Last week I posted “Here’s Why I Hate This Real Estate Market“. Full confession, I almost didn’t publish it because it was so negative. Ultimately though, I decided it was an important topic and many of you reached out to me with your own experiences and thoughts. I always appreciate that and those of you who have been reading my articles for some time know that I try to be very transparent with what’s going on in my life and in real estate. This week I thought I’d bring you some stories of wonderful and positive experiences I’ve recently seen with our clients. These are the stories that cause me to keep pressing onward and why I love this business.
One particular family has bought and sold several homes with me over the past 12 years. They were originally a referral from a pastor friend of mine who told them, “Ron’s a solid Christian and a great REALTOR®.” I’ve enjoyed working with them through the years and recently they made the decision to move to Bowling Green, Kentucky, to be close to his aging parents. One of my agents, Brandon Porras, and I went over to meet with them and helped them create a plan for moving to Kentucky. We even set them up with a great agent in Bowling Green as well. As Brandon was talking to them right before going on the market, they discussed raising their asking price by $5,000. We felt it was possible to get more money since there were very few homes on the market in their area, and also because Brandon had already gotten three phone calls from other agents wanting to show the home. We went live two days later and got several great offers, most of which were willing to pay more than the asking price and take the home in “as is” condition. The winning buyer went $10,000 over their asking price, took the home in “as is” condition, and was even offering to pay $10,000 of the seller’s closing costs including REALTOR® commissions. That’s an extra $20,000 in the seller’s pocket! That made Brandon and me so happy to be able to help them. Now Brandon is helping their neighbor sell her home too.
Some of you may know that I’m one of the top recommended agents in Kansas City by Dave Ramsey. They call them ELPs or endorsed local providers and my real estate team typically gets to help about a dozen people every year that register on the Dave Ramsey website to find a top, experienced REALTOR® in the area. A few months ago I received a phone call from a woman found my name on the Dave Ramsey website. Her husband had passed about 30 days earlier and she wanted to move out of Kansas City to be closer to her family. She confessed that she didn’t know what to do and needed my help selling her home. I’m sure it was a very difficult time in her life as she told me she and her husband had lived in this home for 39 years together. I assured her I could help her with repairs, updates, and anything else she needed. I’m so glad she trusted me because we were able to get multiple offers on her home and the story is made even better because one of our buyers ultimately had the winning offer. I love it when my team can have two very happy families in one transaction!
Sue Shores, another one of my agents, had a friend who needed to sell their home as he’s taken a new job pastoring a church down in Adrian, Missouri. The process took several months due to renters living in the home and it needing a lot of repairs. Sue did a fantastic job of helping her sellers through the entire process and finally the day came to shoot professional photos and put the home on the market. We spent some time marketing this home to all the other top agents in the area, and when we went live we had quite a few people looking at it in the first three days. It’s a unique home because it has seven bedrooms and five bathrooms. Several buyers wrote offers, but the sellers chose to go with the offer that was $8,000 over their asking price and willing to take the home with no inspections or repair requests, with a quick closing date. I have to give full credit to Sue for negotiating that out for the benefit of our sellers. They couldn’t be happier!
Another agent on my team, Leah Mott, has recently helped two different clients buy homes in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Both of these buyers were moving here from out of town so we wanted to make sure they understood what’s going on in the Kansas City/Lee’s Summit real estate market today. It’s hard enough moving into the area and not knowing where to look or what to do, but it’s made even more challenging in this competitive real estate market. That’s why I tell people, “In today’s market, it’s more important than ever before to use an experienced real estate agent that knows what they’re doing.” Leah did a great job for both sets of buyers and ultimately found them homes to buy, and at reasonable prices too. They were both moving to the area to be closer to family and we definitely accomplished that goal for them. We were so happy to have been able to help them.
As 2021 continues to unfold, I know we will continue creating wonderful stories for our clients. If you know of anyone that needs our help buying or selling a home in the greater Kansas City area, we would love to hear from you.