Tips for selling a high-end home

Like the rest of the county, the high-end housing market in Boulder has struggled over the past five years. But here, values haven’t slipped as far, and inventory in this price range is down 18 percent from 2008 — just one factor that sellers can use to their advantage in attempting to sell high-end homes.

That’s the word from area brokers such as D.B. Wilson, president of the Boulder Area Realtor Association and managing broker with Re/Max of Boulder Inc. Wilson said that as of May 3, 264 homes valued at more than $1 million were listed. That compares with 332 in the first quarter of 2008.

“It’s remarkably comparable to 2008,” Wilson said, except that, “now we have fewer homes on the market.” Currently, there is a 34-month supply of homes over $1 million. The figures come from Multiple Listing Service data.

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Sell the value

Sellers in stable neighborhoods can play the value card easily, said Angela McCormick, a broker with Re/Max of Boulder. “Many people understand that the core of a city maintains value and recovers quickest,” she said, adding that in 2010, buyers were interested in the “walkable core” of Boulder.

“They (buyers) want to know that if they buy in these neighborhoods, it will be stable,” McCormick said. In February, McCormick, representing an out-of-state buyer, closed a deal on a $4.15 million home in the Mapleton Hill historic area. She said that location was important to the homeowners, who liked the neighborhood with big trees and the ability to walk downtown.

The value question is key, said Ken Roth, managing broker of Goodacre & Co. Real Estate. The county assessor this year reported a 2.6 percent decline in overall residential values in Boulder County, but it was worse out of state, Roth said.

“Right now, it boils down to, is your house the best value?” Roth said. “Buyers coming from out of state may have been in a market (some areas of California and Las Vegas, Phoenix, Florida) that might have taken a 20 [percent] to 30 percent hit. It didn’t happen here, but our values didn’t escalate the same, so we didn’t have so far to fall.”

These same buyers are often surprised at the smaller amount of square footage their money can buy within Boulder city limits, at the smaller houses and no garage, McCormick said. “They (buyers) have to prioritize,” she said. Many feel that the tradeoffs — the quality of life near the mountains, and a city with wonderful amenities — are worth it.

Modernize or lower the price

Homebuyers in this price category aren’t looking for fixer-uppers. “In the homes that are selling, the buyers don’t want to re-do. They want something modern and finished,´ said Tim Goodacre, a partner with Goodacre & Co. Real Estate, who sold $60 million in the last two years in the $1 million-plus price range.

“Open floor plans, no redundant spaces such as repeat seating areas. People don’t go to different areas of their house and sit. A formal living room is useless.” As might be expected, Goodacre has noticed a trend of interest in energy-efficient, “greener” homes in Boulder. Smaller homes, less than 5,000 square feet, are hot right now, especially within Boulder city limits. “I can’t tell you how many people look at a (larger) house and say, “this is more space than I need. This (thinking) is true outside of town as well, but not as much,” he said.

Goodacre’s advice for homeowners looking to sell something over $1 million? “Do the typical stuff. De-clutter. Clean. Fix. Stage. Replace old appliances with new. Switch carpet to wood on the main floor. Modernize as much as you can afford. If you can’t do any of that, lower the price.”

Goodacre & Co., a family-owned business that came to Boulder in 1974, can count on repeat and referral clients, Goodacre said. “Although a lot of the info is already out there on the Internet, you need to work with an experienced high-end broker. We often know what’s not even listed yet,” he said.

Robert Shearman, manager of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Devonshire office in Cherry Creek, who maintains some Boulder-area listings, agrees with Goodacre that if you want to sell your home, you’ve got to make sure it’s well-maintained. “The homes that aren’t selling are older and need updating,” he said. Shearman sold six homes over $1 million in the Niwot area last year, he said.

Shearman pointed out that clutter makes it harder to sell a home, recommending that sellers remember that it’s “easier to picture furniture in a new place where there are fewer things.”

The good news is that the market is getting better for selling high-end homes, Shearman said. “Our showings and views are up. We’ve had a flood of activity at the higher end.”

Multiple Service Listing data shows a downward trend in the number of single-family homes sold in the city of Boulder over $1 million. In 2007, there were 41 (16 of those were over $2 million), in 2008, there were 32 (13 of those were over $2 million), in 2009, there were 22, (11 of those were over $2 million), and in 2010, there were 27 (11 of those were over $2 million).

In Boulder County overall, from 2009 and 2010, there was an upward trend in the sale of homes valued at over $1 million, 101 and 132 respectively.