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Caitlin received five offers on her Lakewood/Columbia City mid-century, but she did not accept the highest offer.
Sometimes a personal letter can really sway a seller, these are sometimes discouraged by agents as you must be very careful not to violate the fair housing laws. However, I like to give my sellers the choice to look at personal letters if they want to, although sometimes with a lot of offers it can just be too overwhelming. Many sellers, especially if they have lived in their house for a long time, would like to know who they are passing their home on to. So, it can be an emotional decision. I always remind my clients that it is a financial decision as well as an emotional one, but it is ultimately up to them as it is their house after all! Caitlin believes in good karma and just felt these buyers would be the best fit for her house and neighborhood.
Caitlin was one of my first clients way back when, she was a first- time buyer and had lived on Capitol Hill for many years in a rented condo. She was able to buy a house in South East Seattle as it was much less expensive than other parts of the city. Hardly anyone had heard of Columbia City and light rail was years away.
Now 18 years later, Caitlin and her long-time partner Ann were ready to move. They had been thinking about making a big change for a couple of years and when Ann was offered a great job at the University of West Virginia, her home state, they felt that the time had come.
They were lucky enough to be able to buy a really charming remodeled stone house on five acres, that had been built by the WPA during the 1930’s for out-of-work miners, and they moved before their Seattle house went on the market.
This was perfect as their house really needed a quick make-over. Firstly, the kitchen needed help. Caitlin and Ann were not big cooks and it had not been updated, the counters were really worn, and the dark wood cabinets made it seem very dingy. I told Caitlin that most likely, the new buyer would remodel the galley kitchen to make it bigger, either by knocking down a non- supporting wall into the living room or bumping the kitchen out at the back. However, we really needed to do something to make it look better. I had a contractor replace the counters and back-splash in a light grey and the kitchen cabinets and walls painted in white, and it looked so much cleaner and brighter and useable.
The rest of the rooms were painted too, in an off- white, including the wood work. The old front screen door was removed and both front and back doors painted in a brighter more welcoming color. The worn front steps got a fresh coat of paint too.
The over- grown yard was a mess as well, so my landscape crew was hired & they did a great cleaning up job. In just three weeks we were able to get the house painted, cleaned, staged, listed and sold!
Ready to sell your home? Go here to see what you’ll gain by having me by your side during this complex process. Ready to get started? Contact me today, or go here to learn more about me. Want more information? Check out my Top Secret blog post of FAQs for Sellers.
