Part 4: Contract Signed After 3 Weeks
A: Remember this series of posts I did last month? I wanted to show you how I advised my client to prepare their property for resale, and prove to them that pricing right in this market will generate enough activity for a quick sale. In fact, after 2 weeks on the market the apartment got into a soft bidding war between 2 buyers and went into contract just under ask a week later.
Here is a recap:
Part 1: Prepping For Sale - What To Do
Part 2: Prepping For Sale - The Work
Part 3: Ready For Marketing - Before & After
And finally, today's 'Part 4: A Done Deal' and a very happy seller! This apartment was in a non-doorman building, had good size, reasonable monthly's, and a back of the building view. So it was quiet, but didnt get that much natural sunlight.
The sellers told me that they preffered to sell FAST and didnt mind if they had to put money into the apartment to get a better price. However, I advised them not to do so as the cost and time of renovating in this type of market might not get the premium that most people expect to get from these kinds of upgrades. So, I advised them to refinish the floors, paint, remove the security cage on the windows, and get a cleaning company in which cost a eye-whopping total of $1,500!
In the end, the apartment showed great and got a signed contract within 2 weeks! We could have tried to price a bit higher or spend an additional few thousand dollars and build a wall to make it a JR1, but that would have made the apartment much more dreary than it already was and pricing it significantly higher could have had a negative affect on their timeline to sell fast. So, I think the way we did it was right and in the end, they were very happy with the result.
The last 'A' line was on the 4th floor and sold for just under $300,000 in December of 2004. The last sale in the building was a 'C' line full 1BR apartment that was fully renovated and in mint condition; which sold for $489,000 in December 2006. So, I think we did just fine!
UrbanDigs Says: It's still a buyers market in the sense that buyers can negotiate a seller's price down; especially if the unit is way overpriced. So, high end renovations don't pay off as well in these types of markets leading me to advise clients to do the low-end work that prepares the property for sale on the open market. These include a floor refinishing, paint job, full cleaning, and anti-clutter measures to make sure the apartment shows well. Having a property with dull floors, old paint, dirty bathrooms & kitchens, and tons of furniture and pictures on the walls just won't bode well during showings. You need that first impression to be a positive one and doing the work I suggested will achieve this goal; especially the floors and de-cluttering of your home to show off the true size of the property.
Add to Newsvine
Comments (2)
Noah - Nice post. What do you mean by "A" line (4th floor) and "C" line. Clearly, these are not the subway lines.
Posted by juanito | January 23, 2007 11:18 AM
Thanks Juanito - Most buildings like these, not all, have similar lines, in terms of layouts. So, when Im about to sell a studio in the 'A' line, it is always helpful to see what the last comparable 'A' line studio sold for, as to get an idea of what this property might sell for.
In this case, APT 4A, was the same size and layout as the one I was hired to sell. The 'C'line is a true 1BR, apartment, probably about 150 sft or so larger, and therefore should be used as a comparable for any future 1BR, especially 'C' line units, that come to market.
Posted by Noah | January 23, 2007 11:24 AM