You're the "old house"?

The new house hasn't sold at that price yet.

What kind of "upgrades" are you talking about?

mimipadv, yes it's my house.

Butternut, you can read about my upgrades here, 11th post down.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2997252/how-to-include-upgrades-in-sale-price?n=37

In my area, LA suburbs, the houses would be very close in price due to very high land costs. The larger lot would make up for the fact the house was older.

What is the actual difference in lot size?

Reading that again,it seems a little confusing. Here's the list:

custom ceramic tile flooring -- not sure if that adds bucks, but certainly appeal
handscraped wood flooring
SS appliances w/double ovens/deeper sinks
custom cabinets in kitchen/bathrooms( higher 'footed' bathroom vanities)
designer lighting
walk-in closets

oil-rubbed bronze fixtures/ door handles/hinges

wrough iron railings

landscaped yard with many trees/ bushes/hardscape/extended flagstone patio

plantation shutters in greatroom/master bedroon

bamboo roman shades in bedrooms/family room

Did I leave anything out? );

chispa, MUCH larger! I don't know off the top of my head, but it's big enough for a very big pool, I lived in San Diego(27 years!)before moving to Tx, so am familiar with the prices and what you 'don't' get. On top of everythibg else, the house is all stone and brick, with various patterns around the arched entry/garage doors/window's, as are the majority of houses in Austin and the surrounding areas. Quality costs much less here.

I built almost 7 years ago, and paid $283k for 2500+ sq ft. Sold my 1400+ sq ft condo there for a little under twice as much as the house. Plus I love it here! ;)

This is a current home, same builder, identical exterior but I have more stone. It's less sq ft(I have 2500+), and it's a 1 story, whereas I have 2. Family room is up, with 2 bedrooms/jack and jill bathrooms.

http://www.highlandhomes.com/austin/leander/parkside-at-mayfield-ranch-53s-and-70s/706-023

Just needed y'all to have an idea of my home. Now I need to find the listing for the one that just went on the market in my ,'hood'.

Home square footage ALWAYS trumps lot square footage unless you're in an estate sized community and we're talking acres that are professionally maintained. People live IN houses, with very little time outdoors. And most hate yard work. Sorry, but I will not pay for your upgrades either. Maybe slightly more, if the houses are identical. But, if I can get a bigger house for less to close to the same money, that's the pick of the litter.

It really depends on the buyer. Young families and those with dogs are fine with big back yards and 2 stories. Older folks prefer single story or the master downstairs, and not so much work. There are exceptions! We are part of that. We started looking only at single story with flat acreage (at least an acre), and ended up with a 2 story 2800 sq ft home on 2.5 acres on a steep rocky hillside. It was a short sale with tons of potential, and we thought it would keep us young! LOL! It could be the death of us, but it's a special place. I will say, the realtor knew we would NOT consider anything less than an acre. She tried to squeeze in some views of 3/4 acres, but NO!!

GreenDesigns, yes that's usually the case, but it' ain't over 'til the fat lady sings. One *right* buyer is all it takes.

Suzi, originally I wanted a big back yard also, and I had no small kids or a dog at the time. It had something to do with living in Ca i'm sure, since yards are postage stamp size there. This would be an ideal house for seniors~I ought to know since i'm one! lol The master is on the main floor, and also another bedroom/full bath, as well as the great room. An older couple could live on the one level and use the upstairs as the guest quarters.

I feel i'm NOW ready for the smaller house AND yard! ;)

Ideal for seniors? Your house, no matter how pretty it is, or how well suited to my needs, would be passed by in a flash. The yard and garden shout "High maintenance" and I'm senior enough to want to get away from exactly that!

I am not sure that I can vote. 300 square feet sounds like a lot and it will certainly be worth more all things being equal. The problem is that all things are not equal. Upgrades are one of those things that sound nice but it is still vague. Either your house has appeal or it doesn't, all upgrades are not equal, people will pay for granite, and quartz counters but often will not pay for nicer tile in the kitchen.

