Sold - Finally!

After Five months of consistent Marketing, 4264 Hogback Road is Sold!

Closing in less than a month, the Seller can now achieve his goal of moving to a desired community.  This Seller had his home listed prior to me with two other brokerages for almost a year.

It was suggested to him, that his home would not sell unless he reduced his price into the $240's.  He walked in to my office a very frustrated man.  He told me he had not had one showing in over three months.  He told me he had just "fired" his agent and wanted to know what I would do to help him sell his home.  He shared with me that his home represented a large portion of his nest egg and that he wanted/needed to net as much as possible.

I suggested that all was not hopeless, and discussed "re-branding" his property.  I told him that I felt the key to a successful transaction would be to find a Buyer that appreciated the intrinsic beauty of his home, things like the mature landscaping, the views both front and back, the large private back yard, the open concept layout and the oversized garage.  We (he) removed some older and stained carpet in his basement and installed a laminate flooring.   We chose an ambitious market price of $289,000, $10,000 higher than his last listed price.

I took a minimum listing (60 days), and told him that I understood he was wary of realtors and I was willing to earn his trust. I knew this was risky. 

During the sales process, he would call me, frequently, and talk about his frustrations with his home selling process, and many times I had to remind him that I was responsible only from the time we negotiated to have me market his home.  He was not upset with me, my marketing or my effort, just sharing his frustration with a process which, for him, began over a year ago.  Some times all I did was listen...

During this time period, I marketed the property per our plan, held strategic open houses and had 18 showings (including four by me), and nine people through during two open houses.  We received an offer that was never actaulized. 

By the end of May he felt comfortable enough that I was the right realtor for him and extended his listing by three more months. 

About six weeks ago, circumstances changed for him.  He told me there was an urgency to move as fast as possible.  We discussed alternatives and pricing and reduced the price by $15,000 to $274,900.  I called back buyers I had introduced and agents who had shown the property and informed them of the price reduction.  We received an offer (conditional on the sale of the purchasers property) within one week, and after some negotiation, accepted a price a few hundred dollars less than list.  The backup property sold in one month, and now he has the happy issue of finding a new home.

He has been so happy with the service he has received that he has already referred me to two other people and his brother, who is not interested in selling at this time, but will consider me when the time comes. And I am in the process of referring him to a Buyer Representative, once we narrow down where it is he wants to call home.  Perhaps I spent more time with him than normal, in the end, it was worth it.  I now have another "raving" fan =)