The story continues from last time...
Immediately after we took over the selling of our home, cleaned up the mess our real estate agent had made, uploaded new photos, a point by point list of the best features of our house, a link to a 3D map of our neighbourhood and a compelling marketing ad, the requests to see it boomed. There is no denying that good photos and the text to match draws attention. With a market saturated with similar homes as ours, this wasn’t only about selling our place; it was also about selling the idea of how great it would be to live there. Not only in this home but on this street and in this neighbourhood and in this part of the city.
We didn’t know what to expect when we introduced our combined efforts on the market toward the end of June. But we realized we were on the right track when we got an offer in July. Exciting! But short lived. The couple that made the offer not only went lowball, they also asked for everything and the kitchen sink to be included. Plus a whole bunch of personal guarantees on all the stuff they were demanding. We refused the guarantees and offered a fair price in return but they wouldn’t budge. So it was “buh-bye”.
It was disappointing but also encouraging. A real estate agent, someone who does this for a living, had listed our home for eight long and frustrating months, and he wasn’t able to bring in a single offer. And here you have a couple of amateurs flying by the seat of their pants getting one within a short period. And within a month for our type of home in this area is a short period. Especially in July, which is typically dead as a doornail. So we were quite proud of ourselves.
August and the first two weeks of September, another sluggish period, were as expected: slow. Those weeks came and went with little activity, and during that time we relaxed and tried to rejuvenate. I had been dealing with high levels of stress throughout all this wearying and taxing period, and now that it was quiet, I was trying to shed some of it. Regain my sanity. Just ask the most amazing man in the world how many times he took me to the bookstore (my meditative place) as a therapeutic measure.
Around mid September, we got a second offer! This one was better than the last. Unfortunately, we never reached a final agreement. The negotiations were abandoned halfway through but it was not surprising. This couple had been dragging their real estate agent to numerous houses over a very long period of time and seemed quite indecisive. I don’t know if they ever bought a house or not. Or if the agent finally got a commission for all the time he put in.
We continued to have requests for showings throughout the rest of September and October, but no other offers. November was a predictably quiet month and we expected that December would be, too, as it typically is. But it wasn’t. Instead, there was a surprisingly large spike in requests. And although the interest in our home was a very good thing, we were so burnt out and feeling so hopeless (okay, mostly me) that we expected the year would end exactly as it had started.
Did it? I’ll share the conclusion to this story tomorrow.
Methinks not...Have a good day, Martha!
ReplyDeleteThe conclusion is posted. You'll know if you're right!
DeleteYou better have a good excuse for leaving us hanging...like maybe you're packing!
ReplyDeleteToni, this made me laugh out loud! I've explained why in the conclusion of this story :)
DeleteHang in there. Granny always said, We are right where we're supposed to be.
ReplyDeleteSmart, lady! This is exactly what I think, too.
DeleteOH you did it again, Martha!!
ReplyDeleteWe are wondering if you two would be interested in getting us set up to sell our place, if and when that time comes? lol
We're now pros, Jim...lol... We may just do it!
Deleteman, way to draw out the story! LOL
ReplyDeleteIf I hadn't been so stressed all year, it would have been shorter. All this writing was very therapeutic!
DeleteKeeping my fingers crossed that there's a happy ending!
ReplyDeleteThe conclusion is up. Did all that finger crossing work?!
DeleteLove the buh-bye. I can hear you saying it, buh-bye.
ReplyDeleteHAHA! That's exactly how I say it when I'm fed up with someone!
DeleteI bet you got an offer that you took in December! Looking forward to seeing if I'm right or not. Our realtor said to always ask for the fridge, LOL.
ReplyDeletebetty
I think all realtors do that. We asked for a few things when we bought this house. Seems like a standard thing!
DeleteI can't wait to hear what happened. You know, I don't understand people. These agents make their living from home sales. Wouldn't you want to see a house for someone as quickly as possible so you can get paid? Makes no sense to me. You guys sound like you did a bang up job for your first time attempt. I'm waiting for the next post.
