The 11,000 -sq. ft. home had been on the market for more than three years, listed by a firm noted for selling luxury homes. The listing agent was a friend of the sellers. During that time, only one verbal offer was received, which went nowhere. Although the sellers wanted to go forward, they were dismayed by the lack of results.

I was referred to the sellers by a well-known investment advisor/financial planning professional. When I toured the home, four problems were immediately obvious to me: 1) the home badly needed landscaping maintenance and small upgrades; 2) the kitchen and bathroom had not been sized to scale when the home’s large addition was done, for which a fix was not that difficult; 3) the rich natural woods were stunning, but the house felt too dark and masculine; and 4) the home staging needed to be redone with lighter, softer colors.

Within a few weeks there were three different out-of-town buyers circling the home with strong interest, and that activity, along with the beautification of the home, caused a local buyer to suddenly become interested and a quick sale occurred before the other buyers took action. The elated sellers could go on to their next chapter. I assisted them in finding and closing on a replacement home that was fairly oozing with potential. The new home is now stunning and totally refurbished with a new addition.