Just before the Thanksgiving break, Confidential Realty closed a sale at 848 12th Court in Manhattan Beach (4br/4ba, 3250 sqft.).
It was our third public-market sale this year that came together quickly and went over the asking price.
We thought we'd take a moment here to explain a bit about the process on those three recent successes.
When we meet with potential clients looking to sell, the team here offers a range of advice:
1) Review of overall condition
2) Suggestions for repairs or improvements
3) Ideas for staging/presentation
4) Assessment of the market for the home
5) Best time to sell
6) Pricing
Now, truth be told, everyone in the business should be able to present thoughts on each of those topics to a potential seller.
Sometimes, we do it a little better than the rest.
Now, you might think pricing is nearly all that matters. But it's heavily influenced by the first 5 items on that list.
We will often get deep into the process of listing a property without settling on a public-market price. We begin with a price range in mind, and we compare that with seller expectations.
But when we sign a listing contract, though it must have a price on it, we always try to have an agreement that the actual market price is subject to change up until the last minute.
You want to see exactly how the market stands on the day the listing comes out, how the house really looks after prep work and see if feedback from preview showings might influence the price.
Once you go public, that's the number you're going to be working with - for better or worse.
At 848 12th Court, our discussions with the sellers went on for some weeks before we all signed a listing contract. But then, it was something of a rush to prepare the property, photograph it and get it out on the market. Confidential Realty pulled together a wide range of contractors to help out, with the whole team working nonstop right up until the photographer arrived. Whew!
We priced at $2.899M.
Within a few days, we had multiple offers, more buyers "threatening" to write offers, then an acceptance.
The sale closed at $2.950M.
This is how we prefer to price, if possible: A little under what the market might bear, drawing interest and offers fairly quickly.
We had a similar process with a Redondo Beach listing earlier this year.
Our clients purchased a home in Manhattan Beach, then wanted to sell their newer, beautiful townhome at 2119 Huntington Lane (4br/4ba, 2450 sqft.). (Link to property displays on our sister site, South Bay Confidential.)
As we established the best time to list and got the property ready, the big question was how to price it.
This was a discussion that went on a bit, trying to fit the asking price into a place where it would be attractive, but not "too low," and certainly not too high.
(Anyone who hears from Dave is going to hear: "Price it too high, and you will get less than you should have.")
We agreed on $1.329M, and got multiple offers quickly.
The final sale price: $1.380M.
In between, we sold another Manhattan Beach listing at 1515 2nd (4br/3ba, 1900 sqft.).
Getting the listing was a competitive process, but we prevailed.
Upon first seeing the home, which had been a rental for several years and was occupied, we offered a pretty broad range of potential values for the property. The comps cut both ways, and there were some uncertainties. Other agents, too, we learned, suggested prices mainly in the broad range of $1.6M-$1.8M.
We strongly suggested staging for the property after the tenants moved out, and we brought in a contractor to help.
Then, the best strategy here was to price very attractively, even low, and let the market do its work.
After a start at $1.699M, we received multiple offers.
Three buyers wound up at nearly the same best-and-final price.
The final sale price was at $1.796M.
Looking back more generally at 2018, we've sold other listings this year pre-market, and we've helped buyers find properties off-market. Interesting stories, all.
We haven't gotten every listing we interviewed for, but that's OK. Sometimes we just don't see eye-to-eye on some aspect of the listing with the potential sellers. (See that list of 6 items at the top? It's easy to wind up offering professional advice that someone does not agree with.) Sometimes we simply lose out on a close call to another broker.
We do appreciate each opportunity, however, and we work very hard when enlisted.
As a reader at MB Confidential, you know we don't do a lot of self-promotion, preferring to offer news and analysis of the market in this space. We hope you do find this tale useful, however.
And hey, if you've got plans for selling, or buying, next year, we'd love to talk more offline.
Please see our blog disclaimer.
Listings presented above are supplied via the MLS and are brokered by a variety of agents and firms, not Dave Fratello or Edge Real Estate Agency, unless so stated with the listing. Images and links to properties above lead to a full MLS display of information, including home details, lot size, all photos, and listing broker and agent information and contact information.