I met Danny and Dawn many years ago, when they were the buyers of a home that I had listed for sale in Montpelier. They seemed like nice people, and I stayed in touch. Fast forward a few years, and they invited me to their home for a valuation. No concrete plans, just wanted to know what it was worth in the market. I was happy to do that.
Fast forward another year, and this time there were concrete plans–a job change that allowed them to be closer to family in the midwest. The sellers were interested in an accurate valuation and also recommendations on projects to do (or not do) to facilitate the sale.
That list included items such as installing missing trim, doing a little work on the deck, and a few other items.
In the runup to the open house, I printed off some flyers, and hit the street, knocking on doors up and down the neighborhood. And yes, I rewarded myself with a trip to Dairy Creme afterward.
The open house was packed.10 parties showed up, including a couple of the neighbors I had met to personally invite.
It was only on the market for a couple days, and we received an offer. Decent, but not great. A couple rounds of negotiation got us to price and terms that were more than acceptable to the sellers.
Then things started going sideways. While the attic was being inspected as part of the overall home inspection, the ceiling in a bedroom was damaged. No problem, we had a handyman head over to repair that. Then there was some serious conversation about the configuration of some pipes, also in the attic. That nearly caused the sale to fall apart, but we were able to get a plumber in immediately to assess the situation, and make what turned out to be very minor repairs.
Sometimes it seems like the hard work is the initial negotiation. Often the harder negotiations, come while a home is under contract. The sellers were rightfully irritated that there was damage to their home during the inspection (to be clear–that almost NEVER happens), and then things with the piping got tense. It took many, many conversations by phone and text with the sellers and the buyers’ Realtor, as well as contractors, to keep things moving forward. In the end, everything worked out, and all parties were comfortable with the result. I do wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t been able to help keep things nice and calm. Thankfully, we won’t ever know!
By this point in the process the sellers were traveling. I made a point of checking in on the home every few days, just to make sure everything was ok. Everything was ok, but the sellers appreciated that peace of mind.
Just before the final walk through, I went to the home again. There were several items that the sellers thought the buyers could use, left in the garage. Seemed reasonable–things like a roof rake, and stove black for the fireplace. It was a good thing I did a pre-walk through, as the buyers didn’t want any of it. I loaded up my car, and hauled it all away, leaving a completely empty garage for the new owners.
Closing itself went without a hitch, as I had connected Danny and Dawn with one of the attorneys that we highly recommend.
When all was said and done, we were in touch for more than 10 years, actively doing real estate work for more than 2 years, and then on the market for just a couple days, and sold in less than 2 months.
Here’s what the sellers had to say about the transaction, and about working together:
“Ray was great. The day before we had our open house he walked the beat in the blazing sun going door to door to tell people about the open house. Also had a fabulous photographer and they did some great staging. Had an offer in practically a day after being put on the market. The sale went pretty smoothly and Ray was easy to work with."
Who do you know who’s thinking of selling? Someone selling this summer? This coming fall? Sometime within the next year?
Have them be part of the Green Light Real Estate vision, which is to make buying and selling real estate easy by being the most loved and most professional real estate brokerage in Vermont.