I am sure the upgrades you listed make your home striking but none of them are things that I would buy your house for. I wouldn't consider things like hand scraped wood floors and ORB fixtures a deciding factor in a house. Those are things that might push a house I was already interested in towards the top but that is about it.

If you interviewed several realtors they all should have given you some input on your house and what they thought the selling features were and the price point you needed to be at to meet your needs. Unless you have a reason to suspect your realtor is not on the up and up, then I would trust him or her. Your neighbors listed a house for significantly more than you. That doesn't mean they are going to sell it.

I am surprised to hear that hardwood floors (hand scraped or not) and stainless steel appliances wouldn't demand a higher sale price than a similar home without those things. I must be watching too much HGTV where everyone wants hardwood throughout the house and the Property Brothers increase the sale price of a home by $25K by putting in $10K of updates.

There is another thread with buzzwords that sell homes that include "stainless" and "upgraded."

One of our first homes went up for sale after we owned it for a year. There was a new build of the same floor plan for sale at the same time. Our house sold first, mostly because it was a starter home and had drapes and a water softener already, which were upgrades from the new build. They were similar prices, though.

The upgrades may also attract a different kind of buyer. Neighborhoods here have diversity in prices. There is a block I have been watching that had four houses up for sale in the last two years. Two were smaller starter homes, with 2 car garages, less than 2000 square feet, about 10-15 years old, basic builder grade. The houses sold for about $200K and very, very quickly, like a matter of days or weeks. Another house went for sale for $300K, much, much MORE than these other houses, it had the same BR/BA, but had more square footage (larger rooms) and a lot of upgrades, including Brazilian hardwood floors throughout much of the main level. That house also sold in a matter of weeks at list price. A fourth house is up for sale, in the same block. It is mildly updated with tile floors in places and more square footage than the other houses. They started at $285K and have come down again and again. It is not moving.

A single story will normally bring more per sf than a 2 story. If the 2 story doesn't have at least a 3/4 bath downstairs and a bdm downstairs, then as a realtor and an investor, it would drop way down the list as to desirability. That's because if elderly parents come to visit or someone gets hurt and can't do stairs, they're screwed. And elderly people will normally not want stairs. So it limits who will buy your home, because many people have elderly parents that visit, or are elderly themselves, or will consider what happens if someone in the family can't do stairs. Heck, I moved when my dog was getting old and no longer able to do stairs to get up to the master bdm to go to bed (she's too big to carry).

New homes also have warranties, which is valuable. They also tend to have more energy efficient appliances, as well as better insulation.

Sushipup1, maintenance? Everyone in the neighborhood has a gardner come every other week, and for 40 bucks, get everything done, including the porch and sidewalk swept. So while that's going on, I am 'getting away from exactly that.'

bry911, i'm sure i'll have prospective buyers who will think as you do, but all it takes is one with discriminating taste. As for the realtor, we had a very good repoire, which was my only basis for choosing her. There was only one other. I don't understand the procession of realtors. Like a house, you know when it's 'the one.'

ncrealestateguy, thank you for your profession opinion. Of course the agent needs to come see the house, and when I have things the way they should be when listing a house, she'll come see it. I also realize areas differ.

handmethathammer, haha re:your first paragraph. My house won't be listing at the highest end nor the lowest. It will be somewhere in between. This is a very diverse neighborhood also, but many of the homes are older than mine, or are in a particular section where pride of ownership has been forgotten. Mine' seems to have maintained that pride, a big plus for drive-by's.

I appreciate your honesty and 'opinions', but am still staying very positive re:the house and the upgrades. Will just have to wait and see.

It is not about discriminating taste. It's about your taste. I daresay my taste are as discriminate as most anyone's, yet different than yours. For example, I hate travertine, when did varying degrees of beige become the standard issue for decent tile? The only thing I hate worse than travertine is maybe ceramic that is supposed to look like travertine. I don't particularly buy into paying extra so my floors can be made by a machine to look like they were not made by a machine. Most of the money you spent in upgrades were a reflection of your tastes. You will surely find some people who love some of things you have done, but no one is going to like them all. There is a reason that neutral colors and bland choices sell so well. If the room isn't stunning room at least it's innocuous.

