Last month I helped a my client, P.H., sell his Dublin home at 6833 McDevitt Dr for full list price in just 6 days, after it was listed by another agent for 32 days with just a few showings and not a single offer.
P.H. owned a newer home in the Kililea subdivision of Dublin, near Coffman High School and across from Cardinal Health. This subdivision is very desirable (area schools are just 1 mile away).
P.H. had a problem. He was in the process of moving to Florida. As a matter of fact, he already had a pending contract on a new home in Tampa. Unfortunately, his Dublin home, which he listed with a Realtor (from another brokerage), has been sitting on the market for more than a month. No offers, only a handful of showings, and P.H. was packed up and ready to leave for Florida.
P.H. decided to cancel the existing listing contract and look for a RE/MAX agent. When he purchased his Florida, home he had a very good experience with a Tampa RE/MAX agent, so he decided to switch to RE/MAX to sell his home.
I actually had shown his home during the previous listing period to one of my own buyers, who was not impressed at all. The house appeared cluttered and outdated and was very overpriced. As is common practice, I left my card on the kitchen desk before we left. P.H. kept the card and called me after he fired his first agent.
When P.H. interviewed me to list the house, I already knew exactly what had to be done to sell it quickly and at market value.
Getting the House Ready
First, we had to make the house sparkle and give it an updated look. I recommended to paint the interior (the walls were stark white), update the light fixtures and hire a professional stager to give his home a warm, lived-in look. Since P.H. spent most of his time in Florida, I actually helped him interview contractors, requested multiple bids for the work and managed the contractors for him.
About 6 weeks later the home was completely transformed. The fresh paints looked great with the new light fixtures, all rooms had furniture and tasteful decorations, the carpets were freshly steamed, the windows sparkled and various odds and ends on the exterior had been taken care of. What a difference! See BEFORE and AFTER pictures below!
Dining Room
Master Bedroom
Living Room
Kitchen – Breakfast Area
Living Room
Pricing it Right
Before I accepted the listing, P.H. and I had a serious discussion about pricing the home to sell. Previously, it was overpriced and did not show well at all. I suggested a price that would definitely result in immediate showings. We agreed to list the house at $399,000, which was exactly the price per square foot that similar homes had sold for in this subdivision.
Maximum Exposure with Aggressive Marketing
For homes in this price range I prefer to hire a professional photographer. He took dozens of excellent pictures of the house. In addition, my photographer also recorded a brilliant walk-through video. It’s the next best thing besides actually walking through the home in person!
Watch the video below!
We created a property website with the video, pictures, and a detailed description of all of the home’s features. This website is advertised on all marketing materials, including the brochures displayed in the home. I mailed more than 1,000 Just Listed postcards to neighbors. Of course, the listing was immediately posted on the MLS, so all Columbus Realtors could see it. It got additional exposure through the RE/MAX websites, as well as all popular real estate portals, such as Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com and Homes.com and many more.
In addition, I emailed the video and pictures to more than 2,000 subscribers of my real estate newsletter.
Immediate Showings and 2 + 2 Offers
The listing was made public on the MLS on a Sunday. Showings were scheduled immediately. By Wednesday we had 2 written offers on the table, and 2 more buyers who expressed strong interest. My seller decided to ask for best and highest offers from all parties and chose a full price offer from a buyer who had a VA loan approval and only wanted some seller paid closing cost contributions.
Inspections and Remedies
The inspection went smoothly. There were hardly any remedies requested by the buyer. Since I am working with many buyers, I anticipated the most common remedy requests and we made sure they were corrected even before we put the house on the market.
As the listing was correctly priced, the VA appraisal came in a little above list price, which is needed for VA loans, because there’s no down payment and certain fees are added to the loan in addition to the purchase price.
A Pleasant Surprise at Closing
As the closing day approached, I had to calm many nerves. Sellers always get anxious a few days before the papers get signed, because something could go wrong in the last minute.
When we received the final HUD-1 (closing statement), P.H. had a pleasant surprise. Out of the $4,000 he committed in closing costs for the Buyer, he ended up paying less than $1,000. The seller netted over $3,000 more at closing and the buyer walked away with a check reimbursement as well. Now that’s a win-win for both parties!
A Very Happy Client
P.H. was extremely pleased with the quality of my service and my professional management of the sale of his home.
Here’s what he said:
“I wish I would have hired you right away instead of going with the other Realtor who was a friend of a friend and discounted his commission, instead of educating me on the true value of my home and what needed to be done to get it sold quickly. I wasted 2 valuable months … Your service was outstanding. You anticipated my concerns, handled every aspect of the sale of my home in a truly professional manner and kept me updated throughout the process while I was out of state. You were correct in telling me that most likely I would not have to pay the entire seller closing costs. What a nice surprise at closing. I know I made the right choice by working with you.”
Do You Know Someone Who Is Trying to Sell a Home?
Selecting the best Realtor is critical for your peace of mind and for getting the transaction closed.
Don’t get trapped by a low fee, no service listing agent who promises the world, but does not deliver a thing.
Do you know someone who needs to sell?
Is there a neighbor whose home has been listed for 6 months and did not move?
Please share this story with them. This is how I prefer to work with all of my clients to get results!
Pick up your phone right now and call me at (614) 975-9650!
I’d love to hear from you!