Neighbor's House For Sale

16 years ago

We're in the midst of prepping our house for sale, planning to put it on the market about July 1. Found out this morning that the neighbors across the street are putting their house up at the same time. (There's nothing going on in the neighborhood, everything's fine- it's just coincidence. We're moving to the retirement land, they are moving to take care of some family obligations.) Our houses are very different -- theirs is a huge, early 1900's home that is a recent rehab, while ours is 7 year old more modest construction. BUT... I wondered what anyone else's experience is with trying to sell while a neighbor is also selling.

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Comments (10)

theroselvr
16 years ago
I would think that you are appealing to two different markets and wouldn't worry about it.
triciae
16 years ago
Worst case...somebody asks, "why" when they pull up for a tour. Answer is easily provided & of no concern. You've got lots of other stuff going on...I believe you can scratch this one off your list of stuff to be concerned about.

Good Luck with the move!

Tricia
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quiltglo
16 years ago
It can actually be a bonus. Anyone coming to see theirs, might just stop and check out your property. As well as the other way. We had a home for sale right up the street. Very similar in size and age, but a very different layout. When we had open houses, I told people about that house. The agent also told people about ours. The houses sold within a couple of weeks of each other.

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xamsx
16 years ago
A house was for sale five houses away from my former residence at the same time my house was (both single family homes). We were priced $10K higher - they were at $80K, we were at $90K - on a street that was selling for $100 - $110K. My house was a divorce case and I wanted it gone asap hence the fire sale price. DOM on that street was under 30. They listed two weeks before us. We were under contract the week we went up, they sold months after we did.

The differences? I practiced what I preach. The house was clean, clean, clean. It was empty, the first floor was repainted and I refinished the hardwood before selling. My former husband ripped out the basement rug and painted the basement floor. The other place had been a rental. The owner lived next door so it was a well kept rental, however it looked tired. Nothing was painted, the floors had rugs (hardwood underneath) and the stockade fence had a portion leaning.

My furnace was 50+ years old and we had a dilapidated single car garage. The house down the street had a newer furnace and a beautiful two car garage.

I honestly never understood why he didn't repaint, rip out the rugs and fix the fence. He owns(ed?) a construction company, so his cost would have been labor. He listed very, very low and sold for even less.
triciae
16 years ago
xamsx,

Builders are notorious for what you describe. I hated making personal construction loans to builders. The reason is because they reach 96% complete & never reach 100%. Of course, their loans would be fully drawn. I'm convinced it's a gene thing?

Tricia
melrosgirl
16 years ago
I just went through this. I listed my house and within a week my neighbor across the street listed his house. Two different houses. One was 1,000 square feet (his); mine was 2300 sq. ft. $85,000 price difference. We both sold within a week of listing. If you guys had the same type of house, I'd be more worried b/c then it's direct competition.
jperiod
16 years ago
There are three others (well, four as of Friday) for sale on my street and it's been fine. They're all completely different and range in prices from $380-789K and will each appeal to a different buyer. Unfortunately, NONE of us have sold yet. :(

Doesn't sound like yours will be a problem.
teresamacalmon
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the encouragement, folks. I feel more reassured by your comments. My only previous experience with selling a home was 20 years ago...house purchased in Oklahoma at height of oil boom, put on the market for sale as the oil bid'ness was crashing...not a good thing...
sweeby
16 years ago
Happened to us too -- and very glad it did. The neighbors actually listed (and sold) a week earlier, and their sale told us exactly what our list price should be. The agent who listed and sold neighbor's house had a buyer for ours within 3 days.
terrig_2007
16 years ago
We had a house on the market at the same our neighbor did. Our houses were identical, even built by the same builder, except their house had a second bathroom in the basement. Their kitchen was also more updated than ours, and they had an enclosed porch that we didn't have. They had wood floors, but buried under carpet, whereas our wood floors were refinished (and gorgeous! I still miss them.). Same square footage, number of bedrooms, lot size, single stall garages, etc. Our houses sold within days of each other! Theirs sold a little higher, probably because of the things I mentioned--second bathroom, updated kitchen, corner lot.

Neighbor's House For Sale

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