Baton Rouge Real Estate Appraisal: Stick To New Paint and Carpet To Get Your Home Sold

A St. Petersburg Florida REALTOR® and Appraiser has some advice for Greater Baton Rouge Locals when it comes to sell their home in this 2011 market: Stick To New Paint and Carpet To Get Your Home Sold.

There’s a new article out entitled, “Low Appraisals Blamed for Scuttling Real Estate Deals“. In the article, the reason given for Low Appraisals is, “Appraisals routinely come in under the negotiated sales price, often driven down by the glut of foreclosed houses and short sales with rock-bottom prices.”.

THE POINT OF THE ARTICLE IS TO CAUTION ON SPENDING TOO MUCH ON RENOVATIONS TO HELP GET THE HOME SOLD!

In the article, the “Capetz” family invested an extra $11,000 on a new roof and air conditioner to help their home sell ($11,000 for a new roof and central heat and air is really cheap). In July, they accepted an offer of $142,000 only to have the home sale fall through because home appraisal came in at only $130,000.

GOOD ADVICE! Quoted from the article, “Frank Gregoire, that St. Petersburg FL and Appraiser who headed the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board for eight years during the housing boom, advised sellers to stick with new paint and carpet.

“If you make a major improvement, you should expect to enjoy that improvement. Don’t treat it as an investment,” he said. “It’s unlikely you’ll get what you paid for it.”

How Does This Apply To The Baton Rouge Housing Market? First, we’re talking about the under $150,000 market. Baton Rouge Housing Market doesn’t face near the number of foreclosures or short sales as in Florida. However, with that said, one (1) issue I see in Baton Rouge Housing is overimproved homes, thanks partially to HGTV. Example: A $95,000 home in a first time homebuyer starter neighborhood with $5,000 in Slab Granite Counters. Or, in the photo below, a $160,000+/- local economy home with an elaborate approximate $10,000 Kitchen Slab Granite Plus Tile Backsplash Upgrade of which the market still hasn’t chosen to pay for.

HGTV Ruined Some Homeowners! Since the early 2000′s, with easy credit and HGTV, some locals went overboard on overimproving their homes on items that the market didn’t reward them for at the time of resale. Instead of keeping their homes at the quality of construction levels typical in their subdivision, they chose to invest $15,000 to $50,000 above that level and thus overimprove on items that the market wouldn’t reward dollar-for-dollar on at resale time.

The Point Of This Baton Rouge Home Appraisal Article: When Updating Your Home for a listing, pay attention to your price range, what other homes in your subdivision have in terms of quality and mirror those homes and features. While Slab Granite Counters certainly help a home sell, they are not common nor a wise investment for homes under $150,000. If your home needs a new roof because it’s old and for the seller’s appraisal to pass and qualify for an FHA or RD financing, then that might be a wise purchase, which might not return dollar-for-dollar. It might be wise to stick with just new paint and carpet and if listings feedback says do more updates, then you can proceed further. And, if you need a Pre-Listing Appraisal to help properly and accurately price your home, visit: http://gbrprelistingappraisals.com/

NOTE: Frank Gregoire is a friend and Appraiser Peer of mine. Frank writes the “Appraiser Active Blog” and enjoys the leisure life as an Appraiser along with Florida Coast with his wife, Fran. And, Frank likes to rub this in on Facebook weekly about how spoiled he is to live, play and work in paradise!

Author: Bill Cobb with Accurate Valuations Group (Greater Baton Rouge Home Appraisals).

Image Source: Top Image Purchased @ Bigstockphoto.com