“Price isn’t Everything”
329 Black Hall Rd, Epsom, NH
List Price: $350,000 | Sold Price: $335,000 (-$15,000)
Catherine helped Francis navigate the purchase of his first single family home in this transaction. Fran had been in the market the previous year, having sold his condo, and was temporarily living with family. He’d had no luck with his previous agent, despite being well-qualified and determined to find something. Catherine met Fran at a First Time Homebuyer Fair in the Spring. Together, she and lender Jamie Trillo helped strategize a plan that fit Fran’s budget, but also satisfied his personal needs in a home – something solid, commutable to work with room for vegetable gardens and close proximity to his love for the outdoors. Access to hiking and kayaking were a must.
Their journey took them all over Strafford, York, and Rockingham counties, and as far north as Wakefield, NH, where a home they previewed literally went pending while they were touring (UGH!). On June 15th, Fran toured an open house while Catherine was away for the holiday weekend. Armed with her laptop, hot spot, and charming personality, Catherine encouraged him to write an under-asking offer he didn’t feel would be accepted. Using aggressive inspection terms, connecting with the agent (who also was the seller), and getting to the root of her motivation gave Catherine and Fran the info they needed to create a winning bid, despite the price! They had an accepted offer on June 16th with a closing set for June 30… That’s 14 calendar days… not counting the Juneteenth holiday!
This 9 business-day closing was made possible, simply because
- Jamie had underwritten his loan in advance (make sure your lender will do that!)
- Four Points Title got a jump on the paperwork Friday, before we officially had a title order, thus getting us in the queue before the holiday delay
- Team Communication and commitment. Fran was extremely prompt with his paperwork and inspection, too.
Teamwork is critical to success. With a timeline this short, tensions are high and there’s very little room for error. We did have a snag in the 11th hour, but together, we were able to overcome it and get Fran to closing, on time. Happy Ending!
2 Pinehill Road MH, Berwick, ME
“The Inside Track”
List Price: $150,000 | Sold Price: $165,102
It’s not unusual for Agents to host open houses for colleagues, so when the opportunity arose for Tiffany to cover one in Berwick, she took it. That day, Irene and Marc visited the home and decided this was one they wanted to make an offer on. Since they didn’t have an Agent, Tiffany was in the unique position to offer her services as a Buyer’s Agent, after all, the house was being represented by the Seller’s Agent. Our Team firmly believes that the Buyer and Seller should maintain separate representation, since both parties have competing interests. When a Buyer works with the Listing Agent, they often think they’ll get a better deal, since the Seller doesn’t have to pay 2 commissions. The reality is the buyer foregoes representation, and the Seller’s agent makes twice as much. There is no rebate to the buyer (that’s actually illegal, more on that another time).
Having hosted the Open House, Tiffany knew exactly how many people came through and how many showed interest, giving her a solid idea on what the competition was going to look like. While this business is competitive, we pride ourselves on our peer-to-peer reputation with other Realtors, which has served us well in bidding wars. When Agents know who is going to be a pain in the rear and who is going to make their Seller’s lives easier, guess which one they’re going to pick? Coupled with our solid reputation, our clients financial terms, and the quirky number they offered, Tiffany’s clients edged out the competition by $102 and a whole lot of creativity.
Working with a reputable, well-connected agent may be the thing that sets your offer apart, and in this market, you need every edge you can get.
55 Exeter Rd, Newmarket, NH
List Price: $349,900 | Sold Price: $312,000 (-$37,900)
“Just Keep Swimming”
Michael came to Catherine as a referral from his sister, a friend and trusted colleague of Catherine’s. He was relocating from Massachusetts, in the midst of a job change and several other major life events. Normally, that’s a pretty easy thing to navigate. Ideally, I’d have connected him with a trusted, local, licensed Massachusetts agent that I’ve worked well with in the past. This ensures a partnership between the agents representing client’s sale and purchase, keeping everyone “in the loop” and making sure the transition is smooth… did you sense a but?
