Selling HT as part of the house

zybar · « **on:** 6 Jun 2005, 03:43 pm »

I need to decide on whether I include my HT (or more likely parts of my HT) in the sale of my house.

My initial thought is to try and make it part of my asking price (give somebody the impression they are getting something for nothing) and to strip out all my serious gear, but leave what I want to sell. I can show the MSRP of the HT (which will be very high - heck the pj + main speakers is over $20k) as a way to draw some attention.

Just curious if anybody out there has already crossed this bridge or what people's thoughts are.

George

CJ Paul · « **Reply #1 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 03:47 pm »

Depends on where you live and what the value of the house is. My wife and I sold our house for about $134,000 recently. I would have needed to get ~$12k to feel good about including the HT gear. No one would pay $146,000 for that house just because it has a "home theater". If you are going to be asking $15-$20k for the home theater, the house probably needs to be something in the $250,000-$300,000+ range or it wont fly.

zybar · « **Reply #2 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 03:53 pm »

Quote from: CJ Paul

Depends on where you live and what the value of the house is. My wife and I sold our house for about $134,000 recently. I would have needed to get ~$12k to feel good about including the HT gear. No one would pay $146,000 for that house just because it has a "home theater". If you are going to be asking $15-$20k for the home theater, the house probably needs to be something in the $250,000-$300,000+ range or it wont fly.

House will be well above the $300,000 range.

I need to make a list of the gear I would like to sell and figure out exactly how much I would want to get back.

My pj is a Marantz VP12S1 (which listed for $14K three yrs ago when it was released) and the speakers I would most likely use for L/R are Silverline Sonata II's (which listed for $6500).

To be honest, if somebody gave me $5-6k for that combo I would be happy. I am guessing that at the end of the day, the HT will add around $10k to my asking price.

Besides gear, I also have all the wiring in the walls, a platform for the second row of seating, rope lighting/tracking lighting (both of which are controlled via remote).

George

woodsyi · « **Reply #3 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 03:57 pm »

CJ, where in the world do you live that you can buy/sell house for that price? George, I don't think you would get any benefit for selling your HT gear with the house in this seller's market. House will sell with or without. They are selling over asking price with no inspection or cleaning.

I would think you can get the most return on you gear by selling them separately.

zybar · « **Reply #4 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 04:05 pm »

Quote from: woodsyi

CJ, where in the world do you live that you can buy/sell house for that price? George, I don't think you would get any benefit for selling your HT gear with the house in this seller's market. House will sell with or without. They are selling over asking price with no inspection or cleaning. I would think you can get the most return on you gear by selling them separately.

Haivng the HT won't help me sell the house faster, ratrher it might allow me to sell the gear (as a complete finished system) at a higher price than if I sold it out piece by piece.

Iit also means much less effort on my part.

George

CJ Paul · « **Reply #5 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 04:22 pm »

Considering your price range, you are probably OK, but there are two ways to view it and I guess I should have been more specific. If you live in NY or CA where this might be a 900 sq/ft ranch that would be considered a starter home then the potential buyer still might not be willing to spring for another 20K. On the other hand, the advantage of having the house in that range is you might get a buyer that likes it and after your "well over" 300k, whats another 20k? So I guess it could go either way. I listed that the HT could be purchased with the home but we had no offers that requested a quote on it. Our house sold in 4 days within 1-2% of our asking price. I live in Omaha Nebraska, where housing is cheap, even by midwest standards (i.e. cheaper than KC, Minneapolis, etc. and OF COURSE, cheaper than Chicago). We sold our 1300 sq foot 3 bedroom (with additional ~225 sq foot DIY finished basement) in the $130s as I said. We're building a new 3700 sq ft 4 bedroom and it comes in well under $210k.

I hope no one starts crying

woodsyi · « **Reply #6 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 04:22 pm »

Quote from: zybar

Haivng the HT won't help me sell the house faster, ratrher it might allow me to sell the gear (as a complete finished system) at a higher price than if I sold it out piece by piece.

Iit also means much less effort on my part.

George

There is that. By listing the retail price of the system it would seem like a bargain at 10K. What's 10K when you are dealing with jumbo size mortgage? Plus you can convince them that they are really getting a tax deduction for financing the HT with the house, which they wouldn't if purchased later. But I just have this gut feeling that your house will sell at 10k higher with just the HT "prep" and you still get to keep your toys.

CJ Paul · « **Reply #7 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 04:28 pm »

Quote

What's 10K when you are dealing with jumbo size mortgage?

