1211 Stophlet St., Fort Wayne, Indiana. 1211 was a beautiful older home with tons of character. This home featured a lot of natural woodwork and built in shelves. The hardwood floors upstairs were original and the staircase was grand. It was well cared for and move in ready, although the buyer would probably need to do some updating.
We listed the home at $33,900. Yes, I said $33,900. Sadly the neighborhood was deteriorating and there were a lot of abandoned homes and many that were condemned. As sad as it was to see the surrounding homes, it was nice to see 1211 standing tall and proud and full of character.
It took us a total of 111 days to sell it. Not bad considering the area. It sold for $27,000 to an older woman that probably wasn't going to be doing any updating at all. She was very excited to find a home in this condition for this price.
Doesn't sound very exciting yet does it? The reason we loved 1211 so much was because of the sellers.
The Smiths were my (Jared) step father's ex wife's parents. You follow me? Good, because I almost lost myself for a second..
The Smiths were in their 90s. Mr. Smith was a giant of a man. His hand had to be twice the size of mine. He carried a cane and had been legally blind for most of his life. He was as sharp as a tack and had the DRIEST sense of humor and ALWAYS had us laughing. Mrs. Smith was as sweet as they come. She was incredibly thankful and always had nice things to say. Every conversation we had with her left us with a good feeling.
They lived in this house for over 70 years! The hardest part of the deal was how attached they were to 1211. This had been their home for almost their entire lives. They had all the paperwork for any repairs or upgrades over the years, and when we did actually put it on the market there were tears shed. We only had a few showings but it turns out that was all we needed.
Closing took a while... Mr. and Mrs. Smith were very slow signers, and with Mr. Smith we had to position the paper under his pen because of his blindness. We definitely shared some laughs! When it was over we all got our hugs (yup, we're huggers) and we got to see how happy and how thankful the Smiths were. It gives me goose bumps to even think about it.
I think the point of my blog is that although we are all salespeople, and most of us only get paid when we sell... this business is incredibly personal. Is it cutthroat? Yes. Are we all grown ups with thick skin? We sure as hell better be. Do we need to get out there and kick some ass and and MAKE SALES?? YES!
This business is personal. It's about (along with selling) helping people, connecting with people, and getting people what they want. It's not about a quick sale... unless you don't want to be around long. What are your thoughts? Jared and Amanda.
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