Gorgeous yard but no place for swingset - dealbreaker?
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Anonymous
| We are interested in a house with a beautiful professionally landscaped backyard. The yard slopes upward and is landscaped with a series of terraces with dry stack stone walls and lots of pretty plantings. There is a large deck perfect for entertaining. The house is in great condition inside and out. However, it's been sitting for 271 days. Our agent says it's because the yard does not have space for a swingset or for kicking a soccer ball around. This is in the 'burbs (Oakton) so I guess people expect that sort of thing. We don't care because our kids are busy teenagers and hardly ever home. But is the lack of a usable grassy yard really such a big defect that an otherwise great house would sit for 271 days, on par with houses that back to the Beltway, houses covered in EIFS, etc? We like the house but we are also concerned about investment value. Would you buy this house? |
Anonymous
| No |
Anonymous
| That might be a dealbreaker for some, but I don't think it's why this house has sat on the market for so long. I'm guessing it's overpriced. |
Anonymous
| Visit on a rainy day and see how the drainage works with a yard like that. |
Anonymous
|
Something sounds off here, might be the pricing so look at the sales comps on Redfin. I know we've passed on some properties that had terraced back yards and huge electrical polls in the front yard...
Don't like a landscaping gradation that channels water to the house either. But, there's a price for everything, so find the one for you to do it. No backyard on the east coast is not a deal-breaker. |
Anonymous
Yep. There is something else wrong with it. A house doesn't sit on the market for that long b/c it doesn't have room for a swingset or to kick a soccer ball around. A house sits on the market for that long b/c it is overpriced or has some other serious problem with it. |
Anonymous
I agree with this. I would never buy a house with a yard that sloped toward the house. That's just asking for a wet basement. |
Anonymous
| Having just purchased a new home, I can tell you that space for a swing set would not have put me off. I worry about drainage on yards like you describe, but it is usually pretty easy to tell if that is a problem or not. My guess is that the house was put on the market last year when things were slow, it was probably overpriced and the days on market went up and up. Now that the market is hot, people see the days on market and stay away assuming something is wrong. If you like the house, if it seems to be priced fair (presumably the price has dropped from it's original list price), and you can't see any obvious problems, I say GO FOR IT. You may end up getting yourself a bargain. Good luck. |
Anonymous
|
Ask the listing agent some good questions - other offers on the house? has an inspection been recently done? and can you share it? comb over the disclosures, etc.
Unfortunately your agent isn't asking the tough questions here, no doubt to get a deal done but still... S/he should be on your side and try to figure this out. |
Anonymous
| Our kids NEVER used the set, they wanted to go to the playground that had more stuff and more kids to play with. |
Anonymous
|
it would have been a deal breaker for me personally, but it doesn't sound like it is an issue for you with teenagers. In Oakton, there has got to be some other reason why the house isn't selling, though.
I would be concerned about yards sloping toward the house as well. I can't tell you how happy we were to find a level yard when we were househunting! |
Anonymous
|
Most people don't grow up with swingsets in the yard, especially around here. Even in the burbs, it's not common because most lots are really small.
Honestly sounds like a really unmotivated seller. |
Anonymous
| We have a uphill sloped (hill really) backyard and do not have drainage problems. We do have a flat area that is maybe 20 feet wide although the grassy part of that is smaller. My kids did figure out how to play soccer in the yard - although obviously not full sided games. No playset when they were younger although we did have a swing in a tree. We went to the playground, or now they go play pick up soccer at a nearby turf field. |
Anonymous
| I would be worried about the slope only if it is very close to the house. If there is a good slope grading 25-30 feet of the house, and then a slope upward beyond that, then it would be a non-issue. Our house has good grading near the foundation. When it rains, water clears up from the yard within a couple hours. |
Anonymous
| Ask their listing agent WHY they're selling? gauge motivation. |