|
12230
215th Place SE, Snohomish, WA If you are not a real estate
broker, you probably have no idea of how much work it is to get a home on the
market properly. Sure, you can literally post a few cell phone photos with a
description and pop it online for little effort or expense, but a real
professional has an extensive system and network of service providers to ensure
their sellers a successful and fruitful outcome. The Property: Let’s look at my latest Listing located at
12230 215th Place SE in Snohomish, WA. It is located in a lovely
area near Echo Lake. The home is a 2,100
sq ft split-level built in 1981 on 1.38 acres with: 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms,
attached 2-car garage, attached carport, shop and covered RV parking. The
kitchen and bathrooms have been updated and the windows had been replaced. Strategy – Timing the Market: The
real estate market had been continually softening since April 2024 and the
months supply of inventory was up to 1.6 months by October 2024. Interestingly,
the real estate market typically follows usual cycles. By January/February most
of the left-over inventory has been sold with an influx of new buyers after the
first of the year! The “new listings” do get most of the attention and we
typically see pricing go up very quickly by February. Being very familiar with
the favorable late winter cycle, we decided to wait to go on the market until
the last week of February. Property Preparations: I initially met the family in
October 2024 and prepared a Market Analysis for them outlining the list of
home-prep tasks to be completed prior to going on the market. It was extensive,
as it usually is. We had several months to get the
property prepared for the market. Although the exterior didn’t really need
paint, we opted to have it painted grey with cream trim to create a more modern
feel. And WOW, what a difference that made!! We also had the interior painted,
new carpet installed, many of the light fixtures replaced, roof & gutters
cleaned, windows washed and driveway pressure washed. The landscapers did a
fabulous job doing a final yard cleanup. And having the home staged was the
icing on the top! The Final Push: Media was initially scheduled for Monday but
it was pouring down rain, so the shoot got pushed back to Wednesday last week.
My photographer took professional photos, shot video & drone footage,
created a 3D Matterport Tour and documented home measurements to create a floor
plan. In addition, we created a video highlighting the special features of the
property.
Listing Day: I took one final
look at the new listings coming on the market and what an eye-opener! There
were a few homes just under a million, but they all had some inherent
challenges (power lines, terrible photos, LOL, etc.). There was a huge gap in
the market from 1 million to 1.2 million. What a gift!! The world was our
Oyster! That is the one time when pushing price makes sense, hence $1,075,000
was our List Price. Photos and Matterport were
input to the Listing and we went LIVE at about 4pm Thursday, February 27th.
3 Days on the Market: We scheduled 4 Open Houses Friday through
Sunday and had good activity on both Friday and Saturday. Buyer #1 scheduled a
pre-inspection for Friday evening. They submitted a solid offer, but the seller
wanted to wait to see what other buyers might offer, so he passed on that
one. A second inspection was scheduled
by buyer #2 on Saturday evening. Two additional pre-inspections were scheduled
for Sunday and Monday (the Monday inspection was a cash buyer). Buyer #2 submitted their well-over-asking price offer
early Sunday morning. My client was not convinced! And then they doubled the amount over asking
price and waived everything. DONE! The seller is over the moon! I can’t
disclose the final purchase price until it closes, but we did well!
“Timing the market
was everything!”
| 