BUT Michael already came with an agent. He’d put his trust in a professional acquaintence for his home sale, and frankly, that person let him down, big time. Teamwork, as we mentioned earlier, is critical to success. Michael expressed early on that his agent wasn’t listening to him (red flag number one). Sometimes people miscommunicate, so Catherine gave that agent the benefit of the doubt. When she called to introduce herself as Michael’s north country agent, the interaction was anything but collaborative (red flag number two). Michael’s home went on the market, and then things were “discovered” that needed to be remedied, things that should have been caught in the pre-listing phase. Now those red flags were stacking up. Regardless, he pivoted, getting those items resolved while also driving several hours north to house hunt with me. Talk about dedication. Michael’s home sale transaction was a cumbersome mess and he did an amazing job holding it all together.
We did our best to take on as much as we could here in New Hampshire, to ensure our side of the deal was as simple as it could possibly be for him. Since the relationship with the Massachusetts agent wasn’t cooperative, we were flying blind making financing, timing, and housing an extreme challenge. Brad Kelly and his team at Movement Mortgage were super heroes, crunching numbers and working miracles with the little info we had. When this house in Newmarket came online, we knew it was a bit steep. Agent relationships came into play again, and Catherine learned there was a price adjustment on the horizon. She and Michael got their offer in as the Seller was making the adjustment. Our advice to you – don’t wait for the price to drop, drop the price by asking for it. Once the drop took effect, the property was a hot item again, but the Seller felt we should have first dibs since we were the first ones to the table, and we negotiated a price and timeline that worked for everyone. Unfortunately, the Massachusetts transaction couldn’t get into sync with us.
As a result, Michael ended up needing to rent 2 separate accommodations for 3 days of homelessness, with kids and dogs in tow. This is NOT how your transition is supposed to go. If you’re moving between states, make sure one of your agents (buying or selling) refers you to their partner in the next state. This ensures partnership and a clear line of communication. We are happy to report that Michael is loving life in Newmarket, New Hampshire, and if you need someone for odd jobs and general contracting… we know a guy 😉
3 Hanson’s Ridge, Sanford, ME
List Price: $340,000 | Sold Price: $350,500
“It’s all about who you know”
A Realtor walks into a showing and says to the Listing Agent “Hey, do you have any properties coming to market?” and that’s how Hanson’s Ridge came to be. Way back in April, Catherine was showing an adorable house in Sanford to two groups of clients. Between appointments she asked the agent-investor if she had any listings coming to market, and sure enough she had a duplex! In the coming weeks, Catherine brought her Veteran client, Brady, to see the work in progress. This house was recently purchased and demolition was in full swing. Ugly doesn’t even begin to describe it. Envisioning what the house would eventually look like was quite the challenge, but Brady put his trust in me, and now he’s living in a virtually brand new duplex, with a tenant helping him pay his mortgage.
The property went under contract in May, and eventually closed in August, almost 5 weeks later than expected due to supply and contractor delays. Communication was key on this home, as the transaction was inverted. Usually we do the inspection and due diligence first, but since this was a shell of a property, we began with financing, and ended up doing diligence in the final days before closing. Had we not done the number one job of a Real Estate Agent (“know anyone looking to buy or sell?”) this house would have come to market in August and we wouldn’t have gotten the smokin’ deal we got on it. Jamie Trillo really shined on this deal, ensuring his financing was in ship shape, so that all we needed was to complete an inspection and sign on the dotted line.
62 Promise Lane, Hollis, ME
List Price: $519,900 | Sold Price: $519,900
“Up for the Challenge”
It was a beautiful day in May when Stacy, an Agent in North Conway, called Catherine. They’d worked together for years, and Stacy had a referral, past clients, down in Hollis who needed to List. Listing a home is quite time intensive, and while Stacy was able to help them purchase, servicing the listing from North Conway wasn’t in the best interests of her clients. Stacy needed an agent who knew this market and could deal with one heck of a challenging situation.
