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weedyacres

As promised....

weedyacres
10 years ago

We closed yesterday, so we're now living in a house that we don't own, and packing furiously for the extreme downsize (4500 to 900sf). We met the buyers at the walk-through and they're lovely people that will enjoy the house.

Sale price was $490K, not too far from our (way back when) original target of $500K. Thanks to all of you that persisted with us through my myriad preparations, questions, analyses, and frustrations. I feel much better educated and prepared for future real estate transactions.

Still have to buy a more permanent home in the new place, so I'll be hanging around. :-)

Comments (18)

  • LuAnn_in_PA
    10 years ago

    Congrats on the closing!

  • xamsx
    10 years ago

    Congratulations!

    And wow what a lifestyle difference - 4500 sq ft to 900! I hope you enjoy your new digs.

  • ncrealestateguy
    10 years ago

    Congrats Weedy! Glad to hear you will be hanging around a bit... no really!

  • barbcollins
    10 years ago

    Woo Hoo! Congratulations!

    I know it's been a long process for you.

    Good luck with your down sizing. Sounds like you have a challenge!

  • chispa
    10 years ago

    Glad it finally all worked out! Good luck with the packing and moving.

  • glad2b
    10 years ago

    Congratulations! So great to hear the new owners are nice and will appreciate and love your former house.

  • newbuyer2007
    10 years ago

    Congratulations! I have followed your threads and I'm really happy for you.

  • maddielee
    10 years ago

    Wonderful! I've also been waiting for a happy ending to your story!

    ML

  • kellienoelle
    10 years ago

    Congratulations! What all your plans now? Will you continue with the downsize or start looking for something that is a happy medium

  • weedyacres
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    kellienoelle: It'll be an interim downsize. There's no way we can live permanently in 900 sf. We'll look for a bigger/better house while we finish up the tiny one. I'm hoping we also make time to go through all the boxes we've got in storage and downsize the crap we really don't need. Then 2000 sf will seem spacious, even if it doesn't have the lake view of weedy acres.

  • nancylouise5me
    10 years ago

    Congratulations! It was a bumpy road, but you sold the house, that's what matters. I do not look forward to my husband and I downsizing when we retire in a few years. Try downsizing from a 3,000+sf, 13 room, full cellar and attic(both of which are filled to the brim with 32 years of living!)3 bathroom home. That and a 3 bay garage also filled to the brim. Best wishes with the new house. NancyLouise

  • edeevee
    10 years ago

    Congratulations!

  • kswl2
    10 years ago

    Congrats, weedy! Did a big family buy your lovely home?

    I still have a chuckle over your "redneck sod" comment!

  • weedyacres
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    kswl: The buyers are actually a youngish couple with a preschooler.

  • ncrealestateguy
    10 years ago

    Weedy,
    I remember your arduous task that you went through to choose your RE agent. Now that the end has come and gone, and hindsight is 20/20, do you feel like you made the right decision? Why or why not?

  • weedyacres
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I was happy with our choice of agents. They weren't perfect, but on the things they didn't do so well (not a great aesthetic sense on photos or write-ups), they took my feedback and adjusted, no questions asked. There was a few week time period when their responsiveness lagged, and they said it was when they were overloaded with negotiations and closings. Aside from that, they were very responsive to my emails and calls.

    The thing I was happiest with was on the communication end. They did an excellent job of keeping in touch with the agents that had shown our home and trying to suss out all the details of their buyers' feedback, what might be keeping them on the fence, etc. They shared all this detail with me and took my input on addressing concerns, potential workarounds, etc.

    They were patient in having long discussions and collaborating on "what do we do about buyer X to get them off the fence" or "how do we resolve buyer Y's concern." They had good advice, and also respected my input as we'd talk through options and scenarios, including the game theory of negotiating. They didn't force their ideas on me, didn't reject mine or act patronizing, and didn't just do what I said without questioning, if they thought it wasn't the best strategy.

    As impressed as I was up front with their use of data, at a point when we actually had some recent comps and I asked for their help in analyzing them to decide if we needed to do something with our price, they disappointed a bit, as they didn't come up with a straight answer about what they told us.

    As it turned out, our buyers weren't of the difficult variety, so it's hard to say that our agents made it happen (as opposed to what another agent might have done). When we got their offer, we were listed at $500K and ended up selling at $490K, but I credit our decision to stand firm more than our agents' negotiating prowess in this specific instance. I'm not saying they're not good, but there weren't any big hurdles to overcome that showcased any special skills in that regard.

    If you're asking me if I think we made the right decision to list with an agent, that would be a longer answer involving my antipathy towards the realtor-industrial cartel that I've shared in pieces on other threads. And I'm too busy right now trying to make Little Beau habitable to write a long epistle. Someday. :-)

  • ncrealestateguy
    10 years ago

    Thanks for your thoughts about your agents. I figured their communication would impress you, since they specialized working with prior FSBOs. It takes a certain personality to make a living seeking out FSBO sellers. Communication is more of an important criteria that more agents need to pay attention to. I have to remind myself to communicate often too, especially with "stale" listings.
    You can spare us the epistle... we've all heard it already.

  • c9pilot
    10 years ago

    Yay! I'm so happy to read this!

    Congrats!