Reply
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,102
Registered: ‎05-27-2015

Re: Should I or shouldn't I?

@PuppyLoverBob666  You can get a good idea from looking at what similar houses in your neighborhood are selling for. But, if you are not going to sell for a few years, I'm not sure why you are getting an estimate now. What I would be concentrating on is preparing your house for sale. That's what we are doing now. Taking off wall paper and painting in neutrals. resurfacing the kitchen cabinets and upgrading outside doors and garage to comply with current codes (which have changed since 1984). Our next step is to upgrade (slightly) our bathrooms with as little expense as possible. If you want to engage a Realtor to handle your house, you can invite them in to give you advice for prepping. But I wouldn't lure them in and dump them when you decide to sell.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,080
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Should I or shouldn't I?

Don't forget about capital gains.  We just went thru 3 consecutive years paying that.  Take a huge chunk out of your profit.

 

Zillow, Realtor.com, etc. haven't caught up with the boom in many places.  Better to go with comps, look to see what has sold in your neighborhood--and what is closest matched to what you're selling.  (# of bedrooms and bathrooms)

 

Be prepared to pay much more for something you may really like.  

 

Valued Contributor
Posts: 580
Registered: ‎12-17-2021

Re: Should I or shouldn't I?


@CelticCrafter wrote:

@kaydee50 wrote:

@PuppyLoverBob666   You could check out Zillow or Realtor. com and see what homes similar to yours are selling for.  Since you can't count on housing prices to keep increasing--remember 2008???--I personally would seriously consider selling now if I had a place I wanted to move to.  

 

 


The only thing with selling now, you will make a lot of money but then you have to spend a lot to buy something else.


 

That's what I've been thinking about too. For that and some other reasons,we're going to stay right where we are for now.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,243
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Should I or shouldn't I?

Thoughts about this.

 

1.  Find out in your area about reputable agents. 

2. Do not respond to all those who have contacted you either by mail, email or phone.  Driving me crazy.  About to answer and tell them to leave me alone.

3.Check sites like Zillow in your area.

4.  Ask friends who might know someone that they have dealtt with, that includes those who you come in contact in groups you may be a part of.  Example:  We are square dancers the some of our fellow dancers are real estate agents. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,582
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Should I or shouldn't I?

@PuppyLoverBob666    First, I would not call the realtors who've been calling you unless you know who are they.

 

Assuming you don't know one of the callers, check Zillow or Realtor.com for houses in your specific area.  You can put in specifics (bedrooms, bathrooms, age range, price range, etc.) all without identifying yourself to an actual realtor.  You might well see an address on a local street you know and know whether it's similar to your street or not.

 

In any area I follow, there will be pictures and prices and once you begin checking you will understand more and more how people are arriving at prices.

 

If you want a realtor to contact you, they would be happy to help even though you're not ready to sell.  The better ones will suggest what's really adding value in your area and price range -  in lots of cities and towns the prices for essentially the same house can differ wildly depending upon exact location.  It's good to start to learn before you really  need to know.

Valued Contributor
Posts: 580
Registered: ‎12-17-2021

Re: Should I or shouldn't I?


@PA Mom-mom wrote:

@PuppyLoverBob666  You can get a good idea from looking at what similar houses in your neighborhood are selling for. But, if you are not going to sell for a few years, I'm not sure why you are getting an estimate now. What I would be concentrating on is preparing your house for sale. That's what we are doing now. Taking off wall paper and painting in neutrals. resurfacing the kitchen cabinets and upgrading outside doors and garage to comply with current codes (which have changed since 1984). Our next step is to upgrade (slightly) our bathrooms with as little expense as possible. If you want to engage a Realtor to handle your house, you can invite them in to give you advice for prepping. But I wouldn't lure them in and dump them when you decide to sell.


 

 

A careful reading of my post will reveal that I'm just curious, and that we plan to stay in our house till we die.  

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,102
Registered: ‎05-27-2015

Re: Should I or shouldn't I?

@PuppyLoverBob666  Sorry, I read this post, and it didn't say you were not planning to sell. Sorry if I misread it.

 

I live in the Seattle area and home prices are really shooting up. I don't plan to sell my house any time soon but I'm dying to know what the asking price would be? 

 

I'm not exaggerating when I say that the value of our house is probably 10 times what we bought it for, back in the mid-80's. It needs some cosmetic work but is basically sound.

So here's what I'm wondering: we get at least 1 or 2 solicitations a day to sell it. I'm not going to do that now but possibly in the next few years. Would it be a mistake to call one of the realtors pleading with us to sell our house, and ask what we could sell it for?

I'm just afraid we'll get a never ending blizzard of mail from them and possibly other realtors. Is there any other way of getting a ballpark figure from some other source?

Honored Contributor
Posts: 36,947
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Should I or shouldn't I?

@PuppyLoverBob666 I wouldn't call a realtor unless you are thinking of selling.  What good would it do you and why bother someone? 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,767
Registered: ‎06-19-2010

Re: Should I or shouldn't I?

[ Edited ]

I would not contact anybody unless you want to be hounded constantly. Realtors are like sharks when they see blood in the water. Check Zillow, Realator.com etc. 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,730
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Should I or shouldn't I?

IF you don’t mind paying, you can get an appraisal done. Good luck.