The ideal seller

by Shawn Lackie

Try to define the perfect seller. You probably can’t. Realtors have been trying to figure this one out for years, and still can’t.

I think it looks something like this. I have known a certain client for over 40 years. He is a quiet man, but VERY self-directed, knows what he wants and makes it perfectly clear. So when I received a call from him, a few years back, requesting I come down and let him know what his recently deceased mother’s home would sell for; well, I just went with the flow.

He had a bit of an idea what it should sell for, in his opinion, but totally deferred to me about what the next steps were. So away we went. The home was lovely; a modest bungalow built by a very reputable builder. I viewed the property and suggested a whole bunch of things which needed to be done, to present in the best way possible. The floors needed to be upgraded, as did the light fixtures; the back deck was a mess and needed to be replaced and the whole home needed to be painted. The yard was good. It had a small pool which needed work but overall it was a beautiful property in a very desirable area.

So he went to work on this, never questioned one thing. I suggested having the home staged and had a super professional photographer come in and put his spin on things. It looked great.

Then, the wacky brother got involved. I had a price in mind to list the place, so it would generate the most interest. The seller was sharing this with his two siblings, as the mother had passed on and they were the three heirs named.

This particular brother wanted the place listed for 400K more than I suggested. Uh....No. So I pushed back. We were trying to generate interest, and the price he was suggesting was way out of line. So I went to the top banana and asked the others please not get in the way.

All the heavy lifting was done, the place looked unreal, and the pictures were finished. I looked at the pics and thought, 'This doesn’t look anything like the place I looked at three months ago.' It was superb. We ended up with seven offers, six legitimate ones and one from a knucklehead who wanted to negotiate the price over the phone. Uh.... that’s not going to work. In the end, I got them exactly what I said the home would sell for, with no funny dealings. It just worked out that way.

If you do your homework and find 'comparables,' to said property, and really dig in, you should have a really good idea of what it should sell for. The only variable would be the buyers and what they valued the place at. Which goes back to one of my main tenets.