your investment down the road, because it is likely not going to be there. People are either pool people or they are not…it is that simple. I do find that pools are becoming more valuable and sought after by consumers, but it is a specific subset of them, not the majority. As I discussed this week with a friend of mine, your general return on a pool is 50% max, and that can go up or down depending on the price of your home.

“The bottom line is this, whatever feature you decide to install will hopefully be with your family’s enjoyment in mind and the time you spend using it will further your relationships and really what more could you ask for!”

The bottom line is this, whatever feature you decide to install will hopefully be with your family’s enjoyment in mind and the time you spend using it will further your relationships and really what more could you ask for! Sometimes we do things that might not make financial sense, because they are done for pure enjoyment and there is nothing wrong with that! Life experiences and memories made are what these features are all about! Have a blast this summer and enjoy whatever you decide to create!

Dave Kimbrough
The Kimbrough Team

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Do open houses really work to sell homes?

Grand Junction Real Estate Advice

Dave,

Do open houses really benefit sellers? Our home has been on the market for a few months and we’ve had four open houses per our realtor’s advice and still no offer! We understand that we should be as accommodating as possible if we want to get our home sold, but it’s a lot of work planning a day away from home with our three young children so an open house can happen.

Our realtor says each open house has had a lot of traffic, but just no luck on an offer! We’re starting to wonder if open houses really work to sell homes or they’re just a way for neighbors to come check out our home and compare it to theirs!

Brittany, Grand Junction

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Brittany,

The age old real estate question, do open houses really work? I hear this question at virtually every appointment I go on and this is what I believe to be true about open houses. I can reiterate what you already experienced, statistically they are not effective at selling houses. A number somewhere in the vicinity of 2% of homes sold are sold as a result of an open house. If you are one of the 2% they are awesome, but if your one of the 98% they are far less awesome and quickly become very disappointing! In my opinion 2% is far too low to make it a staple of any “true” marketing plan. I understand having an open house every once in a while, however they certainly should NOT be the backbone of any marketing plan that you should take serious or think will prove very effective.

“I do not believe the open house is a necessary tool. For selling homes, a solid and consistent marketing plan is far more efficient and far more productive than having you displaced every Sunday afternoon.”

I do not believe the open house is a necessary tool. For selling homes, a solid and consistent marketing plan is far more efficient and far more productive than having you displaced every Sunday afternoon so your agent can look busy and meet new clients. With the proliferation of the internet and the amount of information at our finger tips the usefulness of the traditional open house is not what it used to be. I would not worry one bit about missing out on the Sunday open house. I am not saying it will not work, just saying that it will not work very often. Hope this helps.

Dave Kimbrough
The Kimbrough Team

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Is it awkward to use an agent to help us buy a home, but not to sell our current home?

Grand Junction Real Estate Advice

Dave,

My wife and I are getting ready to put our home on the market, but we’re considering not using an agent. We actually have two different sets of friends who have expressed interest in buying our home once it’s up for sale.

Finding a new home is a different story though. We’d love to hire an agent to help us as we believe they’ll add a great deal of value to our home search/buying experience. Is it weird or rude to hire an agent to help us by a home, but not use them to list/sell our home? Thanks in advance for helping us avoid an awkward situation!

Grant & Molly, Grand Junction

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Grant & Molly,

As long as you are up front with the agent you choose, I think you will avoid any awkwardness at all. It is not unusual to not use an agent if you already have potential buyers who are interested in your home. When you approach an agent about working with you to find your new home, just let them know what your situation is and I am confident they will understand and be supportive in any way they can. If your agent does not understand or makes it awkward at all, find another agent.

“I have always found if you are up front and honest about your situation or what it is you need, you will most likely avoid most awkward situations.”

What you might find is that if neither of your prospective buyers actually come to fruition, you might need some help in getting your home marketed and sold after all. Keeping this in mind, I would recommend you evaluate agents knowing that there is a chance you will need them to not only help you find a new home, but potentially also help you facilitate the sale of your existing one...if your current prospects flame out. I have always found if you are up front and honest about your situation or what it is you need, you will most likely avoid most awkward situations. Things get awkward when people make assumptions and don’t communicate, in this case you will be eliminating assumptions by being very up front in directly communicating your needs. Best of luck and hopefully your friends come through!

Dave Kimbrough
The Kimbrough Team

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Should I add to my current garage or build a detached shop?

Dear Dave,

I have been throwing around the idea of building a shop at my house. I live on about an acre lot and have a fairly new home, built in 2007. I have room to build a detached shop and also room to add onto my current 2 car garage.

My question for you is, what do you think would make the most sense when I go to sell the house someday? Do people appreciate a detached shop or would they like it connected to the house?

Thanks for the help-
Robert, Grand Junction

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Robert,

I believe this is an idea that virtually every man throws around from time to time, where can I build a shop? Building a shop has almost become part of the American dream. Right behind the dream of a detached shop is a three car garage or three car garage with large storage shed! As you wander through life accumulating “things” that you probably no longer need, but can’t force yourself to part with the idea of more and more storage becomes increasingly important.

“A detached shop can be a man’s private kingdom and it is hard to put a price on that.”

In my opinion, build a detached shop. The nice thing about a detached shop, over one that is attached, is that what is in or what is happening at the detached shop is less likely to spill over to the main garage and house. This is a simple function of being “detached”. A detached shop can be a man’s private kingdom and it is hard to put a price on that. The fact that a garage or shop is detached from the rest of the house implies that not everyone is invited, there is limited access.  Having a shop that is detached also gives one the opportunity to separate his or herself from the chaos or activities of the main structure and provide a place of solace and privacy where anything goes and being clean are not words that need to be feared! Having a place that is a safe haven is valuable and for those who are used to having it, it is VERY valuable.  

Go detached and live longer and more prosperous and when you go to sell, enjoy the rewards of having a detached shop! I am kidding about the longer and more prosperous part, but the rewards will be no joke! It will, no doubt, be a big selling feature that will have you seeing more green! ($)

Dave Kimbrough
The Kimbrough Team