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If I could rate my sellers George and Nancy, they would get way more than five stars! Nancy contacted me after looking on Zillow for an agent who specializes in Southeast Seattle, and we immediately hit it off, as she is a big dog rescuer, which is close to my heart. The organization she’s involved in, Animal Aid & Rescue Foundation, brings dogs up from the South, including Texas and Louisiana, who are in kill shelters and about to be put down. If you know anyone looking for a dog this would be a great organization to support. I met two of their own rescue dogs, and they are such sweeties.
George bought an investment property 10 years ago and had been renting to the same great guy the entire time. However, due to Covid, the tenant, who was a bartender, lost his job and decided to move to Mexico. Having lived there for such a long time, it took him a while to empty the house of his belongings. Luckily, he left it in decent shape, but it really needed some sprucing up to make it look its best.
However, I always try to reel clients in as it is easy to go overboard and spend too much money, often focusing on things that a potential buyer would not even notice. As I point out to my sellers, most buyers are in a house for 30 minutes or less, especially right now, and unless they have their own inspection, that may be the only time they are in the house at all prior to purchase!
This property was also on a big lot with a nice view of Lake Washington so there was the possibility that a developer/builder would buy it and build a much bigger house, so again, spending a ton of money on improvements made no sense. I planned to market it in the single family and vacant land category to attract both types of buyers.
The house was a sweet two bedroom, 1940’s, 950 sq. ft. bungalow with an unfinished basement. It was definitely dated as the kitchen had old dark wood cabinets, a Formica counter (albeit in good shape) and a very worn linoleum floor, so I suggested an inexpensive make-over. We painted the cabinets an off-white and replaced the floor with a retro type of vinyl to complement the era of the house. Nancy found the perfect flooring which was way cheaper than Marmoleum. We also replaced the flooring in the small bathroom with the same product in a different color.
The whole interior also needed painting to brighten it up, and the hardwood floors could have done with refinishing, but to save money, I had a contractor come in to clean and buff them up, and they looked way better. After a service call to clean the old gas furnace, we discovered, unfortunately, that it needed replacing, which was the biggest cost, however necessary.
George is very skilled at everything, it seems, and super diligent, and he did all sorts of other improvements, including replacing the back doorsteps and landing, installing new doors for the back deck and basement, new faucets, new locks, and several other things. I had a hard time getting him to stop! He really was an A+ seller!
So, by the time we were ready to market the property it looked super sharp. We ended up with 20 offers, and it sold for more than $200,000 over the list price, to a local couple who planned to live there and at some point, expand the house and finish the basement. All the hard work paid off, and I must thank Nancy and George for all the hard work they put into the house. They made my job a lot easier, and they were great to work with.
Congratulations, you two!
