I organized today's house tour based on a map. Honestly. I didn't pay attention to the fact that I also had arranged it in price from high to low, or at least in overall costs. We went to four different condos today, my new person and I. We started at the top, metaphorically and distance from the ground. The first listing was in a high-rent sort of neighborhood. It was a restricted community, with a high HOA that covers a lot, like heat and water as well as snow removal and building maintenance. Unfortunately, it didn't have a pool for that $400 a month fee. The condo was upstairs, up an elevator ride. It wasn't a giant place, but it was laid out well, so it felt bigger than it was. It had been updated recently, or so it seemed. I thought it was lovely, but it left my buyer rather cold. We moved on without any remorse. The next property had the highest list price but the lowest HOA (less than $200 a quarter). It was beautiful, but it was ridiculously vertical. Steep, slightly sloping concrete stairs with no handrail just to get to the flight of stairs that leads to the unit (that thankfully had a rail). It was still snowing a little today, and the exterior stairs made me move overly cautiously. Inside there were more stairs, down to the garage, up to the living room, and then a three-turn staircase to the bedrooms. It was another beautiful home, but it honestly was out of the price range we were searching in. My person asked, "Do you think he'll get that price?" Yes, actually, I do. It was the perfect place for a young professional who works at one of the high tech outlets on that side of town/of the county. And for as pretty as the interior was, yeah. It was priced correctly.
From there we stepped down just a little. The next place was a ground floor condo with an adorable fenced courtyard. It was a little 90s inside, with some flowered wallpaper and borders. It was my buyer's favorite of everything we saw, but it had a couple near-fatal flaws. The living room was tiny, and so awkward that there was absolutely no good place to put a couch, or much furniture at all. And I discovered that there was a light switch near the stove that turned the microwave oven on and off. It made me wonder about the safety and efficacy of the electrical system in the house. As we discussed the place, we reached the conclusion that as fun and different as this place might be, in the end, it would have been a lateral move for her.
And then we went to Sketchytown. Sadly, it was less than half a mile from my house. But as much as I love my own block, I know that just a few blocks away, property values dive. And this place was no exception to that sad condition. The price was significantly lower than the others, with good reason. The outside was dreadful enough. The inside had the original carpet, rust colored and threadbare. It was dark and dreary. The best part about the entire place was a long-haired tuxedo cat who just hung out and watched us walk around. We waited until we got in the car, into the cone of silence, to say, "Oh, hell no." The worst part, they were asking only $22,000 less than I paid for my house. This is how much prices have risen in two years. So, I guess I have a lot more equity in my property than I calculated even a few months ago, right?
Three house tours with three different clients in three days. I think I need to sleep late in the morning.
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