There's No Such Thing As Moving Too Fast!

by Teresa Keenan

Lately, our client base has a rather large percentage of older couples looking to downsize from their longtime family homes. 

This is an incredibly emotional process. 

And one that usually takes time in preparation prior to listing. Concluding that a move is necessary is often wrought with tears, trepidation and uncertainty. And in those longtime family homes, there are often many opinions to contend with. Children, grandchildren, siblings, friends, you name it – everyone has their thoughts to share! Once the conclusion is reached, clearing out the house begins!

Step two is calling a real estate agent to look at the property. It’s a little scary for the sellers because it is starting to feel very real!

David and I met a very nice couple at that stage in their lives who asked if we would look at their home on a beautiful, wooded lot of a few acres. We knew the area and were thrilled to look. 

They had a lovely home on a spectacular property. They had already done quite a bit to get their home ready for sale (declutter is one of my favorite words), and we were impressed with the progress they made. 

We presented our findings regarding recently sold comparable homes, and we agreed to work together in selling their home. Rather than list right away, they asked for a few weeks to continue getting the home ready. Of course, we agreed. Our philosophy is that we would rather our listings hit the ground running and be ready for sale when listed. This sometimes means waiting a bit, but it is worth the wait.

True to their word, the sellers called us a few weeks later to list their home of 40 years. I can’t imagine the emotions they felt!

They were ready to settle in for a while, as they assumed finding a buyer would take time. And often it does. The average “days on market” has been between 140 and 150 days for the last 18 months in our area.

We listed the house on a Friday, and planned an open house for the following Sunday. We were thrilled to see that as soon as the listing hit the MLS, we had showings scheduled.

One showing produced excellent feedback. I went to an anniversary party the night before our first open house, and while eating dinner, I received a call from an agent who showed the house. I took the call, and she informed me she was sending over an offer!

I checked my email impatiently, waiting for the offer. When the email finally came through, I opened it; I was stunned to see a full price offer, with a deadline of the next day at 11:00 am!

Why would a buyer give a seller such a tight deadline? Clearly, the buyer was aware there would be an open house the next day, and wanted to avoid competition – hence the full price offer.

I called the sellers and planned to meet with them the next morning. They were stunned – remember, they planned to get comfortable and wait for a few months before getting an offer. They were a little hesitant about accepting the offer and canceling the open house. I explained to them, if this was less than a full price offer, I would be more inclined to take our chances by countering the offer and moving ahead with the open house. However, a full price offer from a buyer with no house to sell in the first week? It was great news for the sellers!

I think receiving an offer so quickly caught them by surprise, and perhaps made them a little nervous because the process was so different than they anticipated. They were mentally prepared to sell their home and move, but thought they might have more time. However, in the end, being flexible, accepting the offer and working very well with the buyers helped this very emotion-filled transaction go incredibly smoothly.

Sometimes acting swiftly is the best thing to do!