There is absolutely someone out there who will think your house is perfect. The hard part is finding them and getting them in the door. I am sure your real estate agent has a plan to do just that.

P.S. I interview most of the people that work for me, especially the ones in a fiduciary position. I believe rapport is important but so is due diligence.

If I were in the market I would always choose land over 300 sq ft. But then where I live now I can't see my next door neighbor's home as it's over 500 ft away.

I could never live in a community where the houses are so close together I sneeze and my neighbor says gesundheit.

I think you are still focused on your upgrades in comparing houses. As others have said, those are upgrades that you like. Others may not like them or want them. They may or may not make your house easier to sell.

Here is your list and my reaction to them to illustrate my point:

custom ceramic tile flooring -- not sure if that adds bucks, but certainly appeal--

Where is the tile? What color is it? If it's in a kitchen that is a downgrade to me personally. Is there a special design? I might not like it.

handscraped wood flooring--No thank you. I hate handscraped wood flooring.

SS appliances w/double ovens/deeper sinks---I can buy new appliances--not a big deal to me. Deeper sinks--maybe of value to me.

custom cabinets in kitchen/bathrooms( higher 'footed' bathroom vanities)--What kind of wood is used? Are they really custom or are they a builder upgrade? By that I mean were they made and designed specifically for your kitchen or are they stock cabinets that are higher quality than the typical builder grade? Are they white? I dislike white or painted cabinets. Again, this could be a negative for me. The higher bathroom vanities would definitely be a negative for me given my height.

designer lighting--This is very taste specific. I don't care if you spent 1000's more on your lighting. If it reeks of HGTV and is not what I would consider classic and lasting, it would be a downgrade for me.

walk-in closets--Did this actually cost more? Walk-in closets either are or are not part of a floor plan.

oil-rubbed bronze fixtures/ door handles/hinges--Again--not a fan of these.

wrought iron railings--Dislike as they seem very HGTV to me.

landscaped yard with many trees/ bushes/hardscape/extended flagstone patio--Hardscaping maybe of small value to me, but landscaping is easy to add. Again, it will depend on the specific kinds of trees and bushes. We've landscaped several houses so I am very aware of what different plants are and the kind of maintenance needed. There are several types of plants that would be a negative for me.

plantation shutters in greatroom/master bedroom--Everyone needs to have some kind of window coverings. This was your choice. It would not be mine. I would remove them.

bamboo roman shades in bedrooms/family room--See above.

In my area very few adjustments are made for lot sizes in typical neighborhoods. Homes with a quarter acre lot of ared valued almost identically to the same homes with 1/2 acre lots. The few thousand feet difference is not important. Lot size adjustments are made for big differences like going from 1 acre to 5 acres.

To sum it all up... your upgrades will make your home sell with a bit higher of a sales price, but not by much. It instead, will probably make it sell quicker.

If comparable homes are selling for $300,000 w/o any upgrades, then your home would probably get about $10,000 more. That's all.

I honestly think larger homes are overrated - more expensive to heat and cool, not to mention, more to clean. Your house is 2500 square feet, which is about 100 sq. ft. larger than mine. We have 4 beds and 2.5 baths, which suits our family of 5 just fine. Now, if the extra 300 sq. ft. is between a house with 1700 sq. ft. and 2000 sq. ft., the larger home would appeal to me more.

I think a home with mature landscaping and upgraded floors, cabinets, and lighting is a huge plus. Obviously, I would have to see the inside to see if you and I had similar tastes, but your home sounds lovely. I don't want to live in a home with builder basic lighting, etc. I also don't want a lot that has no outside appeal, i.e., barren wasteland. I'm the type of buyer who's looking for a house that already has a lot of what I like, because once I move in, I'm probably going to be able to only afford to do basic cosmetic changes - painting, new appliances, and things that we can do ourselves. In over 20 years of home ownership (and two houses), we have never borrowed money to make changes, which means I had better be happy with what I have, I can do it myself (or my husband), or we saved money until we could afford whatever changes we wanted to make.

