When Smaller Homes Sell For More Money

Every neighborhood has it- the floor plan that no one seems to want, unless the price is too good to pass up. Yes, even the best of cities and neighborhoods experiences this. You know what I mean. It’s that house that everyone walks in to and asks, “what the hell was the builder thinking when they did that?".

Here in Yorba Linda, CA we have a few of these floor plans, some of which are on the market right now. They’re in fantastic and highly sought after neighborhoods near Travis Ranch school. Many of the homes have large lots, great curb appeal, rock pools and some have a view of the city lights. Yet these floor plans always sit on the market long after other, smaller homes are sold and newly occupied.

But My House Is The Largest In The Neighborhood

It’s inevitable that the owner will be forced to drop the price, and as a the listing agent it’s difficult to have to explain it to a seller that may have deep emotional ties to the home. It’s a touchy subject when you try to explain to the owner that, even though the house is one of the largest in the neighborhood, it’s also always been one of the least desirable floor plans. Understandably, owners will have a hard time understanding and accepting this because they are probably one of the few people that really like the floor plan, and can’t believe that others don’t find it appealing .

The Truth

So, I’m here to tell you the truth- here goes… Mr. and Mrs. Seller, your floor plan leaves a lot to be desired and apparently not many buyers are interested in a galley style kitchen with a long and narrow family room that makes it necessary to place your couch and television only 3 feet away from each other because there’s no other logical configuration available. Or, if you’re over in that other neighborhood- there’s no longer a big market for tri-level floor plans that chop up the square footage and make your 3,000 square foot home feel like it’s half that size. Sorry, but sometimes you’ve just got to rip the band-aid off quickly.

What Can You Do If You Have An Unpopular Floor Plan?

So, what can you do as the homeowner/seller? Unfortunately, there’s not much that you can do. My only suggestion would be to highlight every positive feature of the house, and make it so desirable in every other way, that buyers may be willing to overlook the downside. In the end though, you will have to reduce your price, and while it may not make sense to you, from a per square foot cost perspective, it makes perfect sense in the real world of real estate; less desirable homes sell for less money, it’s just that simple.

How Do You Know If You Have One Of These Funky Floor Plans?

What if you like your floor plan? How will you know if you have one of these funky floor plans? Ask your agent to give it to you straight. Also, ask them to locate and show you comps of the model match of your home, along with sales prices of surrounding comparable homes.

Your Agent May Not Even Know

If there are no recent comps available (which happens often in some Yorba Linda neighborhoods), look at old comps. These should still reveal a pattern, in which your floor plan always sells for less than a home that is comparable in square footage, lot size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, yet it has a more universally desirable floor plan. This information is especially important to review if you’ve hired an agent that isn’t an area expert, or isn’t completely familiar with your neighborhood, because they wouldn’t know about your unpopular floor plan either, without analyzing a history of the neighborhood comps.

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