No Settling for Less
I winced when my client told me what she hoped her property was worth. “I’ll do my research, but I gotta tell you, I’m not certain we will be able to list your property that high.”
Sure enough, every comp I checked confirmed what I feared. I came back with a number $100k lower than my client’s hopes. Disappointed, she decided not to list her property. But at the last minute, I had a hunch. “Let me check on a couple of more things, but don’t get your hopes up. I really don’t want to underdeliver on this,” I said before hanging up.
One of the things I’ve always prided myself on is that if I don’t have the answer, I will contact someone who does and consult with those who have more experience than I do to double check my work.
What made this parcel so desirable was it’s R3 zoning in close proximity to local schools and other multi-family housing units.
Wow, was I glad I did. At first, the two agents I consulted with confirmed what I feared - the value was much lower than my client hoped. But I decided to make one more call at the suggestion of my cubicle-mate: “Call Joe. He does a lot of work down in that area.” I called the agent, who directed me to another agent, who gave me the information I was hoping to find: this parcel could have desirable development potential and have more value than it seemed at first glance. I dove into the research, calling this agent multiple times over, calling and visiting the City in person (pretty sure the City Planner doesn’t ever want to see my number pop up on his phone again). I looked up zoning codes, water and sewer connectors, density requirements - you name it! I was beaming when I called my client a week and a half later, “I think we should list at $275k” - $50k higher than she was hoping for.
We scrambled to get the listing in order, hiring a professional drone photographer to highlight the property in the best light possible. I had a strategy for marketing all in order, taking fliers to local developers and our sister brokerage on day one of listing. By the time I reached the first potential buyer - only 3 hours later after listing - he greeted me by saying that he’d already placed an offer. A couple hours after that, I had other agents calling to say they would be placing competitive offers as well.
Long story short, my client and I had to navigate multiple offers, assessing the low-offer, the offer with a feasibility contingency, and the offer with special requests. Phone call after phone call was made, negotiating back and forth with the bids, and ensuring my client had all of the information to make the best choice possible for herself.
It was one heck of a roller coaster ride, but we made it through in one piece and closed on terms beneficial to my client in a way that set the next phase of her life up for success. It was a huge learning opportunity for me, as well as a lesson in trusting my gut and being reminded of the true reward of this business: advocating for clients to give them their best chance at success.
