What To Do With High End Home

I just wanted everyone's thoughts about what to do with owners who have homes over 800,000. A guy called my we buy homes sign and currently lives elsewhere from the house. I work for remax and we have it listed without me even knowing! It is currently listed for 895,000 and he admitted on the phone that he had it on the market for 1.5 years, paying $5000 a month for his mortgage, not to mention taxes of 14,000 a year. Instead of lease/option is this something that I can try to flip, get him down on price, tie it up with an agreement and find someone else?
What are some tactics to get him down on price?One year of payments on this house is 60,000, there has to be some motivation
Feedback is welcome

Comments(8)

  • Bruce4th May, 2004

    Hey,

    Selling high-end houses is difficult. But it COULD be highly profitable.

    The main issue for me is the FMV is very hard to determine accurately.

    Why hasn't it been selling? Is there something clearly wrong (no curb appeal, etc.)?

  • xaviergroup6th May, 2004

    I appreciate all the feedback. There is nothing wrong with this home that would need major repair, I think it maybe a high asking price and the lack of exposure because of the small number of people interested in these type of homes for the area.

  • pejames9th May, 2004

    Sounds like overpriced and not the right approach to finding a homebuyer that fits the house..... What does the area dictate as far as types of homes people buy and sell. If it is that high end, that is a good indication the house is to much for the area and the owner could wind up paying on it for quite a while. 1.5 years on the MLS, says there is something wrong with the marketing. Just because it's listed with Remax, doesnt mean it will sell. Look at what you posted, it is listed with your company and you didnt even know it... communication barrier somewhere. BTW, where is Hainesville? I live near Edwardsville, outside STL.
    Good luck

  • rjs93529th May, 2004

    Hey Patrick -

    xaviergroup is really close to where I live.

    Ryan J. Schnabel

  • commercialking9th May, 2004

    The problem at the high-end of the market is that the buyers can afford to be very picky. The latest fashions (granite countertops,etc) are important to them. I recommend strong comps, even visit some new developments in this price range in your market. See if you can figure out the problem.

  • JeffAdams9th May, 2004

    Xavier:
    This is what you do.

    -Ask the seller if he will take 65-70% of market value for the house. If he agrees, ask him if he will give you an "option" to
    purchase the house over the next 60 days. If he agrees, then you have him sign an option agreement, give him $100.00 and have him sign a grant deed which is put into escrow with instructions that state if you come up with the money the escrow company will process the escrow and the house is yours!

    -You then ask him if you can have a private event at his house. If he is motivated he will agree.

    -You then stage an "Auction" and sell the house for 80-85% of market value. You also make money off of all the stuff you stage the house with.

    -Once you have a buyer on the house, you excercise your option and do a double closing which equals $$$$.

    This has been done with a lot of success. It takes the right seller who is motivated. It is a win/win for both the seller, the buyer and you the middleman.

    This is basically "Wholesaling" Luxury Houses at its best.


    Best Riches,
    Jeffrey Adam
    [addsig]

  • Jimbezy10th May, 2004

    I'll be the first to agree with JeffreyAdam, an auction style selling works great. There is a company here where I live that does exactly that, they advertise for about 60 days for the home they are auctioning and then have droves of people show up to bid on the house they are auctioning. They normaly get at or above FMV.

    To the wonderfull CREI,
    James

  • compwhiz10th May, 2004

    I'm assuming the house is somewhere in Lake County, and tax amount substantiates the asking price. However, like everyone already said, in top-tier bracket the buyers are really picky and they won't plop down a ton of money for a house that doesn't match their needs very closely.

    For example, I live in Deerfield, and there were two huge 4000 sqft houses built a block away from the railroad crossing. Besides the fact that it's very close to the railroad crossing, they're huge houses on fairly small lots(lt. quarter-acre), so there's really almost no back yard. They've been on the market for a year now, and neither one of them has sold, while the price has been lowered from high $900s to mid $800s. Not to many people want to spend that kind of money and in live in a house with no yard and constantly hearing the railroad crossing bells.

    Some people never learn that the MOST important part about real estate is LOCATION - if you build a palace in a swamp, it doesn't mean it's desired nearly as much as a palace on a hill.

    This guy needs to lower the price and stop the bleeding. He needs to refi his house for a 3-month adjustable ARM @ 1.75% interest, and that will lower his monthly payment by at least 30%(assuming he has equity in the house). If you work for Remax, you know the location - do a CMA and see if there are any similar houses nearby and what they've sold for - and try to figure out why this one isn't selling. If you need any further help/advice, please feel free to PM me to discuss this further.

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