Last October I bought a townhome in Scottsdale Monterey for $500,000. It was listed at $550,000.
Built in 1979. Three bedrooms, two baths, 1,841 square feet. Nothing was wrong with it. The previous owner had taken care of the place. New kitchen cabinets in 2015, sealed ductwork, added insulation, a solar tube in the hallway. It was clean, and it was twenty years behind.
That's the house most buyers scroll past. It doesn't photograph well and it doesn't feel new. It also doesn't need rescuing, which is the part people get wrong about this work. You don't need a wreck. You need a house where the bones are right and the finishes are dated.
We put $87,000 into it. Kitchen down to flat-panel cabinetry, quartz counters, a new island with a breakfast bar, subway tile, stainless appliances. Wood-look flooring through the whole house, replacing herringbone parquet. Both bathrooms got new vanities, new tile, new fixtures. New lighting and ceiling fans throughout.
The vaulted ceiling and the corner fireplace stayed. Those were already the best things about it.
Purchase and sale prices are public MLS record. $587,000 is the purchase plus the renovation, and nothing else. It does not include title fees on the buy, the 3% selling costs on the sale, title fees on the sale, or carry. All of that comes out of the $113,000 gap before anything is left. Price per square foot went from $271.59 to $380.23 on the same 1,841 feet.
Before and after
drag to compare
How it actually sold
Ryan’s accountWe went coming soon. I wanted to hold it for the weekend and run an open house, but it was the middle of summer in Arizona and we had carrying costs. The first person who walked through offered $690,000 with a thirty day close. We took it.
Before we signed, with our counter still out, another agent called. Her clients loved the property and an offer was coming.
It came in at $665,000. After what we put into that house, the finish level, the location, I didn’t counter it. I didn’t respond at all. I accepted the $690,000.
She followed up on their offer. I told her we’d accepted another one. She said the house was perfect for her clients. I told her their number was so low I hadn’t taken it seriously, and that I’d already told her other people were looking.
Then she called back and asked what it would take.
Here’s what I told her. Full price. Seven hundred thousand, cash, ten day close. If something comes up in inspection, I’m not fixing it. And if the first buyer cancels, your clients can step in, but I want an earnest deposit to hold that position.
They agreed to all of it.
The inspection on the first contract turned up a few small items. We respectfully declined to fix them. That buyer was looking at the house as an Airbnb, as a business, and the numbers stopped working for him. He walked.
The second buyer closed. Seven hundred thousand, cash, ten days.
I’m glad it went that way. They got a great property, and the location is second to none.
That’s the true story of what happened to this property, in my own words.
Ryan Moxley
The rest of it
after renovation
When I price your house, or tell you a remodel won’t pay for itself, I’m not reading it off a comp sheet. I’ve written the checks.
Call me at (480) 227-9143 Scottsdale luxury market →Ryan Moxley was the owner and the listing agent on this property. Purchase and sale figures are from public ARMLS record (MLS 6935386 and 7056111). Renovation cost is the owner’s own figure and excludes closing costs, selling costs, and carry.