Just one look.
Home searches continue in the midst of regular life. Jenn was busy with family, taking a college course, and living life during quarantine. She would come come across houses and send Anna a text. Late one night, Anna reached out about this listing. She took one look at it and thought, "Yes! It's really nice actually." The pandemic had started and we were quarantined, but this house came along and it felt worth it. Looking at homes during quarantine was tricky. Anna did a FaceTime tour and scheduled a walk through later in the day in case they liked the house. In this tight market, planning ahead is key because homes are gone in an instant. They visited the house after work on a Friday night and decided to make an offer that day.
Too good to be true?
Matt and Jenn were skeptical that this house would work out because they didn't have a final pre-approval letter for financing, it was a Friday night when they decided to go for it. Anna and a trusted mortgage officer worked late into the evening to get the final pre-approval letter together and an offer written. She also suggested they write a personal letter to the sellers to accompany the offer. Once the offer was accepted, the next step was to regroup, reassess their current home for necessary updates, secure contractors to get the work done, and get their existing home up for sale. Did we mention there was a state-wide quarantine in place?
Getaway for the weekend
After a couple of weeks worth of time, energy, and updates on their home, they were ready to list. But doing so with a toddler at home presents its own challenges. The showings filled up quickly, Matt, Jenn, and their daughter decided to spend the weekend away to make things easier. There were 18 showings and 9 offers within 24 hours. NINE offers is a lot to sort through, particularly as first time home sellers. Anna presented a spreadsheet of the different offers, walked through each of them, and highlighted key points for each offer. Within 5 minutes of that meeting, Matt and Jenn's home was under contract.
Experience matters
"I loved how responsive and honest they were." Jenn characterizes herself as over thinking and Ron and Anna helped them make decisions quickly. In this market, that's how you have to be to get the house you want and turnaround a house to sell right away. "As Anna showed us houses, she would point out things to us like the blinds we have and the customizations built into the house." These are the kinds of things you notice as an experienced real estate consultant. In one home they viewed, Anna highlighted that storage might be an issue with a growing family, again, something they hadn't noticed. Ultimately, in the new house, she pointed out some carpet that might be worth replacing and they ended up replacing it.
The Fishwick's advice to others
Happy Wife = Happy Life. We're kidding. Although, Matt did say that.
"Have your Realtor go through your house and share recommendations on things that can be done to make it more attractive to buyers. Anna recommended we put carpet in our basement to make it feel more like a living space and after it was done, wished we would have done it sooner."
