Seeking advice on selling a house

[Teenwolf]

I have a few questions about selling my house, as its my first time. We are selling independently through a local website that does a lot of house sales. We prefer to do our diligence and pocket the savings, hoping for the best. We'll need it to buy in BC. I won't be able to sell my customer base to anyone here, I don't think. My landscaping friend can't do the skilled jobs I do, so my referrals to him would be limited. Probably have to scrap the whole thing 3 years in. Start a new business for the 3rd time out west. This racist town ran my wife out of town. I've been pretty depressed, pissed off at the ignorance of this place, separating me from my daughter. We will switch from every other weekend with her to a few weeks in the summer. She was pretty hurt about it, but she's being supportive, so that's helped ease the guilt over leaving.

The market we're selling in is on fire right now. The mortgage consultant at the bank, the painters, the realty company guy, everyone is saying prices are sky high, frequent bidding wars, etc. Given all of these factors, I want to see a high payout on my investment. The appraisal came in today lower than we want. I want 12.5% more than our appraisal, ideally, as we're only up 6.7% on what we paid over 5 years. We heard that if the buyer goes in at a price thats too high above what the bank appraises it at, they could obstruct the deal in some way, perhaps demanding the difference up front. But maybe in a seller's market I could find that type of buyer. Should I be concerned with going too high above appraisal if I list at 8.7% above and it sells for my desired 12.7% above? Would that be beyond the scope of a bank letting it go through?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Counseling also welcome. Thanks all.

[Gregg]

I have a few questions about selling my house, as its my first time. We are selling independently through a local website that does a lot of house sales. We prefer to do our diligence and pocket the savings, hoping for the best. We'll need it to buy in BC. I won't be able to sell my customer base to anyone here, I don't think. My landscaping friend can't do the skilled jobs I do, so my referrals to him would be limited. Probably have to scrap the whole thing 3 years in. Start a new business for the 3rd time out west. This racist town ran my wife out of town. I've been pretty depressed, pissed off at the ignorance of this place, separating me from my daughter. We will switch from every other weekend with her to a few weeks in the summer. She was pretty hurt about it, but she's being supportive, so that's helped ease the guilt over leaving.

The market we're selling in is on fire right now. The mortgage consultant at the bank, the painters, the realty company guy, everyone is saying prices are sky high, frequent bidding wars, etc. Given all of these factors, I want to see a high payout on my investment. The appraisal came in today lower than we want. I want 12.5% more than our appraisal, ideally, as we're only up 6.7% on what we paid over 5 years. We heard that if the buyer goes in at a price thats too high above what the bank appraises it at, they could obstruct the deal in some way, perhaps demanding the difference up front. But maybe in a seller's market I could find that type of buyer. Should I be concerned with going too high above appraisal if I list at 8.7% above and it sells for my desired 12.7% above? Would that be beyond the scope of a bank letting it go through?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Counseling also welcome. Thanks all.

First let me say I have no advice, but I am interested in what others have to say. I also hope you get top dollar and sell fast.

I do have a couple of questions.

Who did the appraisal? What are the comps in your neighborhood? Are homes in your neighborhood selling for more than list price?

[chancellor]

Hope all goes well with the sale; here's what I'd recommend following up on:

- Depending on your time constraint, as Gregg noted, you can collect comps and based on those, potentially challenge the appraisal. Given that Thunder Bay, if I remember right, is about 150k people in the metro area, I'd use all similar neighborhoods in your city rather than just your neighborhood. An appraisal challenge in normal, non-COVID conditions is about a 2-4 week process where I live, and you might not have that kind of time. But I'd still get all the comps to better inform your pricing and negotiating leverage if you haven't done that yet.
- I'm assuming based on your post that the appraisal is a bank appraisal. You'll also want the city appraisal if you don't have it for comparison and being able to answer questions about local and property taxes.
- Banks will scrutinize a person they're lending to harder if the sale price is significantly above appraised value, but if your market is that hot, I suspect that won't limit the range of your buyers very much. I'd list at the highest value the most recent comps appear to support.
- Given that your wife and daughter are gone, once you are ready to list, I'd recommend staging your house. If your furniture is still there, a smart decorator can make your house look the best it possibly can for showing. Given your landscaping skills, I'm sure your outside is immaculate. You want the inside of your house to be just as good as the outside of your house. Plus, you have the capability to barter some landscaping if a decorator would be open to that.
- As Frae notes, a plan is important. Think about how you want to negotiate, what kind of premium you'll need for closing earlier or later than you'd like, how you'll handle feedback from home inspections, and so on. And write it down, so you can reference it whenever you need it.
- I'd also recommend taking the time to create a one-page sheet with neighborhood information, local schools kids would attend from your house, nearby parks, nearest grocery store, hospital, good local restaurants.

