Thinking about downsizing your home and you’re not sure where to start? We can help big time! Let me tell you about one of the many clients that we have helped. Just recently we got a call from estate attorney Phil Durkin. He said, “Dobi Team we have a tough one for you.” We were thinking, that's what we specialize in, the tough ones. In this situation, Mom and dad had passed on to better place after fighting many health issues. The estate had several brothers and sisters that lived all over the country. The middle daughter had sold her house and moved in with her mom to help take care of her. She used the money from the sale of her home to build an addition onto the estate home. This was a complicated transaction, but those details are for another blog. I have to say Phil handled it all pretty well but he couldn't have done it without us. The daughter taking care of her mom had the daunting task of getting rid of everything in the house. Other family members were unable to help since they lived far away. The daughter wasn’t feeling well herself, which added to the difficulty of getting this home ready for sale.
When I met with the seller (daughter) I discovered she was going to have some surgery done in the time frame that we needed to list the home for sale. The seller wasn't able to help in the clean out or the staging of the home. No one had any money to pay for the clean out or the staging that was needed. So as part of our listing fee we fronted the money and the people needed to get that done. It was a bit of challenge since she was not feeling well and she had a dog that wanted to be a part of the work crew. She worried about the dog constantly.
The first thing we needed to do was to get everyone's personal items out of the house and get them shipped back to the family members that wanted their stuff. We all know how that is when you have kids and you want to save everything and never throw anything away. The kids gave us a very small list because they had started to do the same collecting for their children. Depending on what is left and the condition of the items, we hold a yard sale. Anything left unsold is donated to different charities and other organizations. We fill a dumpster with what is left after yard sales and donations.
The next step is an inspection of the home with a certified home inspector to find out what's wrong with the home. The DobiTeam will then fix the major problems and move on to the staging process. It's amazing what the adult children say when we finishing staging the home. Some break down in tears because it had been so long since the home had looked so good. I remember this seller wanted us to use her furniture and she wanted us to set up the way her mom use to have the home. That's what we did and it looked great. She was very happy with the results. Now that everything looks good on the inside, it’s time to move to the exterior of the home.
We have to get buyers to come into the house so that starts with the curb appeal of the home. It was time to do the landscaping and, wow!, that was a big job. The weeds were the size of trees and the grass in some areas were as tall as me. The front of the home hadn't been mulched in a few years and the flowers were all dead. The driveway looked like it needed to be redone. The back deck and siding of the home was covered with mold. We cut out all the weeds, cut the grass and added mulch and flowers. Then we pressure washed the outside of the home and deck. We sealed the drive and bam!, we had the curb appeal we needed. The sellers were very happy but the neighbors were even happier. This is what you need to do to get the home ready to sell on the market. The real magic is what happens next.
Just like Apple products have a coming soon campaign for their new phone, we do this as well for our estate homes. We have the “Coming Soon” marketing plan. The goal of that marketing plan is to attract as many buyers to that home as we can. Our estate home was a unique home and it required marketing to a unique buyer. This home was designed for in law living and the niche home owner. We have the tools and the ability to provide that unique marketing solution. As a result, within a short time the home went under agreement. The buyers had their home inspection and, because we did so much of the work up front, we didn’t have many things to worry about. We went into purchase and sales right away. The buyer’s agent did a good job on this transaction as well, which is always helpful. It doesn't end there.
We also have a system to help the seller find a place to live because sometimes circumstances make it difficult for the seller to accomplish this one their own. Our team has specialists that help you find either a rental home or apartment. We also have buyer agents that can help you find another home. Now it's time to get the home through to the end and have a happy successful closing for everyone. This is where we really shine! There are several things left to be done to have a happy ending and we are here on these difficult situations to make that happen. On the moving day for this estate home, the sellers we were there to make sure everything went smoothly. In most cases that's the hardest day of all. The seller has done so much up to this point, thinking they have done more for these buyers than anyone would have done and, sometimes, they have. Except the buyers don't see any of this work being done and, as a matter of fact, have no idea what it took to get the home to look the way it did.
In the purchase and sales contract there is a provision for a final walk through of the home. The home has to broom swept clean and all personal items have to be removed. The home has to be in good working order. We are there during this final walk through to make sure all goes well. We’re there to give an extra hand where needed because sometimes, many times, the seller has not prepared the home for transfer. We go in and do the final sweep of the home and make sure the seller didn't miss anything.
Now the happy ending of our referred estate home, the seller moved into her new place happy as can be and the siblings got all their stuff and money. The buyers did their walk through and couldn't find a thing wrong with the house and the expressed how happy they were and how smooth everything went. The best story was the neighbor next door to the seller. I had to drop something off to the seller after the closing. The seller wanted me to meet her at her cousin’s house. Her cousin lived right next door to the house we sold. When I got there the cousin insisted that I come in and have something to eat. I politely said that I didn't want to eat because I had already eaten. She said that she couldn’t wait to talk to me and that I needed to sit, so I did. She wanted to tell me that we did such an outstanding job of helping her cousin. She thought we were the hardest working real estate team she has ever seen. She went on and on about how polite everyone was, how hard they worked and how nice the home looked after we were done. I was so proud of our team! We did what we came to do, build equity and transform lives. So if your looking for help and you don't know where start click here.
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