Real estate professionals know 'buyers determine value'

Q. Our solitary, elderly and recently widowed sister can't sell her house, which is adjacent to a neat golf course. Hers and other houses are just not selling even though the area is well maintained.

A well-known Realtor was retained. Very few enquiries have been made about the house. She was hoping to sell before winter. The asking price is now well below what she started at. We are all braced for disappointment because even renting it appears not to be an option either.

A. Your sister could be asking for trouble anyhow, if she tried becoming a landlady at this point.

You need to understand: Even the most "well-known" Realtor can't drag buyers by the hair to look at a property that strikes them as overpriced. If your sister were asking $2, the house would sell in five minutes. And I promise you - somewhere between $2 and the current price is a figure that will bring lots of interest - and offers.

It doesn't matter what your sister thinks the property is worth, what that Realtor thinks, or what you think. Appraisers sum up their profession in three words: "Buyers Determine Value." Only the buying public knows the right price. Your sister will have to keep experimenting till she finds the magic figure that will get the house sold.

Q. My parents died two years ago and I inherited their house, which I grew up in. My mother constantly made changes in the house, which was built in the 1950s. Sometime in the 1970s, she had the ceilings all sprayed with white popcorn paint. I am considering selling the house but will it sell with these ceilings? If not, is it expensive to remove?

A. Tastes vary - some people in some areas like those popcorn ceilings. After all, your mother did.

Local real estate brokers can judge better than I can from this distance. It won't cost anything or obligate you to call two or three who seem active in the neighborhood (look at for-sale signs and search the Internet.) Ask them to come over, look at the house and give you advice. You'll learn a lot.

And again - it won't cost anything or obligate you to consult a couple of contractors about the cost of redoing popcorn ceilings.

Q. In a recent column there was a letter regarding the title to their mother's house never being signed over to the kids and now that Mom is in a rest home, "Will the nursing home take the money?"

Pardon me for grandstanding, but if that home was your mother's and now she needs long-term care, why shouldn't the nursing home take the money? The proceeds should take care of your mother, not pad the kids' pockets. Who do you think pays for her care if you drain her assets by increasing your own?

I resent that people think the government - we taxpayers - should now step up and take the responsibility when the mother obviously has assets. My mother paid her own way, why shouldn't yours?

A. You make an important point.

Q. I was hoping you can help me about a home I am interested in purchasing. The issue is that neither the owner nor the local authorities have a copy of the certificate of occupancy. I was wondering if it's a dangerous investment? Also, if it is a safe investment, do I have to get a new certificate of occupancy? Is it expensive? Can this lower the asking price?

Lastly, if I do purchase the home, I plan to add a bathroom and kitchen to the first floor. Do I need to get certificate of occupancies for those? Can this increase my property taxes?

A. Everything you mention is regulated locally. Around here, for instance, a certificate of occupancy is required for the transfer of a multiple dwelling, and also by the lender before it can be mortgaged. A certificate of occupancy is not needed, though, for the sale or mortgaging of a single house. I don't know where you live or what the regulations are there. Same with new construction - it must meet local building codes, which can differ from one place to another.

There's no way, of course, that I can judge whether the property you're considering is a safe investment. If you feel a certificate of occupancy is important, you can always stipulate in your purchase offer that the seller will furnish one.

One thing I can answer for certain is that yes, increasing the square footage of the house should raise your property taxes.

• Edith Lank will respond to questions sent to her at 240 Hemingway Drive, Rochester, N.Y. 14620 (include a stamped return envelope), or readers may email her through askedith.com.

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