[Gregg]

Updates?

[Teenwolf]

Updates?

Listed yesterday. We had been stuck on a nice round number for several days. $14K above the appraisal, but still $21K short of my ideal sell price. At the last minute we changed our minds and upped the ask price from $14K above appraisal to $24K. Many houses listed at our price or higher in the proper Mariday Park neighborhood, but few of them offering as much sq footage or updated finishing. We're selling with the approach that buyers get way more house buying where we are than comparable houses a couple of blocks further up the hill. I hope it works.

Landscaping looks impeccable, new exterior paint looks great. The listing pictures are very flattering and we got some "OMG" type comments on the Facebook listing. So far today we've booked 9 viewings. Paid a window washer to do the exterior windows, only $100 for all 19 windows and 3 doors. Hoping the little things give it that extra spit shine to create a bidding war and get that final $11K I want.

First viewings are Wednesday, and we'll be studying tip sheets until then. What to say or not, etc. I'm glad we put the work in to feel confident in our own assessment. Displaying the confidence in our ask price is our final test.

Thanks to chancellor for the suggestions. Comparable units are what pushed my price down, as listing prices have increased more visibly than final sale prices. Just have to cross my fingers and hope someone jumps. Or ideally, a few people jump. Apparently one bonus of selling privately is that you can circle back to your other interested parties and tell them what your offer is, seeking to artificially inflate the sell price. I love that option.

[chancellor]

Thanks to chancellor for the suggestions. Comparable units are what pushed my price down, as listing prices have increased more visibly than final sale prices. Just have to cross my fingers and hope someone jumps. Or ideally, a few people jump. Apparently one bonus of selling privately is that you can circle back to your other interested parties and tell them what your offer is, seeking to artificially inflate the sell price. I love that option.

You're welcome! Hope everything goes well for you!

[Hornsby]

Listed yesterday. We had been stuck on a nice round number for several days. $14K above the appraisal, but still $21K short of my ideal sell price. At the last minute we changed our minds and upped the ask price from $14K above appraisal to $24K. Many houses listed at our price or higher in the proper Mariday Park neighborhood, but few of them offering as much sq footage or updated finishing. We're selling with the approach that buyers get way more house buying where we are than comparable houses a couple of blocks further up the hill. I hope it works.

Landscaping looks impeccable, new exterior paint looks great. The listing pictures are very flattering and we got some "OMG" type comments on the Facebook listing. So far today we've booked 9 viewings. Paid a window washer to do the exterior windows, only $100 for all 19 windows and 3 doors. Hoping the little things give it that extra spit shine to create a bidding war and get that final $11K I want.

First viewings are Wednesday, and we'll be studying tip sheets until then. What to say or not, etc. I'm glad we put the work in to feel confident in our own assessment. Displaying the confidence in our ask price is our final test.

Thanks to chancellor for the suggestions. Comparable units are what pushed my price down, as listing prices have increased more visibly than final sale prices. Just have to cross my fingers and hope someone jumps. Or ideally, a few people jump. Apparently one bonus of selling privately is that you can circle back to your other interested parties and tell them what your offer is, seeking to artificially inflate the sell price. I love that option.

Odd little tip that realtors will use...bake bread or cookies shortly before showings. Apparently trips the olfactory circuits with positive vibes. hell, nowadays, you might be able to find the scent in a spray can...

[Ken]

Odd little tip that realtors will use...bake bread or cookies shortly before showings. Apparently trips the olfactory circuits with positive vibes. hell, nowadays, you might be able to find the scent in a spray can...

Very true - I was looking at a home last week that smelled like a smoker lived there. We were in and out in about 2 minutes because of the bad smell.

[TranaGreg]

Odd little tip that realtors will use...bake bread or cookies shortly before showings. Apparently trips the olfactory circuits with positive vibes. hell, nowadays, you might be able to find the scent in a spray can...

