Recently we worked with some buyers that were referred to us by previous clients. I have sold a lot of homes but this one by far was one of the coolest homes I’ve ever stepped into!
They were looking for something truly special. When they contacted us they had already identified a property of interest and after viewing it several times they determined that no other property would ever do it for them and I knew why.
Our clients now own an “epic” home acquired at a rare $550 per square foot.
There were massive 16’ circular skylights situated on top of high ceilings. In the center of one of these was a circus point designed to bring in Arial performances.
There was a custom glass elevator that reminded me of the old school bank deposit shoots in the drive through. The design elements were high end yet whimsical. I was in love and so were my buyers. They had to have it. The problem was they weren’t sure they could afford it so we got to work.
Many assume an agent’s primary role is finding the property. I don’t agree with this. While we do help clients find properties both on and off the market, the real value of an experienced agent often lies in navigating the complexities that come after a property is identified.
In this case the buyers identified a home that was above their price point. They work at a tech company with a very complicated equity structure. Most of their assets were tied up in pre-IPO stock.
The challenge was not in determining the value of the home. Quite honestly it was more than fairly priced taking into consideration the location in SoMa which has been on sale for many years.
We needed to figure out how to negotiate an even lower price than the sellers were prepared to take with out completely shutting down the negotiation. This requires a careful read of the situation and carefully crafted conversations with the listing information to discover key information to help craft an offer that will either begin a negotiation or end in a ratified offer.
The sellers had purchased the property in 2012 and put about $2.5m into the property. And it showed. At the current list price after the selling costs of commissions, staging and prep they were already loosing over a million dollars so how could we possibly get it for less?
It took several weeks and countless meetings and conversations to get the loan approved. Our clients jobs were intense and demanding which meant staying in close commutation with attorneys, lenders and them to meet deadlines.
After many weeks we were able to present the seller with an offer and negotiate a price $250k below the current asking price.
I think given how bad the buyers wanted the home most agents would have pushed the buyers to pay close to list price. But based on our experience negotiating over 1000 homes we were able to secure the home for a much lower price, saving them $250k.
I couldn’t be more excited because it is truly one of the most unique homes I’ve ever had the pleasure of selling. I’m so thankful to my former client for recommending us and that the buyers chose us the help them with this very important transaction.
If you have questions about the market or the buying or selling process. Please reach out to us. We’d love to help.
