A Special Sale: Love and Hard Work
This was a special sale. Two friends of mine reuniting and confirming their love together by selling their old place and buying another to symbolize a fresh new beginning! So Romantic… and so much hard work!
So what kind of hard work was it? Let’s see… there was the work of putting two lives back together plus the real estate work of selling two separate properties to reunite into one new one! WOW. This was super special, and very Rare! What an amazing, and wonderful couple who saw the value of not only honouring all their joint memories in their past life, but also demonstrating to their two sons a forever lesson about sticking together, and healthy relationships. What a gift to give their children!
My Role in Their Journey
Where do I come in? Hmmm, rewind 3 years back. I started showing homes to the wife, as she set out to live on her own. Nothing came of it, and now I know why… they were meant to be together!
Fast forward to Bali. Bali??? Yep. I had just returned from Bali, the week of May 14th, 2024. Ummm what, you would like me to show you both a house? No problem, let me make the booking while I stop by the side of the road because I am too tired from jetlag, and can hardly drive! Lol. Yes, it was looking like that kind of day. I made the appointment for 2 hours later, and decided to put my seat back, and sleep in my car, with my phone alarm set to wake me up in time! Well, I showed them that house, but then we tacked on a townhouse showing just in case but didn’t think that they would prefer it. They did! It was right by Elk Lake, where they liked to do their runs together. One problem, another Buyer liked it too, and beat us out in a multiple bid that evening. Or should I say morning… midnight was a little rough for jetlagged me! Gah.
Challenges and Opportunities
Following our disappointment, hope was renewed when that offer collapsed the next week! Another chance here… hmmm, I see a prevailing theme developing! These dear friends that had wisely saved their marriage were now going to save their new home purchase!! They bought it unconditionally to cement their new path. Wait, what?
That’s a big move in a slowing Seller’s market. And they had two months to do it! Of course, they were savvy, and secured a mortgage for the new place in advance, regardless of whether they had sold their old one. Great, but really… who wants two mortgages?
Prepping for a Quick Sale
Okay, let’s put the pedal to the metal, and sell that other one FAST! They got to work painting and prepping their place. Boy, could the husband paint! He used to paint houses to put himself through university, and it showed! The carpets were looking sad from wear and tear and a few stains. Oh dear, I think that means new carpets… perhaps $5000?! Enter Aquamist carpet cleaners to the Rescue!! Amazing. They truly looked like almost new!
Next was the decluttering. Thank God for storage lockers!! But when were they ever going to call me to help stage their place? Unfortunately, the wife was suddenly super busy with her business, and how to do everything?? …Never mind, we will somehow do everything in a weekend! My car and my wonderful photographer husbands’ car became the staging convoy of choice, and we brought over staging décor and pillows galore! NOW, the staging party could get started!!
Talk about “meant to be together”!! My staging stuff and the Seller’s stuff totally jived! It was amazing how my pictures and pillows went Sooooo well with her bedding and other furniture! That is quite a compliment to our mutual good taste, especially as she is an Interior Designer! Yes, validated for sense of style is a beautiful thing! … Especially when it makes the photos sing, and buyers come in flocks to your Open Houses. Now, that makes my heart happy!
The Market and the Sale
Two weeks later, enthusiastic prospective Buyers paraded through the Open Houses, but NO offer. What gives? The MARKET, that’s what. Buyers started to take more time to look around, and we had priced $30,000 higher because we had made it look so good by the staging, and all the prep! Would we get the extra money?
Not to worry. I kept a record of every Buyer who came through the Opens who reported the name of their agents, and I kept in touch with the agents to find out their client’s interest. Bingo! Once an interested Buyer heard that another Buyer was considering writing an offer (Truth), we received an offer in two hours!! And after negotiating better terms (dates, higher deposit, etc), the Sellers took that offer all the way to the Bank! 😊
A Happy Ending
The result? A Sale in 26 days… actually, two including the home that they moved in to! …Was the jetlagged showing and staging worth it? A Thousand times Yes! …As mentioned above, True LOVE requires sacrifice, and I LOVE making my clients’ lives Beautiful!
Contact marilyn@marilynball.ca or Text 250-818-6489 if you need a fairy godmother of the staging kind to help you with your Sale... the honour will be mine!
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