... or this time of year a colander of freshly rinsed strawberries left in the sink ... I once walked thru a house that had that & made a huge impression on me (the rest of the house didn't tho).

[Teenwolf]

First day showing the house was pretty wild. We had 8 showings, and 5 of the 8 were extremely enthusiastic. 1 offer coming through tomorrow, plus 6-7 more showings tomorrow, which every one will know there's an offer in hand, and we could have 7-8 competing offers. Then the play is to take our best offer, let all the others know the exact offer we have in hand, and if they want to put in their best offer they have a last chance to do so. Knowing that my wife and I paid $6.8k over list price 5 years ago with only 1 other offer, I'm hoping we can push this group to over $11K above list price.

We said a few dumb things and whatnot... i forgot that I only installed weed barrier in 1 of 2 front gardens, and tried to show it in the garden where it wasn't... we tried out different sales pitches and re-used the ones that played well. It appeals to young families, especially the mothers, probably because its so clean and tidy, with modern color schemes. We spun negatives into positives: "previous owners installed high end appliances but paint was done poorly, so we've refreshed all of the paint in most of the rooms", or the room without forced air heat, only electric baseboard, where my wife claimed the convenience of keeping it closed off as a cold room in the winter to save on heat costs, and folks ate it up!

I'm really just glad my 2 days of toilet fix work is finally over. We didn't need a running 3rd toilet for 2-3 people, so when it started leaking 2 years ago we turned the water off. Glad I finally fixed it, as people were more excited about the basement bathroom than anticipated.

[Teenwolf]

Update. We did a total of 18 viewings. Only a few duds, most were very positive. Some viewers aren't serious yet, just browsing. Others were put off by competing interest, saying they didn't want to get into a bidding war. My sense of which parties were serious or not was pretty far off, but overall I think we did a good job.

Now its crunch time, negotiating offers. We came up with the bare minimum needed for a bidding war, 2 bidders (plus a tire-kicker $20K under, but i think he's likely out now). One bid list price on the nose, 2nd bid $1K over list, with 1 month earlier possession, so they're essentially equal. Now to figure out the best approach to elicit that extra $5K-$10K.

For the tire kicker, I really wanted to respond to his lowball with no words, just this clip:

[Teenwolf]

Here's how the negotiating went down. You take the offer with 2 days to expire and hold it as your back-up offer. Then you circle back to the more aggressive bidder with the quick expiration and counter-offer. We countered raising the offer $8.5K above ask, and it was accepted!

Such a stressful process. My wife has done an incredible job navigating buyers, lawyers, etc, but she's a much more conservative auction player than I am. She was pushing for a lower counter-offer, but I advocated for the extra $2.5K. Every little bit counts, especially only being 5 years into the mortgage.

[Gregg]

Here's how the negotiating went down. You take the offer with 2 days to expire and hold it as your back-up offer. Then you circle back to the more aggressive bidder with the quick expiration and counter-offer. We countered raising the offer $8.5K above ask, and it was accepted!

Such a stressful process. My wife has done an incredible job navigating buyers, lawyers, etc, but she's a much more conservative auction player than I am. She was pushing for a lower counter-offer, but I advocated for the extra $2.5K. Every little bit counts, especially only being 5 years into the mortgage.

Congrats! And well played.

Win win situation.

[swampdragon]

Make sure on this-

Ask: Can the buyer truly afford your house?
Let’s say you’ve played your hand well and are now looking at several competitive offers. Keep in mind that sometimes buyers will make an offer that’s too good to be true out of desperation.

To avoid this situation, insist on a mortgage pre-approval as opposed to a mortgage pre-qualification.

Pre-qualification only determines the likelihood of qualifying for a loan. At this stage, there have been no checks on the buyer’s credit or income.

On the other hand, mortgage pre-approval is far more comprehensive and signifies that an application has been sent to a lender and the buyer’s income data and credit are under review.

[Gregg]

Mrs. Gregg and I watch House Hunters, and a good handful of the fix and flip shows. Some of them go for more than asking price, some are lower than asking price.

The concept of paying more for list where I live is non existent. When I see it on those shows it angers me. But in that I also realize that you do what it takes to buy and sell in the area where you live.

Right now the market is hot enough that homes are selling for list, so maybe high bidder over list is on the way?