The Moment of Truth: Meeting with the Realtor
The rain was pouring down today while I waited at the house for Home Depot to make a delivery. I've been phoning and faxing with them for a few days to make arrangements. The Home Depot near the house we are selling caters primarily to contractors, so they never really know what to do when a homeowner is the one placing the order. I think they expect to deliver to a construction site, not the garage of a 1959 suburban home.
After several hours of freezing in the house, the delivery guys showed up with the bathroom vanity, sink, single French door, and mirrored closet doors for the master bedroom. (Kathy and I are not fans of mirrored closet doors—we removed them from our new home—but the closet doors in that bedroom had to be replaced and I think buyers will like this. When you fix up a home to sell, it is never about your taste.) The one thing the guys didn't deliver was the shower doors, so I'll be shopping around for them from other stores now.
The rain was relentless when I drove back across highway 4 to 680. All the cows and horses and sheep looked persecuted in the downpour. Now that I've become such a fan of livestock, I felt bad for them.
I had to come right back to the house tonight, with Kathy, so we could meet the Realtor. It was a dark night and so I'm not sure how much the Realtor could see of the place (since it is empty, we only have ceiling lights to turn on). However, I know she's driven by to take a look and at any rate, she has probably seen the inside of this same floor plan many times. Part of the reason I chose her was because she grew up in the area where we are selling and knows it inside out.
The other part was because her website had good and distinctive marketing material on it. If you visit enough real estate web sites, you'll start to recognize that most of them are getting the same cookie-cutter marketing material from either their parent real estate company or from some Realtor organization. They all have the same articles and tips, down to the phrasing. That makes it hard to judge how the individual agent is at marketing, and marketing is key to getting your house sold! In Cindy Wilson's case, she and her business partner created a site that shows their individuality, that demonstrates how they personally market houses, and that sold me.
The good news is that when I whipped out my prepared documents, she didn't recoil! I had prepared a document listing the advantages and disadvantages of the property we are selling, just so nothing would be overlooked. (Not that we want to mention the disadvantages—but just to get it clear that we know the drawbacks. Luckily, the list of advantages was much longer!) I also had a comprehensive list of the improvements we planned, so that she could provide us with input.
I think it's safe to say she was happy with our plans. She's convinced that we can make back our investment in the remodel, two times over. Based on her knowledge of the area and the market, she characterized our likely home buyer as a young Latino family with 100% financing. They will probably have no extra money to put into improvements, so it must be move-in ready. She agreed that including all the appliances will be very attractive. The only thing she thought we didn't need to do was makeover the bathroom. I think that's because she didn't see it in the daylight!
Cindy talked to us about home values in the area and the need to get the house on the market fast, before more homes go on the market. Right now, we'd have little competition. I think she was a bit concerned about how fast we could put it up for sale given the scope of the improvements, but I said my guys could get everything done in a couple of weeks. We decided on March 19th for the open house and she gave us a time line for everything that needs to happen from now until the sale. Kathy signed the contract and we are ready to go.
I'm tired just thinking of how the next few weeks will go, but I'm also excited. I love transforming homes!
Similar yarns
Technorati Tags: DIY Diva with a Drill- ‹ previous
- 22 of 409
- next ›
Post new comment