Selling my flip on a busy street

Buying & Selling Real Estate
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Selling my flip on a busy street

Jeremy Hazelwood
Wholesaler 路 Columbus, OH 路 Member since 2014 路 44 posts 路 17 votes
Ok, well I could not pass up this deal a year ago that I happen to get from the original owner. (Now I wish I did pass it up) I found this house on High st, which is minutes from downtown and sits back from the street farther than other houses. It's primarily a lot of attorney offices and some multifamily houses next to us. There is a McDonald's across the street.. It is located in a high end part of town and right outside of a very high end community called German Village. This house was gutted and completely transformed with exposed brick and I even added a Steam Shower as a little bonus. I went a bit crazy and spent an exuberant amount of money on this flip.. Installed automatic Barn style garage door openers on each of the bays of the 4 car garage. I felt like it has been my best work yet. I attracted the likes of a few big Investors in town just from showing my work and that made it well worth it... however we are getting showing after showing and dropping the price just to get feedback like this: "Very cool home. Buyer did not like the the location. Street was too busy. We did discuss location before showing馃槵" Just one of the many similar responses I have received over and over and it is driving me crazy BP!!! I know I broke one if the most important rules of location but I did not think I would be in this situation with tons of cash tied up, and feeling like I got to drop the price where I hardly make anything just to sell the thing... I am ready for the constructive criticism so let it rip! If it doesn't kill me it just makes me stronger and smarter! Pm me if you need the address to give you opinion on what I should do thanks..
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Brandon Battle
Real Estate Agent 路 Buena Park, CA 路 Member since 2016 路 743 posts 路 424 votes
9y
Let me guess,1015 High St.,correct? Well,the interior looks lovely but,the exterior paint is wrong and it sticks out like a sore thumb.Something darker that goes with the two much taller buildings you're sandwiched between would have been better.You made some mistakes that are going to cost you like they did me too.First,you decorated the interior to please yourself as if you were going to live there,not good.Way ,way,too expensive for the neighborhood.No one is going to pay you tens of thousands extra for having nice taste in fixtures and finishes.You are also surrounded by multi family rental properties instead of lovely single family homes which is where your place belongs if you could magically move it.Honestly,you missed a golden opportunity to make some good money by not just gutting but hiring an architect and redesigning it into a triplex or quad.A good landlord business would have paid you a handsome profit for a modern designed quad with affordable and nice fixtures.Your initial asking price was way too high and the real estate agent should have talked you out of it.Now you have 161 shoppers on Zillow with only a few of them real buyers waiting you out to see how low will you go.Their buyer's agents are sensing the desperation and waiting to drop the hammer on you.I went through this same terrible thing just recently and lost 85k when the bloodbath finally was over.I am afraid you need to prepare yourself for the same thing.If I am wrong about the address,pay me no mind and good luck to you.
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  • Brandon Battle
    Real Estate Agent 路 Buena Park, CA 路 Member since 2016 路 743 posts 路 424 votes
    9y
    Let me guess,1015 High St.,correct? Well,the interior looks lovely but,the exterior paint is wrong and it sticks out like a sore thumb.Something darker that goes with the two much taller buildings you're sandwiched between would have been better.You made some mistakes that are going to cost you like they did me too.First,you decorated the interior to please yourself as if you were going to live there,not good.Way ,way,too expensive for the neighborhood.No one is going to pay you tens of thousands extra for having nice taste in fixtures and finishes.You are also surrounded by multi family rental properties instead of lovely single family homes which is where your place belongs if you could magically move it.Honestly,you missed a golden opportunity to make some good money by not just gutting but hiring an architect and redesigning it into a triplex or quad.A good landlord business would have paid you a handsome profit for a modern designed quad with affordable and nice fixtures.Your initial asking price was way too high and the real estate agent should have talked you out of it.Now you have 161 shoppers on Zillow with only a few of them real buyers waiting you out to see how low will you go.Their buyer's agents are sensing the desperation and waiting to drop the hammer on you.I went through this same terrible thing just recently and lost 85k when the bloodbath finally was over.I am afraid you need to prepare yourself for the same thing.If I am wrong about the address,pay me no mind and good luck to you.
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  • Bob Okenwa
    Real Estate Agent/Investor 路 Peoria, AZ 路 Member since 2016 路 2k+ posts 路 2k+ votes
    9y

    @Jeremy Hazelwood

    By no means am I an expert in Columbus real estate, but I reviewed your property and took a look at Google Maps and can see some of the issues that @Brandon Battle has spoken of. I checked the recent comps in the area and none of them have seem to have been sold on your side of High St. With such a major barrier such as a 4 lane street/mini-highway there, I can see why the comps are located on the other side since that side has SFR's and your side seems to be loaded with commercial buildings/businesses. I know a flipper out here in AZ who mentioned he budgets about 30% off ARV by being on a busy street. He sold a house for 162k while houses 2 streets over in a quieter area sold for around 230k. Doing this from your original list price of 475k puts you at a list of 332k, which is in line with the Zestimate (I don't care for that number as being accurate, but a lot of buyers swear by it). So with the busy street discount and being surrounded by commercial, you put yourself in a tough spot. The finishes look great but the bigger problems are the surrounding businesses and busy street. Google Maps has High St. as a yellow street which indicates a major thoroughfare. Being on the wrong side of it puts you in a totally different location in the eyes of most buyers and your stale listing reflects that. All in all I think your design aesthetic is very tasteful and the house flows extremely well, but location, location, location is always king. I like to remind people that the house isn't where the value lies, but it is the actual land that appreciates over time.

