houses for sale

What do you really want in a house?

by John Rice

I’ve lived in my house for just over 5 years.

My biggest complaints?  I don’t have taller ceilings and I don’t have a lot of natural light.

What do I like about it?  I’ve got lots of space.  We have some empty cabinets and are no where near running out of room to store stuff.  I’ve got more than average room to park cars.  I’ve got a big lot with a lot of trees.  I like that I sit sort of high on my street and have some open space I can see between and over my neighbor’s houses.

I also like that the master bedroom is upstairs.  I don’t like it when the master is on the main level and is right off of a living space.  I like to feel like I am tucked in far away from any possible noise or distraction when I go to bed.

I find myself always looking out the windows.  I love watching the wind move tree branches.  It is like the trees are dancing.  I’ve got several peekaboo views of a golf course and a pond.

I like that I am on a dead end street about as deep in my neighborhood as possible.  It is very peaceful except when the dogs behind me are barking.

The funny thing about all this is that none of my favorite things about this house were part of the criteria for the search.

Like a lot of buyers, I based my search on logical things:  Bedroom count, square footage, part of town and price range.

I got some bonus things that were not part of that criteria.  I compromised on some things too….like my 8 foot ceilings and lack of natural light due to all the amazing trees that block the sun.

Being a realtor for over 12 years, I know that often the logical criteria gets thrown out the window when a buyer sees a house that triggers something emotionally for them.

For me, I was willing to compromise as soon as I pulled up to the house and saw the landscaping and the wide front lawn.  We were willing to do some updating after we saw the fireplace on the covered patio and all the trees in the backyard.  (We are still willing to do updating….meaning it hasn’t happened yet, haha!)

Almost all my buyers end up buying a house that is slightly different from the logical criteria they tell me they want.  And that is okay.  It’s all about finding a place you love.  Sometimes you don’t know what features you will fall in love with until you see them.

Why isn’t that house selling? I thought it was a HOT market?

by John Rice

You’d think in a time where there are not a lot of houses on the market, buyers would be less picky.

Not the case at all.

Back when the market and economy were bad, few people were updating or renovating their homes.  I mean, why would they when they didn’t know if they were going to remain gainfully employed as they watched the value of their home decrease?

Flash forward a few years and people are feeling great about the economy, home values have gone up, all is swell.  After all those years of watching HGTV, it’s time to pull out some cash on a refi or HELOC and spend spend spend.

Not so long ago, most of the houses for sale were just very ho-hum.

Now it seems like most of the houses I show have been updated or extensively renovated…..cooler, lighter colors, lots of white cabinets.  Marble and quartz have replaced granite.

So where does that leave the house that needs paint, flooring, has too much travertine or has that Tuscan vibe that was so popular earlier this century?  It leaves them sitting on the market, collecting dust each and every day as they get overlooked online.  The ones in more desirable neighborhoods do better because a good location can make a buyer more forgiving.

You’d think in a time where there are not a lot of houses on the market, buyers would be less picky.

Not the case at all.

A fun way to lose $100k

by John Rice

I had a client ask me about a gorgeously renovated house in South Lexington the other day.  It looked like something right out of HGTV.

What was the problem?

It was easily $100k more than anything in that neighborhood.  It was around $350k in a neighborhood of $180-225k houses.

It was too risky.

Now, it could be this was the first house to be totally renovated and many more will follow in this neighborhood.  Or it could forever remain the one house that doesn’t really fit in.  Only somebody with a crystal ball could tell.  For now, I think it is too risky to be that first person to pay waaaaay more than what any house in the neighborhood is worth.  If this isn’t the next “Up and coming” neighborhood, then the buyer for this house will find that in 10 years, nobody wants the 2017 trendy finishes they paid an extra $100k to have.  It will just be another outdated home in the neighborhood and no longer the best one……and will be worth about $180-225k adjusted to inflation.

Got $500k or more? It’s your market

by John Rice

Once a month the local MLS sends out the sales statistics.  Being into numbers, it is always fun to drop a K-Cup in the Keurig and check it out.

I guess the biggest news is that when you compare Fayette Co sales in September 2016 to September 2017, the number of new listings was down 16% and the number of sales were down 13%.   Hard to sell houses when fewer are for sale.

This whole year has been a frenzy.  Agents and buyers are struggling to find houses.  Everybody is talking about what a hot market it is…..but I think the word we use should be tight.  It’s a tight market.

The hot market was last year.  There were more sales in 2016.

January 2017 beat January 2016.  390 sales compared to 318.

Every other month in 2016 saw 40-90 more sales each month.

The fine line between a seller’s market and a buyer’s market has always been which side of 6 months of inventory we are on.  Less than 6 months is a seller’s market.  More than 6 months is a buyer’s market.  In Lexington, it is a seller’s market up to $500k.   It is REALLY a seller’s market under $250k.   Got $500k or more?  It is very much a buyer’s market.  That is why prices on houses in this price range have been pretty flat for several years.  It’s a great time to move into this price range, especially if you are selling something cheaper.

I just finished that cup of coffee, so I guess my closing remarks will be that it is an interesting time to be in real estate.

 

Best undervalued neighborhood in town

by John Rice

My first new car was a 1996 Geo Prizm.  Green.  Because green was a hot color for everything in the mid 90s.  We bought it because it was mechanically the same thing as a Toyota Corolla.  General Motors and Toyota had a joint plant back then in California where they produced the Geo Prizm and U.S. market Toyota Corollas.

They were the same car, only the Prizm was cheaper.  Few people knew that you were essentially getting a Toyota Corolla for less that what a Toyota Corolla cost.

Neighborhoods can be like that too.

If you are the type to have picked the Geo Prizm over the Toyota Corolla, then you should check out Old Paris Place.

This is a Ball Homes neighborhood.  It has the same model houses as any other Ball Homes neighborhood, only they are cheaper than you will find in other neighborhoods like Masterson Station.

If you are looking in the $125-160k range, this neighborhood should be on your radar.  The same houses will cost you $140-175k in other similar neighborhoods.

Here is what I like about it:

  1.  You are close to the interstate if you need it.  Close to Hamburg too.  Close to all the cool things on the north end of downtown.  And not a terrible drive to the south end of town either.  My kid’s school is very close to Old Paris Place.  I remember rushing to pick them up from a house I was renovating waaaaay out Harrodsburg Road.  It mentally felt like I was super far away, but I would hop on New Circle at Harrodsburg Rd and before you knew it, I was turning left on Old Paris Pike.
  2. You are closer to restaurants, banks, gas stations and grocery stores than you would be if you lived in Masterson Station and paid more for your house.  You’re 10-15 minutes away from Hamburg too.
  3. Several of the lots back to a wooded area owned by the HOA.  Many back to two farms.
  4. I have had a couple of clients live in this neighborhood and have met several other residents.  All say it is a friendly place to live.

Right now,  this neighborhood is a little undervalued.  Most people wanting a 10-15 year old home in this price range default to Masterson Station for their search, just like most car shoppers knew about the Toyota Corolla but not the Geo Prizm.