About $60 a month at current rates. Now, paying $60 a month for a home theater for 30 years is insane, but since no one owns their home any more, its more likely that a person will have to decide if its worth it to basically rent it while they're there, knowing that if they move in 5 years, they can keep the equipment and still sell the house for a heck of a lot more than 10k more...

shokunin · « **Reply #8 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 04:43 pm »

If your buyer is a family with kids, leave the PJ on with something like Nemo, Incredibles, Shrek, etc and have the realtor just dim the lights to show off the theater. The kids will probably nudge the parents saying they like your house better ;D.

As my broker buddy says to me, it's all about staging and demonstrating potential and lifestyle.

It's a pretty hot market and your house will probably sell either way, put it in your asking price and see how the offers come through, then counter with or without the HT.

grantv · « **Reply #9 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 04:43 pm »

Personally, I wouldn't do it. I think people may use it as a bargaining tool against you for one. Mainly though, what percentage of people actually want a HT worth more than a couple thousand? My real estate agent dropped by a while back just to say hi. One thing she told me is to redo my HT room before selling as most buyers would probably not want a dedicated room. Just my thoughts.

ctviggen · « **Reply #10 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 04:44 pm »

I think it depends on the buyer, and in all honesty, most people wouldn't know anything about an overhead projector/HT. What attracted to me about my house was it (1) met my financial goals (not easy to do here in CT/NY), (2) had a nice interior and OK exterior and (3) had way more value for the dollar than other places. I did not want the type of home (raised ranch) I ended up purchasing, but I could not afford anything else.

Although I love your room, I think most people wouldn't even know what to do with it. I'm not sure whether it would be a selling point or whether it would detract from the house (some people might want everything torn out of there).

JoshK · « **Reply #11 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 04:49 pm »

I think it really comes down to the market your selling to, and in your case, in your market it makes sense and could be a selling point.

JoshK · « **Reply #12 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 04:51 pm »

I think it really comes down to the market your selling to, and in your case, in your market it makes sense and could be a selling point.

Andrikos · « **Reply #13 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 05:02 pm »

Great info here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=544003

ctviggen · « **Reply #14 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 05:36 pm »

I should note that I bought a new house in AZ and put tons of nice stuff in it (partially integrated Bosch dishwasher, Bosch washer and dryer, convection oven, tons of wood blinds and cell shades -- even had a cell shade on my sliding glass doors, over the counter microwave, many other things I installed myself). I put well over 20k of stuff into that house. Then I decided to move. I moved to CT about a year after buying my house. How much did I get for that stuff? Basically, zero. The house would have sold without this stuff, although it sold faster with it. If I had it to do over, I would've purchased the cheapest crap available and taken everything. Heck, the Bosch dishwasher, washer, dryer, and convection oven alone were over 4k.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #15 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 05:43 pm »

I believe that any serious audio/videophile is going to want to bring his/her own gear into the house when s/he buys it. And any non-audio/videophile isn't going to pay extra for the house if it comes with HT gear...will most likely want to turn your HT room into some kind of play-room for their kids...

ctviggen · « **Reply #16 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 05:45 pm »

I should note that I bought a new house in AZ and put tons of nice stuff in it (partially integrated Bosch dishwasher, Bosch washer and dryer, convection oven, tons of wood blinds and cell shades -- even had a cell shade on my sliding glass doors, over the counter microwave, many other things I installed myself). I put well over 20k of stuff into that house. Then I decided to move. I moved to CT about a year after buying my house. How much did I get for that stuff? Basically, zero. The house would have sold without this stuff, although it sold faster with it. If I had it to do over, I would've purchased the cheapest crap available and taken everything. Heck, the Bosch dishwasher, washer, dryer, and convection oven alone were over 4k.

CJ Paul · « **Reply #17 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 06:32 pm »

ctviggen you're so right there, which basically, to sum up, you are saying (and I agree) that it matters what is there IN the house, not how good it is. I.e. people will pay more if all of the appliances are included, but the VAST majority arent going to know or care if they are REALLY good ones or run of the mill. Same with window treatments, landscaping, etc. Exactly as you said, all those things will make your house sell faster at a fair price but they wont get you 10s of thousands of dollars above a similar house without those things. That applies to home theaters too.

jermmd · « **Reply #18 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 06:50 pm »

George,

I pretty much agree with what everyone here is saying. Wait until you have an offer on the house and then try to negotiate a deal for the included home theater. If you get the right person to look at the house, your home theater will be a great selling point. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people are completely indifferent to this kind of stuff.

Joe M.

warnerwh · « **Reply #19 on:** 6 Jun 2005, 06:53 pm »

I'd ask my realtor.