I was lucky to link up with a past client I have worked with on a couple of homes before. He was looking for a smaller home closer to San Francisco and wanted to focus specifically on Walnut Creek – my specialty! We began by looking at 2-bed, 2-bath condos, but most did not have a garage, which he preferred.
We looked at one in Sky West, but it needed a lot of work and the patio was open to the community space and was a little crowded with so many personal belongings it was hard to see the house and the list price and final closing price reflected how it showed. It started at $699,000, was listed at $630,000 and closed for $600,000. Thus, I decided to create a buyer letter and started knocking on doors in Sky West.
By doing this, I discovered that an agent had two listings not yet on the market and my client really liked one of them. They were priced at $749,000, but we had just seen the one that closed at $600,000, so we wanted to negotiate before it got on market. They decided to put up a Coming Soon sign and got a full-priced offer before my client was ready to go higher.
However, that agent tipped us off about another agent with a home coming soon in the same complex. We went to see it and my client hemmed and hawed a bit before the seller considered a lower offer. We came up a bit, they came down, and we had a deal at $738,888.
And, just like that, my client closed on a 1,339 square-foot 2-bed, 2.5-bath townhome with an attached 2-car garage! He really likes the peaceful setting at this location in Walnut Creek (though he still thinks about the one he missed out on!). Luckily, he can do some of his own improvements to bring that up to the the one he purchased, i.e. new doors and wood flooring upstairs and on the stairs. The one he bought had an attached garage and that was really important to him. I think he will be really happy once he makes it own!
This is what a savvy and knowlegeable realtor can do for you. I saw my client had a demand but we had no viable options, so I got creative with the buyer letter and door-knocking. That overturned three new opportunities, including the home he ended up buying. Think about giving me a call if you want a similar level of dedication when you buy or sell a home!