AH SPRING!

I must confess that this is an unusual spring. Normally I am in the middle of major renovations and this year, well.....this house is done! Ive landscaped, touched up, cleaned, staged and basically just sitting around waiting for this @#$%^%@ house to sell! We are not alone, there are millions of homeowners with perfectly good houses priced at bargain prices and NO ONE is buying!

I think there are a couple of reasons, the overall economy one but clearly the media has painted a perception that now is not the time to buy, that prices will go lower. I am not sure that really is the case. Our house at the "crest of the housing boom" could have probably sold for 450K (If I had only rushed and did it half way!) Instead I took my time and did it right. On the market at a very reasonable 295K and its done right and you cant find anything lose on the market for less than 400K.

Its funny though as I get calls from people wanting restoration consulting because that "Restored Charmer" they bought has become a falling apart "Money Pit". I recently did an "evaluation" for a client. They had bought a nice 4 bedroom victorian 525K in one of the best downtown neighborhoods, and now they were having prolems. Tile was falling off ( not properly installed), Circuits were blowing (inadaquate circuit box). Well the list goes on and on and the estimated bill to fix what needed to be done will likely be over 30K. They had an inspection but that inspector missed some basic "design issues". The "restoration contractor" has run water lines on improperly insulated outside walls (you cant do that in Indiana they will freeze in the winter). he didnt use tile backer board, too many outlets on one circuit. basically the guy cut corners. It "looked" great but a more complete inspection would have revealed it was done on the cheap.

Doing things right takes planning, time and money. I have more information on proper planning on my website: http://thevictorianrestorer.googlepages.com/restorationplanning