All that being said, it sounds like what your realtor is suggesting is a little low for your house, but it depends on comps. I suppose if you're in a hurry to sell then maybe the lower price is appropriate. I would probably go somewhere in between those two prices and see what happens. You could always do a price reduction if needed. Good luck!

Just wanted to add that everything ncrealestateguy has posted sounds spot on.

Thanks y'all for taking the time to respond with your insights, opinions, etc. It WILL be interesting to see the outcome and which way the pendulum will swing. I'm now getting off the merry-go-round to go and get a cotton candy! You can join me if you like. ;)

I'd go with the 7 year old house in a heartbeat, especially since its $60k less than the new AND has all the upgrades AND has a big yard.

NC, I'm not sure why you would divide the price per square foot difference by three. The OPs new listing comp is roughly $109/sq ft or a differential of about $32,000. Priced solely on ppsf, that would be about $272-273,00 for the smaller house. The sq ftg might mean more or less depending on room size, flow, closets, etc.

Lot size and location can be big factors. In my neighborhood, there are two homes that went on the market this year. Both are on the opposite side of the street which means they back to a greenbelt. One is a corner lot and has more street noise, though buffered by trees on both sides. The other is on a cul-de-sac with a deep wedge lot (1/2 acre). The lot corners into the street rather than running straight across the back. The larger lot has a pool and has room for a trampoline or play structure as well as plenty of additional grass for running and playing. It also has a kitchen with a cooktop in a small (no workspace -- might balance a plate if it's not too large) island. The larger home on the larger lot is listed at $170K more than the other home. The pool differential here tends to be $10-20K. Both are under contrast -- the larger one within the first week but I think the corner lot home may have been listed a month or two before going under contract. This is not the first time the larger lot home has been snatched up while we have lived here. Two or three other houses down the street with similar lot sizes have had similar sales experiences. If anything, the lot size differential seems to be growing.

Now, that may not be the case in patty cakes neighborhood or in the Austin area generally. East Texas is out of the latest drought period, but I understand Austin and Lake Travis have not recovered. Will that deter buyers from buying larger lots? Don't know.

Square footage and age account for something, but $30K plus whatever the larger lot and landscaping should add (not factoring upgrades at all) seems a bit much to me. The house is still less than 10 years old. I'm assuming lightly lived in (retired folks are kinder to homes than young families and tend to keep up the maintenance as a rule). The upgraded appliances may be a wash and offset the fact that they are 7 years old if they still look new (lightly lived in again). Decorating choices are personal. If they are still popular (everything trends), they might have some return, but the $40K in upgrades maybe meaning $10K in list (more or less on actual sale price) and a quicker sale sounds reasonable.

Patty_cakes, another thing you might want to consider - the style of your furnishings. If your furniture is deeply traditional and your upholstery florals and such, a home tends to look older and in need of more updating even with the upgraded choices like you've made. Realtors might not tell you that because they don't want to offend you but that could make as much difference or ore than the sq ft . Your home sounds like a great family home, probably with children past the toddler/ very young stage since the master is down and the yard is large. Those families will generally see themselves in updated transitional styles and colors. Atkillery is deep into her own build, but she has done some staging in the Austin area. You might see if you could get a quick consult (or more).

And definitely, absolutely talk to at least 2 or 3 more realtors. You can have a good personal reaction to someone who is not the right person or approach to marketing your home. At the very least, I would want confirmation and explanation of why this realtor is suggesting a listing price so much lower than the newer home listing. Even if you list with the agent you are currently talking to, you need more market info and experienced local appraisals/comp analysis. All our talk here may be worth exactly what you've paid for it.

It also depends on what the features of the new built are, e.g. regular hardwood vs handscraped hardwood floors or vinyl vs hardwood; spanking new white kitchen cabinets vs older wood cabinets; white range vs stainless steel double oven and cooktop or ss range vs double oven and cooktop.

Also, lascatx gives good advice: Try to evaluate how dated your house looks.

See...it's all a matter of preference. I prefer classic, regular hardwood to handscraped (I think the handscraped is a trend that we'll see the back of in another year or two). After having white kitchen cabs, I vastly prefer wood toned cabs like maple. I do agree on the white appliances versus the stainless, but have read several posts on this forum and others that disparaged stainless.

