About 3 weeks ago, a dear client and friend of mine texted me early one morning to let me know that they were thinking of moving out of state and selling their home.
Here is the backstory; In 2010, we searched high and low until we found their perfect home. It was a well preserved "1950's special". You know those houses that only had one owner since it had been built? Well this one had been owned by the Langer Family (Of Langer Deli fame). This was the home that they had started and raised their family in, and it had the orange shag carpet to prove it. With some finesse, a high offer price and a lovely letter, (not to mention some roundabout connections that I discovered), we were chosen as the successful bidders.
My clients spent months and several hundred thousand dollars lovingly planning out a gorgeous remodel. The took out the false ceiling in the living room to create a vaulted ceiling. They turned the kitchen into a 'KITCHEN" with a 10 ft island to name just a new of the upgrades they made....I could go on and on.
Ok, so now back to March 2013....
Our first step was to bring in a stager (although there was not much for her to do as the house was already quite perfect). We did need some advice on furniture placement in a couple of rooms though. I hired my stager to come in and do a consult with my client. The next step was to get some repairs done in the home. There were some scuffs and dings that needed to be taken care of. The yard needed some colour. I went to the store to buy some flowers and plants. I stopped by another store to pick up some cushions and other decorative items. We are now just 4 days into the process and the ball is rolling pretty quickly. My client is motivated and full of energy. She got more things done in 4 days than I have seen sellers do in 4 weeks. How did I get so lucky?
Through our conversations, my clients tell me that they would prefer not to hold their house open as they do not want hundreds of strangers to come through their home. Also, they have cats and it would be too risky to have the doors opened several times, as we would likely lose a cat or two. As a Realtor, I know that the only way to get the best possible price for a property is to expose it to the largest number of people. It seems I was not that lucky after all...my hands were tied.....What would I do? My clients did not feel that getting top dollar was their priority. Selling their house quickly and to a nice family was! (I can tell you that I have never come across a seller like this in my career...especially in a seller's market! Looks like Karma still exists in the world!) I assessed the value of the property, the sellers came up with a number that would work for them and I did what I was told to do....Sell the house for the price they wanted and show it to the least amount of people...or only do private one on one showings...no open houses.
We also decided that we would proceed with preparing the house to be put on the open market after spring break was over (Just in case Plan A did not go through, we would have the house ready for Plan B--open houses).
I contacted a friend of mine that had been looking for a house in the area. I showed her the house.
I am pleased to report that from the morning that I received the text from my clients letting me know that they wanted to sell, to finding the buyer for her house, less than 7 days elapsed. No open houses, only one couple visited the house, and they bought it!
My clients have already submitted an offer on a house in their new state (Thanks to the wonderful agent I was able to refer them to), and we are working together to get both escrows closed concurrently. Now that is a happy ending!
Who wants to be next?
