You Get What You Pay For – Part Two
By Robin Shapiro
A little over a year ago, I had a client who wanted to sell his house which needed a lot of work. The house had a lot of good features: location, lot size, house size. The inside was not presentable. I advised my client to fix the problems because he’d be able to get top dollar for the house after a renovation. He hired a cheap contactor who was slow in doing the renovation. I explained that it was important to get it fixed FAST. Interest rates had already started to increase. It was obvious that they were going to continue to increase. There was a danger in “losing” the strong real estate market environment. As time progressed, he was losing the strong springtime market seasonality as well.
When the job was finally done, and I was able to list the house, the market had changed. Interest rates were much higher, and business had slowed up. Ultimately, the house sold for less than it would have several months earlier. Market prices hadn’t declined, but market enthusiasm had vanished. If the client had listened to me and hired a more expensive/reliable construction man, then the house would have been sold months earlier for more money than was ultimately achieved. You get what you pay for. Call me. Love, Robin.
