In defense of home sellers
If you haven't checked out Sam Schneiderman's letter to sellers, you should, because it's a howl.
Broker owner of the Greater Boston Home Team, Schneiderman takes on all those sellers seeking top dollar for aging homes in need of work.
Here's my favorite passage:
Do you think that we will pay a lot more for your house just because you converted half of your two-car garage into a tikki bar and have an aging swimming pool? There's stuff growing out of your gutters, your front steps are dangerous and there's mold in your shower. The smell in the basement isn't encouraging either. Some of you haven't tidied up your homes in ages. Candles don't hide the smells.
Yet there are at least two sides to every story. One frustrated reader sent me a note after seeing Sam's letter, critiquing what he sees as a pattern of seller bashing on this blog. (On that count, I am probably guiltier on that front than Sam or Rona.)
Here's what Matt, who sold his home back in 2004, had to say.
Scott,
Is there ever going to be some kind of attempt at explaining the position of the sellers (or owners, in the case of those who don't sell)?
It appears that many commenters and some bloggers, with Sam's "letter" as the latest example, either don't understand or won't accept that there are two parties in each transaction and instead think that anyone that won't let them as a buyer simply name their price is greedy, delusional, or otherwise flawed as a human being.
In a later email, Matt adds:
There just seems to be a lack of understanding of how buying a house works. The buyer determines how much they will pay, and the seller decides whether or not the property will be sold. It seems simple, but while we see over and over again all of the reasons that a buyer shouldn't pay more than X$, there is total disregard for the other side of the transaction and the legitimate reasons the current owners have for not accepting less than Y$.
Matt definitely has some good points. Sure, some sellers have a misplaced sense of entitlement.
But what about all those buyers who seem to believe that sellers have some civic duty to meet their price demands and help put a dent in Greater Boston's inflated home prices?
For starters, what you paid for your house and how much you owe is going to go a long way to determine the price you set and will accept. There is no way around it. No sane homeowner who still has a job and does not have to move is going to go through the hell of a short sale.
And who doesn't want to try and walk away with a gain after selling their home? Just when did selling your home become a charitable endeavor?
Unfortunately, more than a few sellers bought back during the peak of the housing bubble, and they paid what they paid.
Some heeded the warning signs, but most didn't. And no amount of ridicule now is going to change that key fact.