Laura and Kevin moved to Maine with the best of intentions. They bought this expansive 30 acre property on Killick Pond where Kevin could fish, Laura could enjoy the company of her grandchildren, and their son could live with his family in a tiny home. With rates and prices where they are, the market is seeing a trend towards multi-generational housing. This family saw the value in such an arrangement. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned, and the owners wanted to return home to Vermont barely 6 months after buying.
If you’ve sold a home, you know there are expenses associated with the sale, and recovering those expenses only 6 months in is incredibly difficult. The Sellers had consulted with another agent who estimated their home at $550,000. “No way”, Catherine told them. Not based off comps and the market trends. It took convincing, but they ultimately took her advice and priced the home at $519,900, about $60k more than what they bought it for. Ultimately, the market will always tell you if the price is right. It took nearly 2 months of assisted showings, conversations, follow ups, and marketing to find the perfect fit for this home – a young family interested in homesteading from nearby Standish. They were a perfect fit. We wish we could say it was easy, but this transaction was a fight every step of the way. Our team was able to keep the sale price at full asking, stand firm on the “as-is” terms, and collaborate with an agent in Vermont to get the family out of Maine and back to the Green Mountain State.
One last minute hurdle on this transaction – the sellers had never claimed residency in Maine since making the move, so do you know what that meant? Maine would have withheld 2.5% of their sale for taxes – about $18,000!
Fortunately Catherine has gone through this process before and knew of an exemption application. She connected with Maine Revenue Services, got the paperwork in, and was able to reduce her clients state withholding by 85%, simply by applying for the exemption! We call that a win!
8 Shawmut Ave, Sanford, ME
List Price: $325,000 | Sold Price: $350,000
“Teamwork Makes the Dreamwork”
When Catherine met with Brady back in the Spring, his mom, Melanie, also expressed interest in selling her Sanford home. She’d already found a job in Florida and was excited to relocate, she just needed to be sure her son found a place to buy first. So while Catherine was helping Brady secure Hanson’s Ridge Road, she was also managing the preparation and sale of Melanie’s home on Shawmut.
Melanie was an ideal seller. She was prompt with her paperwork, thorough in its completion, and prepped her home beautifully for photos. By the time we opened the doors for the open house, there was a line down the driveway. A successful presentation leads to wonderful results! We had 5 offers ranging in price and terms, giving Melanie the ability to choose the one that best fit her needs. But nothing goes smooth and perfect in Real Estate, there are always bumps in the road. We hit a big bump, and we saw it coming.
Our mantra is to “begin with the end in mind”. We can list a house for $1M, but if the comps don’t support value, neither will the appraiser. You have to value a home like an appraiser will. Catherine had comps to support a minimum sales price of $339k, but we priced at $325k to ensure we sold the house quickly. You never want to overprice a home. When the appraiser showed up, they were cold and rude. Never a good sign. Regardless, research is research, and Catherine was sure hers was solid. The appraised value came in so low, it nearly cost the Buyer’s the house.
When an appraisal comes in short, you have 3 options – the seller can lower the price, the buyer can bring some cash, or the parties can throw in the towel and the house goes back online. That’s assuming the appraisal was fair and solid. We didn’t feel it was, so we took a 4th and unconventional option. The Buyer restructured their loan. A second appraisal was performed, and lo and behold, it supported value. *THIS shouldn’t happen* In a perfect world, no matter what type of loan you are using, your appraisers should all be coming up with similar opinions of value, not dramatically different ones. This was a rare instance where unfortunately we got a bad appraiser. Fortunately, we had a team on both sides of this transaction who were creative problem solvers. None of us were taking “no” for an answer. Shawmut was meant for the people who bought it, and it was worth every bit of effort to pull off a miracle for them.
Melanie is happily living her best life in Florida, and there’s a beautiful new family filling 8 Shawmut with laughter and love.