Your Agent Can Find the Perfect Property!

We worked with a buyer who identified the street she wanted to live on. We represented her as a Buyer Broker, so we sent a letter to all the owners letting them know we had a buyer interested in a home on their street -- were they thinking of moving?

We got a response, she liked the house very much and wanted to buy it. After some consideration, the sellers decided the timing was not right. If she could wait until the end of the summer, they would be happy to sell to her.

I check the multiple listing service several times a day, looking for new listings for our buyers. As I was looking for her, up came a listing on that street! We had seen it before but it was already under deposit, came back on the market for a day and was back under deposit again. She wasn't focused on that street at the time. Now she wanted that street and the house was back on the market! This was a foreclosure, so we were concerned there were problems with it -- maybe there was mold... or structural issues -  but I called her and we ran down to see it within the hour.

It was perfect -- great condition, better location than the other one. The listing agent said there were unresolved title issues and the previous buyers got tired of waiting for the resolution. We went right to my office and wrote up an offer. It was accepted by the bank that day!

We had to wait for title issues to be resolved. We negotiated a couple of inspection issues. But it only took about eight weeks to close.

Your Buyer Broker has a responsibility to be looking out for your best interests and that means looking for the right property. When you hire a REALTOR, he or she will comb the for sale by owners as well as the MLS for homes that fit your criteria. Because I knew where she wanted to live, I was focused on that section of the town and specifically that street. (Though we never thought another house would come on the market!) We jumped on it and she now owns the house of her dreams!

Persistence and paying attention to the market yields happy results!

Carpet in the Basement = Offers

I have a house for sale that had old carpet in the basement. It was stained from some pet and food damage (think spilled beer) but basically was acceptable for a basement. Trouble was, buyers said the basement smelled. They said it smelled like a litter box (there was one way in the corner behind a door) but the litter was always cleaned.

Then there was a back up in gutters and some water seeped in through a corner of the  basement, travelling to the carpet. Now the carpet was dirty and wet. And according to a lot of buyers, smellier.

Solution? The sellers went to Home Depot and bought low grade but nice carpet for the basement. They put it on an 18 month no interest charge knowing they would pay it off when the house sold. All of a sudden, we had about five showings a week and an offer. We are expecting a  competing offer.

And guess what, no smell. It was the carpet that was giving off a litter smell. Once it was changed, the smell was gone and the basement presented itself as great living space. This is especially important in a small house where families might outgrow the space on the main floor quickly.

It just shows that an investment of $1,000 - if it is spent correctly - can do the trick and get results!