On January 17, 2021 we received 7 offers on one of our listings that had been active for less than 48 hours!
As you can imagine, the seller was ecstatic. But you might be curious as to WHY we received so many offers?
The answer is because ALL OF THE ESSENTIAL components were there:
1. The property was properly prepared.
When we first viewed the property, it was still occupied and to understate the condition – it did not show well. The owners asked us if they needed to repair holes in the walls, paint and remove all of furniture and personal items from the home before they listed. We let them know that if the repairs were not made that the list price should not be more than $250,000. This was because the three most recent sales for similar sized homes which needed work sold for $225,000, $227,000 and $242,000. The sellers decided to undertake the work – which was significant.
2. Market conditions were reviewed on the listing day.
Some time had passed between our first viewing and the list date. In the meantime, the sellers removed all of the items from the home, repaired the holes in the walls, painted and cleaned. Market conditions had also changed. Although there were no new sales the listing inventory had come down and there was very little competition in the price range and area for a detached home. Because the subject property had a garage and the recent sales did not the owners decided to list the house for $265,000.00.
3. The home was well marketed.
Before activating the MLS® listing we had the property professionally photographed and measured, we determined who the target market would be and we created the listing copy to reflect the target market. We knew there would be lots of activity and boy was there! We had twelve showings in the first two days!
4. All interested parties were kept informed of the competition.
We eventually received seven – that’s right – seven offers! We kept each interested party informed of the number of offers including the REALTORS® who were requesting showings, thereby creating excitement and further demand. All those submitting offers were advised to submit their best offers because of the number of offers received.
5. The offer review, offer acceptance and counter-offer processes were conducted in line with industry protocols and the sellers’ legal rights.
We reviewed each offer with the sellers using a table to allow the sellers to easily sort the offers by superiority. The terms we reviewed were: Purchase price, deposit amount, closing day, conditions and the condition removal date. If an offer contained a financing condition, we reviewed the percentage of purchase price which would be financed as well as any other terms affecting the sellers’ position. In a perfect world there would be a clear winner with the highest price and zero conditions but that is not always the case. Three of the offers were for substantially less than list price. The sellers chose to accept the highest offer which contained one condition and made a counter-offer of price to a second buyer and to counter the offer in back-up position only. This second offer also had one condition. Because both owners were in assisted-living we emailed the two parties the intentions of the owners and informed them that signatures would be obtained the next day. In the meantime, the buyer from the second offer decided to increase their offer and remove their condition which made this offer the most attractive to the sellers. The buyer from the first offer was invited to change their offer but they did not.
What was the final outcome? A sale price of $290,000.00 and peace of mind for the sellers in knowing that the home was sold firm with no conditions.
Questions? If you would like to chat about multiple offer processes or about current market conditions, we would be happy to hear from you!
You can Contact Coldwell Banker Complete Real Estate online, call us at 403-686-1455 or book an online appointment.
