One of the most rewarding parts of real estate is helping clients navigate the unexpected. Recently, a past client contacted me to list the same home I had helped her purchase several years ago. She had invested significant time and resources into improving the property, including a new foundation, roof, windows, and furnace. She had also remodeled both bathrooms and updated the kitchen. In short, many of the major improvements buyers look for had already been completed. The plan seemed straightforward: sell her current home and purchase another property that had just become available and checked all the boxes on her wish list.
Unfortunately, before we could secure a buyer for her home, the replacement property went under contract. With the preferred property no longer available, my client decided to withdraw her home from the market. The listing was removed, and the sign and lockbox came down. At that point, it seemed the move might be postponed indefinitely. Then something unexpected happened.
An agent from outside the area contacted me regarding the withdrawn property. Their clients had previously seen the home online and remained interested, despite it no longer being actively marketed. With my client's permission, access was granted for a showing. The result? The buyers loved the home, and we soon had a contract in place. Now we faced a new challenge: finding a replacement property. The original home my client wanted was no longer available, and the active inventory at the time offered only a few possibilities that didn't quite meet her needs. Rather than relying solely on the MLS, I began reaching out to fellow agents throughout the area to see if they knew of any upcoming opportunities.
One conversation led to a promising lead. An agent I contacted had recently met with a homeowner who was considering selling but had not yet listed the property. As we discussed the details, it became clear that the home offered many of the features my client had been hoping to find. In fact, she had visited the property years earlier and remembered it well. And it has some of the very much-wanted features and sits on the same street as the first, not-unavailable replacement house.
The timing worked out perfectly. With cooperation, communication, patience, and a great deal of coordination among everyone involved, both transactions came together successfully. In the end, two properties changed hands in Canon City on the same day—without either property ever being listed in the MLS.
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