I recently represented a sweet three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Santa Monica. It had approximately 1,700 square feet, was built in 1948 and was remodeled in 1990. Since 1990, the owner replaced tile with granite countertops, added all new stainless-steel appliances, refinished the wood floors and removed the cottage cheese ceiling for a smooth finish that is more to people's liking. The owners are immaculate people, and their home is so clean you could eat off the floor. So where were all the owner-user buyers?

Don't be surprised if the same happens to you. The reason is simple. When a home is priced at nearly $2 million, you are looking at some really hefty payments: The property taxes alone are $2,000 a month. Add a big mortgage and you are easily paying $10,000 or more a month. To qualify, a buyer must earn over $300,000 a year. Chances are this buyer is probably leasing a home or condo that is totally fresh and new, with all the bells and whistles, to satisfy every desire. Apartments and condos built in the past five years cater heavily to lifestyle, emotions and perceptions of the perfect, untouchable dream. Sure, tenants are dumping $7,000 a month into the ocean paying rent and not building equity, but they are getting what they are craving.

After drenching themselves in shear luxury for several years, they are absolutely not willing to move into a home that looks like their parents' house or, worse yet, Grandma's house, no matter how clean and immaculate it might be and if it was nicely remodeled. The fear of never being able to own a home doesn't faze them, and the thought of being a renter forever doesn't bring them to fear either.

Now, there are exceptions, of course. There are plenty of Europeans, Asians and Middle Eastern buyers with different values, priorities, tastes and mindset, for example. The typical American buyer who can afford prices here on the Westside of Los Angeles has been living in a home or apartment that is anywhere from almost new to 40 years old and remodeled. Imagine someone living in a country where homes are over 100 years old. A 50-year-old home may look quite modern and hip in comparison.

There are many exceptions that can produce a motivated buyer for an older home in good condition. Imagine a buyer coming into a big inheritance, a buyer whose company just went public or a buyer receiving a great year-end bonus with a child on the way. Imagine a buyer with wealthy parents helping them out, or two people getting married and pooling their wealth and income.

These are all people who are absolutely qualified to purchase a home, but they want a home equal to or better than what they are used to. This means they want a home that is virtually perfect, meeting all the criteria of a newly built home, assuming they can afford it. Otherwise, they may just keep renting. Home flippers and developers have totally figured this out and have, in fact, nailed it, to the point of buyers jumping in and paying full price often on the day a property hits the market.

When a homeowner tries to compare their home that was remodeled three times over the past 10 years with remnants of a 10-year-old remodel in places and an oval jacuzzi tub in the master bath that no one has used in 10 years, it just won't qualify as the same offering and most likely will not receive the same enthusiasm from buyers. Remember, there are plenty of buyers, but you may need to wait for a specific buyer, and this buyer will probably expect pricing consideration given that you didn't professionally gut your house down to the studs and rebuild 90% of it per the current trends in the past six months.

Hopefully, this provides some insight into the changes in today's buying trends, types of buyers and factors that influence motivation. If you have different observations, I would be pleased to know of them.

For more information, please call Ron Wynn at 310-963-9944, or email him at Ron@RonWynn.com. To find out more about Ron and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

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