Any disadvantages to using Compass Concierge to prep for sale?

[Anonymous]

We are getting ready to do some prep work on our home in order to get top dollar when we sell. We can use our HELOC or our realtor has offered the Compass Concierge program which fronts the funds interest free. Thoughts on this from anyone who has used it? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

There are a LOT of negative reviews online. Did you want them linked or summarized?

That doesn't mean a given person will have a bad experience, but it doesn't sound like the business is well run, from what you can see online.

[Anonymous]

I have been searching for reviews but all I can find are reviews from employees. If you can provide links I'd be grateful. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a good service. Would love to know more too (good and bad).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been searching for reviews but all I can find are reviews from employees. If you can provide links I'd be grateful. Thank you.

Often what the employees say matters a lot.

Don't you find it very interesting that it is so hard (if not impossible) to find online customer reviews? They have been in business for 8 years.

There would be no incentive to challenge positive reviews, and yet there are none that I can find, either. Interesting. Couple that with some significant problems raised by employee reviews, and it's not inspiring me to set much store by them.

[Anonymous]

https://www.redfin.com/why-sell/concierge

[Anonymous]

My agent recommended a “flipper crew” they get home ready for sale quick for investors. I moved completely out the “flipper crew” attacked. Looked great. I like how then did only repairs etc that added value and cost efficient.

For instance had leak in porch and Floor was peeling concrete. They painted floor, cleaned ceiling and black tarred leak.

My bedroom doors looked like hell from kids and years of abuse. They sanded and patched doors and painted.

Also had a busted through the wall AC that went into garage. They just removed patched hole both sides and painted.

They also left any repair or upgrade undone if it cost more than adds value. Broken attic fan, older windows.

Also did super deep cleaning and painted most rooms. They had some crazy “flipper paint” I had water damage in garage when I bough house (leak fixed) but paint and Sheetrock insane mess and it painted right over. We also did fancy paint in garage floor, but left old garage door.

The people who bought it was lucky. It never looked so good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My agent recommended a “flipper crew” they get home ready for sale quick for investors. I moved completely out the “flipper crew” attacked. Looked great. I like how then did only repairs etc that added value and cost efficient.

For instance had leak in porch and Floor was peeling concrete. They painted floor, cleaned ceiling and black tarred leak.

My bedroom doors looked like hell from kids and years of abuse. They sanded and patched doors and painted.

Also had a busted through the wall AC that went into garage. They just removed patched hole both sides and painted.

They also left any repair or upgrade undone if it cost more than adds value. Broken attic fan, older windows.

Also did super deep cleaning and painted most rooms. They had some crazy “flipper paint” I had water damage in garage when I bough house (leak fixed) but paint and Sheetrock insane mess and it painted right over. We also did fancy paint in garage floor, but left old garage door.

The people who bought it was lucky. It never looked so good.

This sounds sketchy. Did you cover over the defects or actually fix the problems?

[Anonymous]

Can anyone recommend a good "flipper crew" in DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My agent recommended a “flipper crew” they get home ready for sale quick for investors. I moved completely out the “flipper crew” attacked. Looked great. I like how then did only repairs etc that added value and cost efficient.

For instance had leak in porch and Floor was peeling concrete. They painted floor, cleaned ceiling and black tarred leak.

My bedroom doors looked like hell from kids and years of abuse. They sanded and patched doors and painted.

Also had a busted through the wall AC that went into garage. They just removed patched hole both sides and painted.

They also left any repair or upgrade undone if it cost more than adds value. Broken attic fan, older windows.

Also did super deep cleaning and painted most rooms. They had some crazy “flipper paint” I had water damage in garage when I bough house (leak fixed) but paint and Sheetrock insane mess and it painted right over. We also did fancy paint in garage floor, but left old garage door.

The people who bought it was lucky. It never looked so good.

This sounds great! What company did you use for this "flipper crew" and can you give a sense of cost vs cost of home. Example, they charged us $XXXXX on a home we sold for $1.3 M or something

[Anonymous]

A flipper crew is not a company. They are subs who work off the books. My crew I hired does estate sales, divorces, homes bought at auction and foreclosures mainly purchased by Small investors. They don’t do full renovations or anything with permits.

My guys Basically looked quickly like a home inspector and punched out all the small easy to fix things that could be flagged. Then paint, deep cleaning.

And yes they don’t care about issues. For instances daughter bedroom like three years earlier some rainstorm with wind water got in around AC unit and bubbled up Sheetrock. My possible lead paint pealing sunroom concrete floor painted over with heavy floor paint.

Honestly I sold house one year ago and neighbor told me they absolutely love it. I am not doing lead abatement or root cause analysis to sell a home.

Only think that is funny I literally had four Interior doors from 1955 all beat up I was going to replace. They painted and repairs doors as we are selling. Nothing major.