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  • Thomas S.
    Member since 2016 路 13k+ posts 路 12k+ votes
    9y

    You know the issues and the solution is undeniably simple. Lower the price to where it will sell, probably taking a loss, and move on to your next one. The longer you refuse to accept reality the more you potentially lose.

    It's just business.

    1Reply
  • Jim Adrian
    Architect 路 Papillion, NE 路 Member since 2015 路 1k+ posts 路 840 votes
    9y

    @Jeremy Hazelwood

    You didn't read the architectural language of the street or the surrounding for this urban location. In this setting you want to blend in to the surroundings.  I agree on the wrong color after looking at google street view but it is a nice color in general. But now you stick out in a negative way vs blending in. You have the smallest building on the block and brakes the urban building plain by sitting back further. Nothing you can do about this as this is the cards you were dealt. Nearly every house is red brick and you don't have enough.Is the outside plaster or painted brick? I would repaint the outside to a red brick color. I would add some type of a base to the house even if its paint. You may want to look at Dryvit and just use the finish coating system. They can make it look like brick or stone. Every house on that street has a stone base and you don't. I would look at adding landscape and fencing to match the houses to the north to help blend in and continue style. The house looks well done from the pics on Zillow. I do like the interior but maybe a little too much brick in the inside.

    Good Luck!

    1Reply
  • Robert EllisBusiness Member
    Developer 路 Miami, FL 路 Member since 2014 路 3k+ posts 路 1k+ votes
    9y
    Originally posted by @Jeremy Hazelwood:

    Ok, well I could not pass up this deal a year ago that I happen to get from the original owner. (Now I wish I did pass it up)
    I found this house on High st, which is minutes from downtown and sits back from the street farther than other houses. It's primarily a lot of attorney offices and some multifamily houses next to us. There is a McDonald's across the street.. It is located in a high end part of town and right outside of a very high end community called German Village. This house was gutted and completely transformed with exposed brick and I even added a Steam Shower as a little bonus. I went a bit crazy and spent an exuberant amount of money on this flip.. Installed automatic Barn style garage door openers on each of the bays of the 4 car garage. I felt like it has been my best work yet. I attracted the likes of a few big Investors in town just from showing my work and that made it well worth it... however we are getting showing after showing and dropping the price just to get feedback like this:

    "Very cool home. Buyer did not like the the location. Street was too busy. We did discuss location before showing馃槵"

    Just one of the many similar responses I have received over and over and it is driving me crazy BP!!!

    I know I broke one if the most important rules of location but I did not think I would be in this situation with tons of cash tied up, and feeling like I got to drop the price where I hardly make anything just to sell the thing...

    I am ready for the constructive criticism so let it rip! If it doesn't kill me it just makes me stronger and smarter!

    Pm me if you need the address to give you opinion on what I should do thanks..

    In the last 2 years there has never been a single family on the MLS sell above 250k. Single family only. Condos sell for much more in the area but for single families they tend to not sell for that amount in the Brewery distrcit. Someone spending 400k on a house isn't going to pay that much to be on S High St. No matter what the character is. S High st has a commercial overlay as well. I still think you are around 100k overpriced for what your home will sell for. This isn't my opinion but fact. Ask your agent to send you single family homes that sold above 300k in this area in the past 2 years. There are none on the MLs that have sold at least.

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  • Jeremy Hazelwood
    OP
    Wholesaler 路 Columbus, OH 路 Member since 2014 路 44 posts 路 17 votes
    9y
    Brandon Battle Thanks for that it was pretty constructive! Yes you got the addy right. However I had a staging company do that so no it's not just my Taste..but that's the first I heard about the paint so that gives a different perspective. At the time we nor my lender was wanting me to turn it into multifamily, but yes that would've been a good option had I went into it with a different private lender or partner. I appreciate the feedback well taken. Definitely learning from my mistakes..
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  • Jeffrey Hotz
    Real Estate Professional 路 Dublin, OH 路 Member since 2013 路 251 posts 路 165 votes
    9y

    Unfortunately in this business at some point we all make mistakes, best to forget about profit, unload it and move on to the next.  Ive seen too many sit on house hopping for a miracle to happen.  Use this as a learning experience, take a moment to internalize the reality and get rid of it while you can.

    Key to RE Investment: you make your money on the buy!

    0Reply
  • Jeremy Hazelwood
    OP
    Wholesaler 路 Columbus, OH 路 Member since 2014 路 44 posts 路 17 votes
    9y
    Well guys even though it looks as though I did everything wrong my gut feeling to purchase this property paid off... I just may have been a bit impatient.. we are in contract for less than 20k below the current list price!! And no we didn't get lucky because we were originally in contract after 10days on the market for 450k
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