"You can see the teardowns have started," Frumentino said.

The realtor explained there are several reasons why this home might be targeted as a teardown. It has a good location near the Edens Expressway, is in a fine school district and has a large lot.

She said Jones may need to pursue two paths in his quest to sell his home. First, he should contact builders to learn if they are interested in his property. "You need to send out some test balloons," she said.

If they are and their price is satisfactory, he could sell the home as a teardown without having to make any alterations to it. "Someone isn't going to want to put money into it if someone is going to come and take it down," she said.

A builder, she explained, will not even have to step inside the house to determine interest in purchasing it. He would, however, want to know about the size of the lot, which Jones said is 70 by 160 feet.

"You put the word out to the builders and they wont' even come into the house. They'll walk the lot." she said.

She recommended that Jones have his survey available for a builder to review or, if he cannot find it, to have an appraiser prepare a new one, which she estimated would cost about $250 to $300.

The survey will confirm the lot's size and give other information about, for instance, set backs. It will enable a builder to determine what structure could be built in place of the ranch.

Frumentino said the 70 foot wide lot will likely be seen by builders as attractive because it is large enough to accommodate a new structure that may have features popular in a new construction, such as a three car garage.

"You need 70 feet (in width) for a builder to see a lot as valuable," she said.

Another advantage of selling to builders is that it will take some time for them to go through the process of getting village permits for constructing a new home Since Jones does not know when construction of his new town home will be completed, he envisions wanting to live in his current home for at least a year-perhaps longer:

"The good thing is that if a builder takes this, he'll let you live here as long as you want" she said. If, however, Jones cannot reach a suitable price with a builder then he will likely want to sell his home to a young family or even to empty nesters who want the convenience of one-level living.

If that is the route he chooses to take then, Frumentino suggested some minor alterations to the home's interior. The living and dining room, for instance, have avocado green carpeting, which Frumentino recommended removing to reveal the hardwood floors beneath.

"The avocado color is dated," she said. "I'd almost fight you on that," said Jones, explaining that the floor is not in stellar condition because he once installed screws to keep the floors from squeaking. Frumentino, however, maintained that hardwood floors are more appealing to buyers than carpet.

Looking at the hardwood floor of a closet, she said, "If they're anything close to this condition, than I'd go with them. Hardwood floors with screw holes are better than this carpeting." She also suggested removing a patterned blue wallpaper from one of the bathrooms and an orange plaid paper from one of the bedrooms. "The wallpaper is busy. It's detracting from the size of the rooms;" she said.

Whatever course Jones ends up taking, Frumentino also suggested contacting several real estate agents and asking them to prepare market appraisals so that he can begin to get an idea of what price his property may bring. "It's not unusual to get two or three points of view on value," she said.
Realtors expect to perform such, a service with the hope that they will be selected to represent the homeowner. "Then you go with the Realtor with whom you have the best rapport," she said.