Another think I had water in garage and cut bottom three feet of Sheetrock five years earlier was going to do new Sheetrock one day but they patched and painted. I was shocked how great it looked. I got a 3,000 quote all new Sheetrock in garage after I cut it. They patched it $300 bucks .

These guys were from NY and suprised they have done Potomac mansions. They move in fit two to three weeks and crew bangs out house.

I spent $3,800 on my 1,600 square foot house. It looked amazing. They even cleaned every mirror, washed all windows and scrubbed inside oven.

[Anonymous]

Make sure that if you spend x dollars, you'll get enough more for the house to cover that plus the extra in taxes and commissions for the higher sales price plus enough left over profit to make it worth your effort.

We interviewed a Compass agent, and they recommended a lot of updates prior to selling. However, when we pressed, they acknowledged that we wouldn't necessarily get a higher sales price, but it would make it easier to sell more quickly. So in the end, we would lose money by doing these upgrades.

The another agent said just fix anything broken that could be a deal breaker or tank an inspection.

The agent we went with said just repair noticeably broken or missing things. She specifically said we would never get our money back by just doing improvements because buyers either pay a lot more for a perfect flip or you don't make your money back.

The most sensible advice we've amassed over the years is to just repair or replace broken or missing things. For example, fix flashing, replace a missing cabinet knob or piece of trim. Don't make improvements if you're not doing a 100% flip because you won't get your money back. So don't upgrade the kitchen or a bathroom unless it's the ONLY thing in the house that's below a certain level. Don't make part of your house brand new and up to date if any other part of the house isn't at that level. You probably won't get your money back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make sure that if you spend x dollars, you'll get enough more for the house to cover that plus the extra in taxes and commissions for the higher sales price plus enough left over profit to make it worth your effort.

We interviewed a Compass agent, and they recommended a lot of updates prior to selling. However, when we pressed, they acknowledged that we wouldn't necessarily get a higher sales price, but it would make it easier to sell more quickly. So in the end, we would lose money by doing these upgrades.

The another agent said just fix anything broken that could be a deal breaker or tank an inspection.

The agent we went with said just repair noticeably broken or missing things. She specifically said we would never get our money back by just doing improvements because buyers either pay a lot more for a perfect flip or you don't make your money back.

The most sensible advice we've amassed over the years is to just repair or replace broken or missing things. For example, fix flashing, replace a missing cabinet knob or piece of trim. Don't make improvements if you're not doing a 100% flip because you won't get your money back. So don't upgrade the kitchen or a bathroom unless it's the ONLY thing in the house that's below a certain level. Don't make part of your house brand new and up to date if any other part of the house isn't at that level. You probably won't get your money back.

I forgot to add that painting gets you the most bang for your buck if the paint is outdated or in poor condition. But don't pay a fortune for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A flipper crew is not a company. They are subs who work off the books. My crew I hired does estate sales, divorces, homes bought at auction and foreclosures mainly purchased by Small investors. They don’t do full renovations or anything with permits.

My guys Basically looked quickly like a home inspector and punched out all the small easy to fix things that could be flagged. Then paint, deep cleaning.

And yes they don’t care about issues. For instances daughter bedroom like three years earlier some rainstorm with wind water got in around AC unit and bubbled up Sheetrock. My possible lead paint pealing sunroom concrete floor painted over with heavy floor paint.

Honestly I sold house one year ago and neighbor told me they absolutely love it. I am not doing lead abatement or root cause analysis to sell a home.

Only think that is funny I literally had four Interior doors from 1955 all beat up I was going to replace. They painted and repairs doors as we are selling. Nothing major.

Another think I had water in garage and cut bottom three feet of Sheetrock five years earlier was going to do new Sheetrock one day but they patched and painted. I was shocked how great it looked. I got a 3,000 quote all new Sheetrock in garage after I cut it. They patched it $300 bucks .

These guys were from NY and suprised they have done Potomac mansions. They move in fit two to three weeks and crew bangs out house.

I spent $3,800 on my 1,600 square foot house. It looked amazing. They even cleaned every mirror, washed all windows and scrubbed inside oven.

OP, this is a very reasonable approach. The Compass person I talked to was suggesting spending tens of thousands of dollars, which wouldn't be worth it. When we sold, we spend about $3K to repair things, paint most of the house, deep clean, restain the deck, and clean windows. I'm sure we made that back on our 3,600 sq ft home that sold for $1.225M. Once you start spending $10K, it's unlikely that you'll make that back. At that point, you're just making it easier for the agent to sell it for the same price it would have sold for if you didn't sink the $ into it.

[Anonymous]

I can’t speak to Compass’s services, but we used a precursor to it a few years ago to sell our condo and it was fabulous. At first I was surprised by how much they were charging but the redesign was fantastic and we had nearly a dozen offers after the first weekend. Condo sold for well over asking price.