On the House: Selling home before tour can cause headaches

Home and Garden More Home & Garden On The House By Jim Weiker The Columbus Dispatch Sunday July 20, 2014 5:08 AM

The annual Parade of Homes, which kicked off yesterday in Delaware County, offers an unlikely quandary for a homebuilder: Do I try to sell the home before the parade?

Of course the answer must be yes. After all, no builder even the most comfortable can afford to sit on a million-dollar home indefinitely.

But selling a home before the parade can carry a big price, as veteran builders know.

For builders, the homes serve as million-dollar billboards. They want the houses to shout, not whisper, and they dress them accordingly, with features and designs that might be over the top for average homeowners.

If the home isnt finished when it is sold, buyers are likely to want it decorated the way they want it, which isnt necessarily the way builders want their advertisement displayed.

In addition, bringing a buyer into the process midstream can turn a cruise to the finish into a mad dash of fits and starts as buyers ponder each wall color, doorknob and faucet.

Its a blessing and a curse, having a buyer, said Lee Simonides, director of sales with

3 Pillar Homes, which sold its parade model a few months ago. Having a buyer certainly slows the process down. ... Every day there is a change.

Simonides was happy to sell the parade home, but the sale required several changes, including redesigning the secondary entrance. A few weeks ago, as the home was being finished, Simonides was still waiting for a decision on the lower-level flooring.

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On the House: Selling home before tour can cause headaches