REAL STORY:  DOWNSIZING

Sometimes we share stories from sellers we have worked with.  This article is about a real seller, but his name, any identifying features and the smaller suburb where he was from are all omitted.

Why?  Because we value our seller’s safety and privacy.

Property Pete already had his house listed with an agent.  For 6 months!  What happened to the hot market everyone keeps talking about?

He was frustrated with his agent.  Was the agent working for the buyers or for him?  He was mad at all the unrealistic buyers!  His home was 25 years old, why did everyone expect it to look brand new?  Multiple home inspections had “failed” and Property Pete had spent months “fixing” every little thing.  But then the next inspector came along and somehow found new things to complain about his house.  Pete just wanted out … NOW!

His knees were a big problem and he simply couldn’t handle all those stairs.  He was worried his wife might even fall, because her balance wasn’t as good as it should be.  And the kids and grandkids were living out of town, so they didn’t really need those extra bedrooms anymore.  They had already moved into a cute little condo.  No maintenance, no stairs, no headaches!  Except that old house just wouldn’t sell.  And they definitely did not want to be landlords.

Pete felt like he had already tried the traditional agent route, and that whole system had failed him.  Then he heard about private home buyers. People who buy houses as a profession?  That’s a thing?  Pete decided it couldn’t be any worse than the experience he already had with his agent.  And really, it was just a conversation.  If he didn’t like them or their approach, he could just shut the door and find another way.

Because he had been involved in the process for a long time, Pete already had all the paperwork handy:  real property report, property inspection report, appraisal, copy of land title, even appliance manuals were ready to go for the new buyer.

Truthfully, Property Pete had his guard up when he first met the direct home buyer.  But they asked a lot of questions.  The one that caught his attention was when they asked, “what would make this a win for you and your wife?”  He wanted to say, “just solve this problem and get this property out of our lives.”

Much to his surprise, working with the professional home buyer was an easy process.  They were organized, and completed all the paperwork and financing with time to spare.  Pete had his lawyer confirm everything was legitimate.

On closing day, Pete and his wife were thrilled!

• No last minute delays
• No more complaints about anything that wasn’t “modern enough”
• No financing glitches or problems

With the money in his bank account, Pete and his wife finally felt like a huge weight had been lifted off their shoulders.  Finally, he could get back to enjoying his golf game and travelling with his wife.  Retirement was peaceful again!