Hello!

I'm so pleased to be on board with The Kennedy Team.  I've so enjoyed learning about the state of Arkansas and in particular, the unique real estate market of historic Hot Springs. I'll share what I've learned with Paulia's readers on her blog while I attempt to keep pace with Trademark Real Estate's Number One agents!

How fast have you closed a listing?

Last week, Paulia emailed me that the Kennedy Team had picked up a new listing on a stretch of a Hot Springs' Highway 290.  As I was jotting down the particulars to prepare to market the listing through http://www.Bestofhotsprings.com virtual tours, craigslist, MLS and the likes, another email came through that the property had already been SOLD.   

Now I have worked with a number of real estate clients from all over the country since I began my virtual assistance business over 2 years ago, whose properties have sold in days...usually weeks and recently months, but never in less than 24 hours or in this case, never in less than 2 hours!

I joked with Paulia that the "...ink hadn't even dried on the contract..." and then decided this might make for some interesting blog content. Wow! This Kennedy Team is good!

I asked Paulia to give me a play-by-play...

She wrote, "...as we began to get prepared to officially list the property...we first started with placing a "For Sale" on the fence, and had not even had time to take pictures of the property, nor begin marketing the property in the MLS, online, etc. Within about 1 1/2 hours of placing the sign on the property, the buyer called and WANTED that property. He was very familiar with the property, and lived nearby, so he knew that it was the perfect property for him. Jeff then met him at the property for a quick look, and then to our office to write the contract.  In less than 2 hours, we had an offer and an acceptance on the property."

Amazing!

Having worked with hundreds of listings throughout the years, I often check with my client-agents and brokers regarding the status of their listings as I am always interested in the outcome.  (A bit of a listing-junkie, I find great satisfaction from assisting in marketing a listing and to see it through to the closing day.) If the property hasn't closed, I expect one of two answers:  the deal is both moving along well and I'll have an anticipated closing date, OR, I will be the recipient of a lengthy 'venting' email from the agent explaining the usual snags which can hold up, or worse, yet, cancel the sale of a listing.  (I've often thought the VA really stood for Venting Assistant instead of Virtual Assistant!) 

But when a listing goes 'just right' at Olympic-style speed, it's all worth writing about.  It's pure joy to share!  This particular Kennedy transaction was truly a case of everything going just the right way at the right time.  The Kennedys' had the right product; the buyer had all of the product knowledge needed to make a decision on the spot; and the seller knew exactly what price he wanted to complete the sale.  It was a mutual meeting of the minds; the Yin and the Yang, the Ebb and Flow of the Tide, Karma; you name it and everything went as planned and as it was designed to do.

Of course it helps that the sale was direct-to-the-seller's-agent, (which created a "dual agent" performance on Jeff's part), and no attorneys were needed....factors which can alter the course of a good real estate transaction, and sometimes rightfully so.  Yes, this was a good, old fashioned, simple, sign-on-the-dotted-line sale.

Not only was I intrigued with the speed in the signing of this sale, but the listing-type was unique as well. This property served no other purpose than to house other homeowner's luxury vehicles and 'toys' as opposed to being a residential property or even a second-home resort listing. 

Paulia explained, "Since the time of the sign going up, we've received about 3 calls per day on this property ... purely from the sign (as we didn't even have a chance to begin any marketing on this property).  This property is one of those one-of-a-kind properties that is in great demand.... a nice, clean 5,000 square foot metal storage building/warehouse priced around $300,000 ... complete with a 1,500 square foot heated/cooled apartment area which includes an office area, 3/4 bathroom, living room, and bedroom/ and about 3,500 square feet of heated storage space with electric roll-up doors on about 1.5 acres of cleared flat ground -- very secure with a full chain link fence with razor wire coiled along the top for extra security. It's in a well-lit area with a street light on the edge of the property, and conveniently located on Hwy 290 with easy access. With many homeowners in this resort area being second-home owners and it seems that many of these residents have lots of large toys such as boats, boat trailers, Sea-doos, four-wheelers, extra automobiles, etc.. However, their luxury waterfront homes do not have much extra space for storage of all of these toys. Needless to say, I wish we could find about ten more of these properties to sell.... there's lots of buyers out there that are looking for this kind of property."

So I ask, "How fast have you closed on a listing?"  Share your story with us!

Happy 4^th of July!

Regards,

Janine Gregor for Paulia Kennedy

Note:  The contract was signed in under 2 hours and the actual closing took place in under 2 weeks!