Note, I am not a RE agent but over my lifetime so far, I have bought and sold 10 properties. And I've helped my family with several additional properties. Plus my son and 2 close friends are RE agents so I trust their judgements.

In fact I sold my home on Long Island at the height of the recession in less than 3 months! Why? Because I priced it correctly for my neighborhood. Plus according to my then RE agent, it was the only home in the neighborhood that sold.

When you are selling a home you need to first take all emotion out of the equation. It's hard to do because we lovingly agonized and picked out all those appliances, cabinets etc. Hopefully someone else will love what you picked and it will help you sell your home more quickly. However it will not help you sell your home for much more than a small % over a different home.

Additionally, people tend to want new for some reason. To them it's the appeal of no one else ever living in the home and the ability of them to put their own stamp on the home.

custom ceramic tile flooring -- not sure if that adds bucks, but certainly appeal

If it's in any room other than the bathroom, it wouldn't appeal to me and I'd wind up ripping it all up. And in RE circles, it's not a factor in pricing a house. For someone who likes what YOU picked, it might help sell the house, if the house is priced correctly for the neighborhood.
handscraped wood flooring

Hardwood floors throughout are considered an upgrade and can add a very small additional value. However the value isn't even the cost of the flooring.

SS appliances w/double ovens/deeper sinks

custom cabinets in kitchen/bathrooms( higher 'footed' bathroom vanities)
Personally, I hate SS and don't cook enough to require a double oven. As for the deeper sink, if it's SS and not a single bowl farm sink, I'm going to hate it and rip it out. So if I'm looking at the home as a buyer, I'm figuring out the cost to change your taste to my taste. The fact you did upgrade the kitchen will give you a slight edge. However, the edge will not be in the price of the home, but in your ability to sell your home more quickly.

designer lighting

Too taste specific and adds nothing to the sale price of the home. Again it might help the right buyer decide to buy your home and it might help sell your home more quickly if it is priced correctly.
walk-in closets

If most of the comps in your neighborhood have WIC's, then it will add nothing. Additionally if none of the homes have WIC's, then the only value it will add is to maybe again sell your home more quickly; if the price is comparable. If the neighborhood is mixed, it will probably only again help to sell your home more quickly.

oil-rubbed bronze fixtures/ door handles/hinges

wrough iron railings

Very taste specific and it also can date the home because oil rubbed bronze is on the downswing, at least in my area. Adds nothing and to the wrong buyer can be a turnoff. Same with wrought iron railings. Personally I prefer a wood staircase. See what I am trying to say?

landscaped yard with many trees/ bushes/hardscape/extended flagstone patio

This can add some value, but not enough to price your home thousands above the comps in your area. Again it mostly will help your home sell at a fair price for the neighborhood and possibly sell more quickly.

plantation shutters in greatroom/master bedroon

bamboo roman shades in bedrooms/family room

Again taste specific for YOU and adds NO value.

Did I leave anything out? );

Yes. How does the home lay out in terms of usage compared to the others? Is the home cut up or open? Is there more living space vs bedroom spaces? Where are the W/D? Are they near the master or in the basement? My point asking these questions is not for you to answer them, but for you to see that much depends on the buyers in your area, etc.

For example, I live in a city where the average age is retired. LOL. Yes I am building a 2 story home because of my small city lot size, (guest bedroom, bath and my studio will be the only things on the second floor) but because I am in this area, I am putting in an elevator, making the master on the first floor, making sure hallways and doorways are accessible, etc. I am hopefully not going to over build in terms of what I like for the area I'm moving in to.

Again, what is standard in your neighborhood and that is how the house needs to be priced, unless you're willing for it to sit on the market for a long time.

BTW: I agree completely with Lascatx that you should still talk to a few more RE agents just to see what they would price your home at. Maybe your agent is low and by talking to a few more, you'll know that based on their comps. Usually if you get 3 or 4 more comps, then the correct pricing is usually somewhere in the middle. Then you'll have the knowledge to know if she priced it too low.