1609 Burton Ave

In residential real estate, there are presumptions and assumptions made by buyers and sellers that are not accurate. In fact, they are just plain wrong.

One of the best is that when either party decides that the other party is wealthy and decides no financial concessions should be made.

Example: One buyer’s father attended an inspection and drove into the property in an expensive truck. Based on cost of the truck, the seller decided the buyer was loaded.

That could be true. Then there are those who want to appear loaded and lease expensive modes of travel despite barely being able to make the lease payments.

Based on the truck and the feeling that the buyer really wanted the house, the seller threatened to make no repairs. So even if the electrical panel is smoldering, the seller should feel no obligation to make repairs if the buyer drives an inexpensive car?

Perhaps that explains why nationally there were 60,000 terminated housing contracts last month, the most since the beginning of the pandemic. Perhaps they drove nice cars and the sellers were cocky.

Another fallacy is that wealthy people will pay too much for a property simply if they are well-off financially. Good theory, but it’s 180 degrees removed from reality.

Rich people did not attain that status by overpaying for large assets. In fact, they are usually the toughest buyers. It’s a shame that many sellers spurn reasonable offers from solid buyers simply because of the perception that they could “pay a few hundred thousand dollars extra and not even miss it.”

That brings us to home inspectors. Over the course of time, opinions of them have fluctuated between “they don’t want to want to frighten buyers and lose the deal, thereby irritating the Realtor” and “they are deal slayers lying in wait and hoping to overturn just the right stone to expose the house as uninhabitable.”

Now that inspectors are regulated and fill their reports with photographs, explanations and disclaimers, there is no question as to the validity of their opinions. As real estate goes, the stock of the inspectors has risen above most in the transaction.

The pest inspectors have not enjoyed the same elevation of respect as the home inspectors. The main reason is their reports are flawed. They are there to check for the presence of wood-boring organisms. Termites would meet the requirements for such classification, as would some others.

Following the inspection there is a form with two boxes for them to check with one stating that there is no visible evidence of active activity and another stating that there is evidence of activity.

The seller has no obligation to treat the house if there is no activity. There needs to be a box that states: “The wood boring creatures have not yet found their way to the lumber – aka dinner – in this structure, but they will be here soon. Treat the house now. Don’t blame me when they find you. They will eat your house. I promise.”

It is doubtful that the box will find it way to the report, but it should.

Sale of the Week

Well-priced homes continue to sell for more than list price, meaning that there are more buyers for many properties than there are properties for sale.

Granted, the home at 1609 Burton Avenue went under contract June 9, exactly one week before the Federal Reserve raised the interest rates by 75 basis points. Some would argue the fact it received multiple offers is of no significance since the listing was before the rate hike. Others would argue that those who made the unaccepted offers did not decide not to buy and are still in the hunt for housing.

Listed for $1.575 million by Annie Hickerson and Stephanie Brooks, both of Zeitlin Sotheby’s International Realty, the property sold for $1.605 million with veteran broker Missy Rodriguez Brower and Sara Ludham, both hailing from Zeitlin Sotheby’s International Realty, representing the buyer. It was a family affair.

Brooks and Hickerson noted the house was “built in 2012 and has been well-maintained and is better than new.” They noted that the property includes the ever-popular DADU (Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit), was designed by the highly regarded architect P. Shea and built by Colclasure Company.

Weighing in at 3,504 square feet and consisting of four bedrooms, four full bathrooms and one half bathroom, the house sold for $448 per square foot on a quarter of an acre of Green Hills land.

Richard Courtney is a licensed real estate broker with Fridrich and Clark Realty and can be reached at [email protected].