Do You Love This Home As Much As the Seller Does?
Scott P. Rogers
We've been looking at homes for a little while now with a focus on one neighborhood where homes usually sell for between $475K and $525K.
And then... a new listing pops up. It's a single owner home, and it was custom built. It has also been lovingly and fastidiously maintained over the years. We can tell from the moment we walk in that this seller genuinely cares about this home. The layout is fun and functional in ways a cookie-cutter house just isn't. And the maintenance the upgrades mean you won't be immediately budgeting for improvements after your home purchase.
But... it's listed at $565K.
That's $40K to $90K above other recent sales prices in the neighborhood.
Some sellers find themselves pricing their home based on their experience of it... how well it worked for their family over the years... how much they've invested in improvements over the years... how much joy it's brought them. Those aspects of the home clearly meant a lot to the current owner... but they are not always things that buyers will pay for when the home is sold.
The question for you, as a buyer, isn't whether you agree with the seller that the house is special... it's whether you will be willing to pay their price based on how special it is.
Are you willing to pay $565K for a home in a $475K to $525K neighborhood because the layout, features and finishes are all really nice and the house has been extremely well maintained?
For some buyers, doing so will make sense, especially if you anticipate the home being just as valuable and special to you and in your life.
Other buyers, however, will want to make an offer that reflects recent comparable sales.
There's no wrong answer here. But we'll want to think through the seller's likely perspective on price, as well as comparable sales in the neighborhood, before drafting the offer.
And then... a new listing pops up. It's a single owner home, and it was custom built. It has also been lovingly and fastidiously maintained over the years. We can tell from the moment we walk in that this seller genuinely cares about this home. The layout is fun and functional in ways a cookie-cutter house just isn't. And the maintenance the upgrades mean you won't be immediately budgeting for improvements after your home purchase.
But... it's listed at $565K.
That's $40K to $90K above other recent sales prices in the neighborhood.
Some sellers find themselves pricing their home based on their experience of it... how well it worked for their family over the years... how much they've invested in improvements over the years... how much joy it's brought them. Those aspects of the home clearly meant a lot to the current owner... but they are not always things that buyers will pay for when the home is sold.
The question for you, as a buyer, isn't whether you agree with the seller that the house is special... it's whether you will be willing to pay their price based on how special it is.
Are you willing to pay $565K for a home in a $475K to $525K neighborhood because the layout, features and finishes are all really nice and the house has been extremely well maintained?
For some buyers, doing so will make sense, especially if you anticipate the home being just as valuable and special to you and in your life.
Other buyers, however, will want to make an offer that reflects recent comparable sales.
There's no wrong answer here. But we'll want to think through the seller's likely perspective on price, as well as comparable sales in the neighborhood, before drafting the offer.
