Our clients bought their beautiful, modern Fremont home with luxury finishes and spectacular views in 2014. When a new addition to their family meant it was time for them to move back to their hometown in 2018, they reached out to our team to list and sell their home. The Seattle market, once leading the nation for 2 consecutive years in price appreciation, had recently slowed with many frustrated sellers now experiencing long selling periods and significant price reductions.

When the market slows, what sells homes? And how do sellers ensure they get the most money for their home? In a slow market, you absolutely must hire an experienced listing agent with: 1) a proven track record of selling many homes for top dollar, 2) a great marketing plan (marketing is critical!), 3) written client testimonials endorsing the agent, and 4) deep market knowledge. Once an offer is received, the negotiation process is where top agents separate themselves even further.

Despite the slowing market, we listed aggressively at $1.075MM with a masterful marketing plan utilizing video, photography, open houses, social media, and more. Given the slower market, buyers made aggressively low offers at $975k, $975k, and $1MM. It was not going to be easy to get more money in this market, but through expert negotiations, we were able to get an offer of $1.035MM, which was the buyer’s “highest and best” offer. 

Our clients verbally told us they would accept it, which was a practical decision given the slowing market and 2 other offers at $975k indicating where buyer’s expectations were at. However, we didn’t stop there. We continued negotiating and learned that the buyer’s offer was capped at $1.035MM because they anticipated additional expenses outside of the home purchase.  

With this knowledge, we proposed creative financing options that would increase the purchase price to $1.060M while offering the buyers a $10k credit, which would keep more cash in the buyer’s pocket today even with a higher purchase price. This would net our client’s $1.050MM vs the $1.035MM. We also adjusted the timing of the close to allow the buyers to fully benefit from the $10k credit while delaying their first payment for 2 months saving additional cash flow.

The buyers accepted the new offer terms ($1.060MM less $10k credit) resulting in a WIN/WIN for both parties: 1) $15k more in net proceeds for my seller, or $50k compared to the original offer price, 2) a financing option that suited the buyer’s needs even though it was $15k higher than their “best” offer, 3) a beautiful new home for the buyer, and 4) a fantastic 45% return with maximum cash proceeds for my sellers. Is $15,000-$50,000 more in your pocket worth hiring an experienced agent?