Buying Sequim real estate is no small matter. It’s not the time to shoot from the hip or guess or to use inexperienced advisers. There is a lot at stake when you buy Sequim real estate, whether it’s an existing home, new construction, or vacant land. In fact, this will be one of the most important transactions of your entire life, so you can’t gamble and hope you get it right. You can get it right, and there is a method to do exactly that. Here’s a true story that will make the case
Buying Sequim Real Estate
Clients arrived in Sequim from California to look at homes with the hope that they would find the ideal retirement home. They had been looking online for over a year, but especially for the past few months, and they used what is arguably the most powerful Sequim MLS site. After emailing their questions to their favorite Sequim real estate agent and talking to him on the phone, they arrived to view about eight selected homes. While these homes were all nice and reasonably priced, none of them jumped out as the ideal retirement home. They went back home with the intent to keep a watchful eye on homes that come on the market.
Sequim Real Estate Listings
It was only a few weeks later and their radar (the SearchSequimMLS.com site) revealed a new listing that looked really good. They emailed their Sequim agent and he immediately responded within minutes that this was a great area and the home was priced very very reasonably. But these clients were unable to jump on a plane on short notice and fly all the way to Sequim to look at one home. Alas, their agent previewed the home for them and called them back to walk them through the home and around the property as he saw it. By the time he finished describing it and answering their questions, they felt they had a very clear picture of this home.
It really was the perfect home for this couple, and the price was incredible. Their Sequim real estate agent shared that he did some calculations and he estimated that the prior owners had at least $350,000 in hard costs in this property. It was listed at $400,000 two years ago. But now it was suddenly listed at less than $250,000. Of course, when it was built, the market was peaking, and the current recession brought the fair market value (FMV) down to $275,000 or more. To replace this house today would cost about $375,000.
Sequim Real Estate Competition
Here’s why it became critical that these buyers handle their offer with a precise strategy. On the first day this home went on the market there were four buyers who looked at it with their Sequim real estate agent. Because it was a beautiful home with a beautiful lot in a great area and priced so reasonable, it was obvious to these buyers and their agent that they needed to know exactly how to draft their offer, what price to offer, what closing date to propose, how to construct the financing in a way that would be attractive to the seller, and how to manage all the other details and addendums in order to come out on top if anyone else made an offer. In addition to these details, there is the process and the timing of each step that can make or break a deal.
Lo and behold, there were other offers, and the competition for this home became heated. Did these buyers win? Yes they did, but it was a textbook case on how to draft the offer and how to negotiate to beat out all other buyers and their agents. Who was their agent? You guessed that right. It was yours truly. I cannot explain in detail the full strategy and precisely how we beat out all the other buyers and each Sequim real estate agent representing them. That information is proprietary and only for the benefit of my buyer clients. If you are one of my clients, you know. Suffice it to say here that there is much more to handling an offer like this than most people realize.
When you’re ready to look at Sequim real estate I hope you will consider giving me a call or shooting me an email.
Last Updated on December 3, 2012 by Chuck Marunde
