Natalie Lynch, my team member and I listed the house in Commack, Ny a relatively short time ago. The seller's situation was kind of difficult and we promised that we would go the extra mile to get the job done. He needed to sell and we encouraged him to price it right and he was willing. Now here is the run down...
We posted the lisitng on the mls. We put up the EXIT Realty sign. We scheduled the first open house. We set it up where the house was not being shown until the first open house to help create some pent up demand. Then the hard work began...We walked the neighborhood and promoted the open house. We visted local businesses and promoted the open house. We knocked doors in the neighborhood again promoting the open house and the new listing. We advertised the open house on line and in print. My team members kicked in and we created a great deal of exposure for the property.
Finally, it was open house day! The house was held open for two hours and we had 62 people through!! Several agents came through with their clients and indicated they would be sending in offers. We also took one offer right during the open house. Over the next few days additional offers came in. It seems having a large amount of people present and competing for the property had worked just as we intended. We negotiated the offers and in the end we were able to get our client an offer above the list price.
The engineers report was completed, contracts were signed and we were on the way to closing on July 25th.
The sister living in the house was also in need of help so we began to work to help meet her needs. We put her in touch with an individual who would arrange an "estate sale" of the furniture. We posted the additional furniture she needed to sell on line for her. We helped provide options for her next home. She found an apartment that she was happy with but could not move in until August 1. So after conversation with her attorney and a confirmation from the buyers attorney closing was pushed back to August 1.
So closing day of August 1 was approaching and all seemed well. Then the sky began to turn grey and the thunder rolled in.
The buyer's agent called on Thursday the 21st of July and said "we are set for closing on Monday, July 25th!" Monday the 25th???? That is not what we were planning for. It seems the buyer's attorney never got the confirmation from the buyer that the August 1 date was ok. The buyer was in need of a place to live and did not wish to wait until the 1st. In Commack, NY the contracts are drawn up by the attorneys and since the seller's attorney never reduced the change to writing it looked like the only solution was going to be for the seller to be out by the 25th!
The situation was complicated by the buyer as they proceeded to insist that if closing was not the 25th and possession not delivered on the 25th then they were not going to close at all. And since buyers are a little more scarce in the current market we did not wish to lose them and start over!
So Natalie and I jumped in. We packed and cleaned. We found people to take away the last donations. We packed and cleaned some more. We sorted. We comforted the sister. We packed and cleaned some more. We purchased boxes and tape. We packed and cleaned some more.
The buyers walk through was scheduled for noon on the 25th. We arrived at 8am that day and got the last bit of things out of the home and cleaned some more!! In the end the walk through went fine. The buyers showed up at the attorneys and we had a closing.
Hallelujah! We did go the extra mile and we got the job done as we promised. At the end of the day, it feels good when your client is happy and well served, even if it is a little tiring!
Comments(3)