Updated Renovated Remodeled
Updated Renovated Remodeled
Neighborhoods change and life cycles often dictate the housing production. My neighborhoods are home to a lot of families that are employed at Emory University, The Centers for Disease Control or the VA hospital in Northeast Atlanta. Most of the homes in these neighborhoods convenient to Emory and CDC were built in the 1960s. DeKalb County was home to new subdivisions and new homes where there had once been Dairy Farms and open land. These subdivisions pre-dated Interstates I-85 and I-285.
These new suburbs – now located in Zip codes 30345, 30341, 30340, 30329, 30084 and 30033 were home to a wave of new Atlanta residents who came here for economic opportunity. Ranch style homes (usually 3 bedrooms and 2 baths) and two story traditional homes (4 or 5 bedrooms) were the predominant housing stock. Everything was new and shiny and families came in waves to snatch up the affordable housing.
Many, maybe even most, of the original owners from the 1960s have moved on. Adult children have assisted their parents in moves from the family home to nursing homes or assisted living. A new generation of home buyers moved in and made changes to make the 1960s homes their own. These homes were updated, renovated and remodeled to fit the needs of the new families moving in to an older settled neighborhood.
Interior walls were removed, kitchens made larger, basements finished and family rooms or master bedroom suites added on to the existing home. Real estate agents marketed and sold these homes as updated, renovated or remodeled. The 1980s and 1990s were a time of economic prosperity and building contractors were part of the remodeling boom.
In 2008 there was a different kind of boom as the National housing market crashed and the National economy took a direct hit. My neighborhoods were partially sheltered from the effects of the crash because the main employers did not significantly downsize. But the national psychology of the market crash was the same for us as for the national economy. Families stopped spending money on remodeling and waited for the market to improve before making moves.
2016 finds the market back in full remodeling mode. It is difficult to sell a home (with one major exception) that has not been updated, renovated or remodeled. Home buyers have great economic power because of low interest rates and mortgage loans with agreeable terms. Home sellers are finding they can cash out their equity easily because of the sellers market. But all is not equal for home sellers.
Homes that have been updated, renovated or remodeled since 2008 are bringing a premium. We are seeing eye popping sales prices for these move-in ready homes. home buyer families don’t have time or the patience to deal with updating, renovating or remodeling a home themselves. They are happy someone else did it and they fight over every new listing that comes on the market with all the whistles and bells they have wanted in their new home.
However, homes that are not been updated, renovated or remodeled find a different reception in the market place. They sit on the market for months and then the sellers finally capitulate and take a much lower price than they expected. Welcome to the new reality – if your home does not look like one of the homes on an HGTV flip – you are not going to get top dollar. The sales price you saw on the house down the street – the price that got you thinking about all the equity you have locked up in your home – That sales price was just false hope. Your home has to be updated, renovated or remodeled to get that price.
There is one big exception. If your home has not been updated since the 1960s and you want to sell it without going through the hassle of updating, renovating or remodeling – you can sell your home. Builders and investors are buying those homes so they can fix them up and sell them. This is called a flip and that is happening with regularity in my neighborhoods. Builders in 30345 will pay up to $300,000 for homes on good lots where the home can be torn down, changed to a two story or successfully renovated. Builders are turning around and selling these homes in the $400-$700K range depending on the neighborhood. Other zip codes have slightly different numbers.