ReplyDeleteThere are some really good agents. But also some that are not that good. Others should just give up their license. But we have so many agents here that it's extremely hard to filter through them.
DeleteI hope you got a good deal for the house.
ReplyDeleteYou'll see in the conclusion of this story...
DeleteWhen we were looking at homes we fell in love with one in particular. We put in a decent offer and they didn't even reply. We put in another offer and they still didn't reply. So we walked away and found the home we are in now. As it turns out, they never did get anymore offers and ended up selling for almost $10, 000 less than our first offer. I am a horrible person for being a little glad. It's rude to not even respond with a no or a counter offer.
ReplyDeleteSometimes sellers ignore an offer when it's ridiculously low. It's a way of saying that it's so insulting that it's not even worth replying to. However, if it's reasonable, you should always send back a counter offer. You never know how it will play out. It may even lead to a sale.
DeleteYou really know how to hold somebody in suspense. I predict you get an offer right way and sell the house.
ReplyDeleteYou'll find out in the final post if you're right :)
DeleteNow I am stressed that you are making us wait another day :) Just kidding, I am enjoying the story and I hope it ends well.
ReplyDeleteI finally posted the conclusion. All the writing helped me unload the frustration of the year!
DeleteCan't wait to hear what happens! Sounds like you learned a lot.
ReplyDeleteWe did, Christine! It was a huge learning experience. I think from now on, we will sell our own home!
DeleteNext time you sell say your house is 100% tiger free. Sure everyone else's is, but you'd be the only one saying it.
ReplyDeleteI hope everything went okay in the end
HAHA! That is funny :) We'd certainly get some attention!
DeleteStay tuned, same BAT channel!! Sorry, I am too 1960's for my own good!
ReplyDeleteI am sure you sold your house and not for just a song, am I right? :-)
HAHA! This made me smile, Kay. Also, I'm showing my age when I say I know what that means!
DeleteA cliff hanger. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good news.
ReplyDeleteI'll reserve expressing excitement til you give us the scoop. =)
The scoop is up today...
DeleteThanks for the finger crossing, Robyn!
Haaaa... you do love to keep up in suspense! I have my theories. It's a bit like reading a mystery and trying to pick up the clues and predict "who done it". I await the next installment. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteThe conclusion is up.
DeleteNow you can check which theory is bang on!
eight months are quite long time for waiting for an offer and glad that at the end of the year you finally got what you waiting for friend!
ReplyDeletei had to read your first post in which you must have mentioned the reason of selling your home and clues of place where you want to move now .
wishing you best of luck and surely will be here to read what happened next as i am curious about the deal .
i am waiting for the time [ still nine years to go] when my husband will be retired and we will move to the the capital city near to my native village and has very pleasant weather but we decided to not to sell this house as my in laws live here and we will be visiting them occasionally .
wishing you all the best for your dealings and tasks dear friend .
have a nice day .
Hugs!
Thanks, Baili! 2016 was quite a year. That sounds wonderful about your future move. Time passes quickly and before you know it you'll be on your way!
DeleteHere the real estate seasons have changed much like the weather patterns. It used to be that Dec., Jan., and Feb., were slower sales months but for the last several years December has been a huge spike in the market. A few years ago, I had my best sales month ever out of all my career.
ReplyDeleteYou and I have discussed this before but there are a lot of ineffectual agents out there. I think bad vs. great pictures make an enormous difference in how effective the marketing of a home is. Poor pictures online can kill interest immediately.
Looking forward to the rest of your story.
Agreed, Cheryl. We've been checking out a lot of houses online in the past year and bad pictures are a real turn off. Because we're not HGTV-minded, we'd go see a house anyway because sometimes it's a lot better in person. But that's us. A lot of people don't even bother.
DeleteI'm going straight to read Part 5 now, as I saw you'd published it before I'd read Part 4 ...
ReplyDeleteNow will I read good news!!! ???
All the best Jan
Now you know if it is or isn't good news! :)
Delete