Something great happened today. It’s a two-fold story I certainly had no idea was coming my way just a month ago.
Last March I was holding an open house at my listing on N Sedro in St. Johns. After it ended I went about my business picking up my open house signs on the surrounding streets. I’m on N Smith and a manina UHaul stops me, asking if I’m a real estate broker– mind you, he’s in the middle of the road blocking traffic– I quickly respond yes and ask if there is something I can help him with. He says he wants to sell his home & that he’s moving, still blocking traffic with cars behind him, I hand him my card and tell him to give me a call when he’s ready to chat about it. I never got his name, the property address, anything! Weeks go by and I completely forget this moment ever happened.
Fast-forward to January–I’m chatting with our office admin, Michelle, as our receptionist, Aimee, goes on the intercom broadcasting something. I thought she was saying I had to move my car so I walked her way and ask if I need to move it. She says there is a lead on the phone wanting to sell his house. Holy crap–ok, where can I answer the phone?! I run back into Michelle’s office and ask how I can answer this call – I’ve never had this happen and at this moment ANYONE in the office can answer the lead.
I pick up the call, no one else had answered yet, and a man named Juan is on the phone. He says he has a home to sell in St. Johns and it has been on the market 9 months. Then it hits me, I know this voice… I quickly ask if he’s the man I met last March on N Smith in a U-Haul. Juan laughs, he remembers this moment and is in disbelief. I’m in the office 15-30 minutes a day, MAX. The fact that Juan called our office out of any office in Portland, that I was there and managed to pick up the phone can only be fate. We talked for 2 minutes and by January 10thIhadhishome on the market.
As previously mentioned, the home was on the market for 9 full months last year, ending in December. After touring Juan’s home for the first time in January I just couldn’t understand why it didn’t sell. It was very well kept, with new interior paint & carpeting, spacious bedrooms and an open layout. But there was one glaring thing it needed as ALL vacant homes do… staging.
Juan and I went back and forth on this. Staging can be expensive and is an upfront cost for a seller. There is no guarantee or refund if your home doesn’t sell, so I get that spending$1,200 -$2,400 can be scary. BUT THE INVESTMENT IS WORTH IT. Juan decided he didn’t want to do it, I knew we had to, so we made a deal. I would take the upfront risk and only be compensated if the home sold. If the home didn’t sell, I would be out $1,600, plus the cost of photography, a professional floor plan, and various marketing materials. The home also needed curtains on the main floor. So I headed to Target to pick up 4 curtain rods, 4 sets of curtains, and a couple of doormats. A few days pass and the home is staged, the curtains are up with privacy restored and it looks FANTASTIC.
January 10th- Juan’s home on N Smith goes live on the market for only $5,000 under the previous list price in good faith.
January 20th- We are pending. Success!
