How Do I Sell An Expensive House?
You've lived in your house for years and taken pride in with
numerous improvements. Now it is overvalued and you're
wondering, "How do I sell an expensive house?"
How Do I Sell An Expensive House?
When discussing how to sell an expensive house, there are two
scenarios in which the issue comes up. The first is you have a
home in an expensive neighborhood, but one which you're asking
for a price comparable to similar homes around you. In such a
situation, you should be able to sell your expensive house
through traditional means, either as a FSBO listing or through a
realtor. The home should be cleaned up and listed with a
multiple listing service. Open houses should be undertaken as
well as online advertising with photographs. In this current
market, you should be able to move the home fairly quickly.
The second expensive house scenario is a bit more complicated.
In this scenario, you have improved your home beyond a value
supported by surrounding structures. This can often occur if you
live in a home for a substantial period of time and make
additions to the home such as new rooms, floors, renovated
kitchens and so on. The homes in your neighborhood all appraise
for roughly $300,000, but your additions should make the house
worth upwards of $450,000. You have a problem because nobody is
going to buy the most expensive home on the block.
What To Do?
You're first choice is to hold onto the home and hope the
neighbors get around to improving their homes. This strategy is
rife with problems and should probably be avoided.
A better choice is to target market your home to a specific
demographic. If you've added rooms to your home, you should
create advertisements directed at families with multiple
children matching the number of bedrooms you have. If you've
gone nuts with improvements in the kitchens and fixtures, you
should market the home as "luxury without the price." The point
is to turn your problem into a unique selling position for the
house. Trust me, there is a buyer out there looking for a
solution to their problem.
Appraisal Problems
If you house is over-improved, every potential sale will fall
through because the appraised price will make it difficult for
the buyer to get a loan. The best way for dealing with this is
to "carry a second" mortgage on the home. In essence, you agree
to take a certain percentage of the price in payments over a
certain time period. This allows the buyer to get into the house
and you to get out. If you go this direction, make absolutely
sure you use a lawyer to make sure everything is legal.
Trying to sell an expensive house can be a challenge. That
doesn't mean it can't be done.