The BEST way to sell your Phoenix home?

Yesterday afternoon, I was on my way over to a new client’s vacant property to continue my rental comparable analysis for what was to be a new rental listing, when the owner called me suggesting that they may want to sell not rent the home.  What I knew about the home, was that it was a 4 bedroom, 2-story, 2700 square foot home.  Given it’s location, it could rent for between $1100-$1300/month, depending on condition.

No matter what the condition, I know it’s going to be a tough sale, but condition now gets even more important than when we were only considering renting the home.  In general, in the market we are in now, homes that are former rentals are languishing on the market, due to inferior condition when compared with owner occupied homes.  This home, however, had been lived in by the owner, so I had some sense of optimism.

I arrive at the home and the landscape is in need of some sprucing up, but that’s pretty common with the rain we’ve had lately, and nothing that can’t be fixed quickly and easily.  Then I open the front door to discover what’s been done to the flooring since the last tenant moved out.  All of the carpet downstairs, including the living room, dining room, family room, and downstairs bedroom, has been removed and replaced with a large blue vinyl tile.  The kitchen, bathrooms and entry already had sheet vinyl flooring, so to transition, a 3rd vinyl was used as a border between these areas.  I doubt I’ve seen a flooring choice that looked worse.  Honestly, it was horrible.  A picture would do well here, but I was too stunned at the time.  The memory today is still painful.

The interesting contrast was the granite countertops in the kitchen.  Granite countertops and vinyl flooring, that’s a match made in?

At the stairway, the original carpet was still there, also in a pale blue color.  The remaining carpet was stained, dirty, and ugly.  Given the condition of the remaining carpet, I could certainly imagine how bad the carpet downstairs must have been, before it was removed in favor on the blue vinyl tile flooring.

I call the owner and tell her the news of what I’ve found.  She tells me her husband selected the vinyl and that she hadn’t seen it (they live in San Jose).  She wasn’t aware that it looked odd, out of place, or even bad. 

She and her husband want to sell the home because it generates $400 negative cash flow every month, and they are tired of dealing with tenants.  Although I understand the tenant frustration, that is why they had contacted me…to stop dealing directly with tenants.  I can’t, however, fix the negative cash flow problem.  So, if someone wants to sell, I need to accommodate their need. 

The trouble, of course, is that in it’s current condition, it’s a nearly impossible sale at any thing approaching comparable market value.  Buyers today are cherry picking the properties with the absolute best condition, and then demanding to pay the lowest price on the market…a price lower or as low as the last sale for a similar property.  To be the next sale, we not only need to be the best conditioned property, but then agree to sell at the lowest price.  If you don’t have both factors going for you, then using only price, you’ll need to be incredibly aggressive.

In this case, my only advice is to spend the money to get the home into similar condition with the neighborhood.  That means all new carpet upstairs and downstairs, along with tile in the kitchen, entry and possibly the bathrooms.  How much will it cost?  I’d estimate $7000.  The cost of not doing it?  180 days on the market with no offers.  Lets compare that with mortgage payments for 6 months: $9000.   It’s painful, but that’s the BEST way to sell your Phoenix home.

If you enjoyed this post, consider subscribing to the blog