The story

Represented buyers from Utah relocating to Florida with the intention of making Florida their primary residence state.

This property was on market for less than 48 hours when we came across the listing - after looking at the neighborhood and competing listings, I knew that the best thing for us to do was to immediately make an appointment and a fast decision on weather or not to make an offer. I knew that if this house was a good fit for these clients, they would have to act fast on it. And here is why:

This area in Saint Petersburg was affected by the hurricanes so to me the most important factor was that this house was NOT affected therefore making this a very special elevation and lot, and also one of the very few properties available for sale that have no damage.
After running 2 separate comparable market analysis and going over recent sales that were also waterfront and similar in age, I knew that the asking price of $1.2M was UNDER market price - meaning if we didn’t get this property NOW, someone would quickly figure out what I had just concluded.
When driving around the neighborhood what might have scared many buyers away, like the hundreds of homes with debris and storm damage laying out on their lawn, was my moment to advise these clients to go ALL in at full asking price. The “ugly” surroundings are temporary and this is an area that has been time after time ranking higher in popularity.

We made an offer at full price including ALL furniture.

The offer was accepted - and hours later they had received a BACKUP OFFER.

Timing is everything.

Inspections were ordered and executed and we asked the sellers to repair 2 items: electrical red flags that affected the 4 Point Inspection report - and by fixing the issue my client’s insurance would lower by $1,000 a year. As well as repairing the pool system leak that was discovered - which ended up being a full replacement.

The biggest win came after we received the appraisal report:

$130,000 over the contract price.

That is $130,000 of instant equity.

When working with clients on the buy side, the study of that property prior to an offer is the most valuable negotiation strategy there is. How you approach a seller has to be strategic in many ways.

Had we made a low offer “because we can”; could mean losing to another competing offer.

Had we waited to see more properties because they were curious - instead of advising them that truly this property is the best property on the market after my research and that they would waste their time. We could have lost it.

Understanding the market and being strategic to produce real results for my clients goes beyond making a showing appointment and printing a summary report sheet.

Their relocation has been successfull in more ways than one. From the instant equity, to the fully furnished ready to enjoy home, to the no income tax state choice, there are lots of things to celebrate.