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Finally, Lucy and her owners have a place to call their own!
Janine Bertram and David Fulton were semi-retired and had sold their home in the country in Oregon and moved to Seattle in late October to be closer to longtime friends.
They had friends they could stay with but were anxious to find a place of their own, and their older dog Lucie was particularly antsy to settle down somewhere. I warned them that there would be fewer homes on the market as we headed into winter; on the other hand, homes come on the market for many reasons, so I told them not to get too despondent.
They were open to different styles but had to have a house with disability access and a bathroom that would accommodate a wheelchair or at least have the potential to do so. As a result, lots of stairs were out, as were steep slopes, and narrow bathrooms (of which there are many!). They were also looking for a property with rental potential to offset the higher cost of housing in Seattle.
By December they were getting discouraged by all the bidding wars going on in Seattle proper, so decided to look a little further south and even considered Port Orchard where home prices are significantly less. However, all their friends are in the Seattle area, so I felt they needed a pep talk in order to keep them from making a decision out of desperation that they would later regret.
I told them not to give up and suggested Burien as a good option as it is close to Seattle and prices are less. I provided them with a list of homes that had sold in the past six months fitting their criteria, many of which had sold for the list price and some for less, which helped them to feel more hopeful. In January, we started to see some more inventory and finally landed on a cute house that felt just right to them.
This house had come back on the market as the previous buyer had gotten cold feet, so the sellers were a bit discouraged. We acted quickly but still had to compete against an offer that was a little higher, however our terms were better and Janine and David got the house subject to inspection, which is a miracle in this market!
This gave Janine and David some time to really decide that this was the house for them. The inspection came up with a couple of issues that were of concern, the main one being electrical issues. I got a bid from an electrician, and we were able to negotiate a $5,000 credit towards their closing costs, so they could deal with the issues in their own time.
This house was in a much lower price range so they did not have to consider a tenant situation which they were very happy about, plus they had some extra money to do some desired improvements, including a hot tub in the big private back yard.
Finally, Lucy and her owners had a place to call their own!
