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“Hire her!” say Marcia & Janice.
Two retired but very busy ladies recently needed my help to sell one their rental homes.
Janice had owned the house since the 1970s and lived in it for many years, so she was somewhat attached, but also realized that it was time to let go and be responsible for less property.
Since they hadn’t lived in the house for many years, I advised Janice and her partner Marcia to speak with their accountant to assess how much they would have to pay in Capital Gains.
Many folks don’t realize that if you haven’t lived in a property for two of the past five years, then you must pay this extra tax, which is based on the difference between the price you paid for the house and the sales price, minus the costs you put in to sell the house. Even if the house is empty and has never been rented, you still must pay this extra tax! The tax is based on your income bracket and can be as high as 25% but is usually more like 15%.
With that information, Janice and Marcia still decided to move forward. They’d hoped to get their house ready to sell before the fall set in, however their tenant wasn’t able to secure a new place until the end of September. By then they were both traveling with family commitments and needed me to make most of the decisions.
We were getting into October so I had to act fast to avoid the upcoming holidays when the market typically slows down.
Unfortunately, their tenant had left the place in a real mess! It looked like she had never cleaned up after her four cats the whole time she lived there, and the basement floor was disgusting!
Luckily, I have a great team who acted fast before the bad weather hit. The cleaning alone took 24 hours!
After an almost total interior paint job, new linoleum on the basement stairs, a lot of work in the bathroom, new heating vents (gross), a huge cleanup of the front yard, windows washed, roof cleaned and the whole house professionally staged, we were ready to hit the market in just two weeks.
“Serena is top notch in every way,” said Marcia. “Not only does she know the housing market, but she also gave us right-on recommendations for how to present our house in the best light for marketing. She also has a superior cadre of professional workers who aided us in the “fixing up” process. We would secure her services again in a heartbeat! Hire her!”
I am so grateful to my team of hard working folks and to Janice and Marcia for trusting me to make the decisions that I felt necessary to get them the most money for their house, which resulted in great exposure, six offers and a sales price that far exceeded Janice and Marcia’s expectations — almost 15% above the list price!
