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Mira and Wayne bought a house with me 10 years ago when they moved up from California for work. Wayne had grown up in Seattle, and Mira’s family was here so they were happy to return, especially as they now had a baby.
In the last couple of years, they had discussed moving to a smaller house and earlier this year said they wanted to list in the Spring.
Then COVID hit, creating massive uncertainty in the housing market and causing delays in the prep work necessary to sell. Finally, in mid-June, we were ready to list.
Selling a house in Seattle is not difficult, but finding another house without having to rent a place in the interim is quite a different story, as the market is so competitive for buyers right now. Mira and Wayne did not want to have to move twice, which I understood, but we all knew it was going to be a challenge.
One way to give them a bit more time was to negotiate a rent-back agreement which would allow Mira and Wayne to stay in their home until a specified date past closing. After settlement, the sellers pay rent to the buyer who now owns the home. Two months is the maximum most lenders will allow a new buyer (of course if they got a cash offer it would not be a problem). In the end, their house sold quickly with multiple offers at quite a bit over the asking price with a free two-month rent-back.
We then began an earnest search to find a house, however, even though they had a large down payment they were not the strongest buyers as any offer they made would be contingent on the successful closing of their current home.
They found a house quite quickly in Upper Rainer Beach, which was really close to Mira’s parents. There had been no seller inspection, so I scheduled that straight away to make sure the house was in good shape, which it was.
I wanted to make their contingent offer as appealing as possible, so I managed to persuade the buyer and his agent to shorten their closing date. Then Mira and Wayne would have the proceeds of the sale, and the closing on the new house go faster.
We wrote a very strong offer with a compelling letter to the sellers. It turned out the sellers were in the same boat as they needed a rent-back too, since they too were looking to buy another house.
The listing agent was in my office, which was great as she and I have worked successfully together over the years. It really helps as an agent to know who you are working with.
There was of course a competing offer, but just one, which was a relief, except that it turned out to be a cash offer, which was a total bummer, however they had an inspection contingency.
The sellers and their agent weighed up the offers and decided to accept Mira and Wayne’s offer. They liked their letter and their offer was a little higher, which of course helped!
It was such a relief for my clients, but ironically, like the buyer buying their house, they can’t move into their new house until the end of August, so it is all hurry up and slow down! Still I think they were very, lucky to get a house so quickly, and I am really happy for them.
“Serena is an amazing real estate agent,” said Mira and Wayne in their review. “She helped us buy our house 10 years ago, and this year she helped us sell our house and buy a new one. She is super knowledgeable, deeply connected to the Seattle real estate market, very responsive, and a great person in general.”
