Luxury homes in the Denver area are in a booming market, but that doesn’t mean anything with a “For Sale” sign will automatically sell. When a house has been on the market for a while, it’s worth looking into whether it might be priced too expensively. For the seller, this might be a sign that it’s time to drop the price. For the potential buyer, it means you might want to watch that home more closely in case the price comes down to something you find more amenable.
Unfinished Rooms
While this isn’t terribly common in luxury homes, it does happen on occasion, especially if the owner has performed a major renovation within the last few years. Some rooms might get partially renovated or even be left unfinished. If they do, it means the onus is on the next buyer to finish the product off. No home, not even one on the luxury market, sells based only on potential. Sellers who don’t get the price they want should think long and hard about reducing the price based on how much it would cost in order for the new owners to finish a given area. Typically, this results in a drop of a couple thousand dollars, and that often makes the difference between somebody who is on the fence and somebody who wants to buy.
Old Appliances
Luxury homes are often older than many houses on the lower side of the market, which means that sometimes their appliances haven’t been upgraded in quite a while. At the very least, anybody selling a home should make sure that all appliances, especially commonly-used kitchen machines such as refrigerators and dishwashers, are Energy Star compliant. A seller who doesn’t have Energy Star compliant appliances can probably save money by installing them before listing the house. If you are a buyer who notices that the appliances are on the older side, keep in mind that you will probably need to pay several thousand dollars to make sure they all get properly upgraded.
Questionable Location
What might have been a nice location when a luxury home was built can change dramatically in value over the years. Natural disasters, crime, or overdevelopment can all drive property values down. If a property has sat on the market for a long period of time, you may need to look into the surrounding neighborhood. Quite often, the owners are the last people to realize that the surrounding region has made it more difficult to move a property. Simple research can determine whether you need to drop the asking price (if you are a seller) or make a lower offer (if you are interested in buying).
Pricing a house is more of an art than a science. Even if a home is appraised and placed at that price, it doesn’t mean that the pricing is entirely accurate. Whether you are a seller or a buyer, some additional research can help save you money and make sure that the luxury home lands in the hands of somebody who wants it.