Successful stories from the field

Last week, this Alki charmer closed, and success might be an understatement. We garnered seven very competitive offers (and nine total!) and went $225k over list price! That’s nearly 25% over the asking price. Again, a great result for the seller. 

But the real story is how do you do it? 

For us, this is what we do and it seems like second nature. Now that’s not to say it’s easy, because it definitely is not, but with some thoughtful planning and diligent execution, success is your reward. 

So here’s the tried and true plan: 

Home preparation + Market timing + Pricing & Execution = Success. And let the hungry buyers do their thing! 

Home preparation - This seller came to us last October. After a house tour we could ascertain that house had great bones but a lot of outdated systems. The home was also a candidate for some style upgrades. The owner had already completed some major upgrades  but needed help getting the final pieces together. We looked at several options for home enhancements- (1) a traditional contractor (who manages every aspect of the project, gets paid as work is being completed), (2) a home services partner (manages work and gets paid at closing, often at a higher rate as they are fronting the capital) and (3) a piecemeal approach (seller work, agent provided sub-contractors, and agent help). After working through estimates and budgets, the seller went with option 3. Not every owner has an unlimited budget, access to capital or equity to play with. We were able to provide referrals for light carpentry, floor re-finishing, carpets, window repair and painting. The seller was also handy enough to do some of the lighter work. We even chipped in where necessary. Not every thing on the initial assessment was attended to, namely the kitchen was a candidate for an overhaul, but we felt the owner put the correct amount of resources to the important areas.  Paint, flooring, cleaning and yard can get you the biggest bang for your buck. He also didn’t skimp on quality of major home features (higher quality roofing, furnace and tankless water heater). These may seem like unglamorous places to invest, but todays buyer pool (and their agents and inspectors) all will look really hard at these home features. It is easy to spot where corners were cut. These are also big ticket items that most buyers will not be able to budget for after putting 20%+ down.

Before Photos:

After

Once the house repairs were completed, the house was almost ready to list but was missing one important element - staging. We felt staging was an important component to getting the wanted results. Teaming with a local West Seattle based staging company, the house really shined once complete. After professional photos were completed, we were ready to hit the market.

A lot of time and effort went into house planning and prep. But the work wasn’t done yet. Marketing the property is somewhat of an art. Proper presentation and timing are uber important to setting realistic expectations and obtaining good results.

Market timing - coming out of the slower winter months you don’t have a proven track record of buyer activity or better pricing. West Seattle median price had been on a three month slide. It’s no secret that spring is a good time to sell. But, it was the last week of January. Economic uncertainty and winter blahs were in the air. Weather can also play a role in buyer activity. In fact, during the first 15 minutes of the second open house, we saw sun, heavy rain, heavy hail, snow flakes and sun again. Snow hit most of the region but Seattle was spared from Icyroad-armageddon (when Seattle gets 1/2”+ of snow/ice but becomes almost undriveable).

Pricing - we were confident that we had given attention to the things we can control, condition and reasonable pricing, that buyers would respond. 

Execution - a couple of days after coming onto the market we were not disappointed. Web activity was strong, which led to busy open houses and agent showing/previews. While we very busy, the house is not for everyone.  Good activity does not equate to offers. We worked through the potential leads and their agents and in the end received seven legitimately strong offers. All the agents did a great job of putting together good offers that represented what their clients would pay. All were unique and different in their own way. In the end - three of the buyers and agents wrote very strong, compelling offers that went far and above the others. The winning offer typically does something the other offers can’t/won’t do. And this case was no exception. The buyer did pay a higher price, but we feel they got a great conditioned home in an iconic Alki location. The house still has equity potential both from the area and from potential expanding/renovation. The seller, was rewarded for his effort and investment

At the end of the day, we had a happy seller client and a buyer who received a well conditioned home,  

If I’m a seller, Can I duplicate these results?

Today’s buyer pool is willing to pay a lot of money for a home. But, they have expectations for what they are willing to spend that money on. If you are thinking of selling and not sure what your home needs, we can help you figure out what your house needs to appeal to todays buyers. We can assist in navigating contractor estimates and provide options of where the best use of your resources should be used. Time and money are not unlimited, but we can provide choices and options and help set reasonable expectations.