Two Buyers, One Townhouse

So, it’s 11:38 AM on a Thursday, and I have just clicked “Submit” after inputting all of the information on my newest listing – 5849 Waterdale Court in Centreville. I’m pretty excited, as my seller has done all the right things needed to make this a “smart buy” for a new owner: fresh paint, new carpet, hardwood & tile, bathroom vanities, light fixtures and a lot of attention to detail. On top of all of this, we have a large deck with one of the best private views. This is the total package.

Thursday – For Sale

Thursday, 5:32 PM – 5 hours, 54 minutes after submitting the listing
I get a phone call from an agent, wanting to know if the property was still available and how I was going to handle presenting contracts. He had shown the townhouse and his buyers were pretty interested. My standard answer is, “all contracts get presented as soon as they come in.” Before getting off the phone, the agent wanted to know if my seller was willing to negotiate. My response was, “gee, I never know, however, with a property this nice and new on the market, my advice to a buyer would be to offer full price before someone else does. ”

Friday, 1:56 PM – 26 hours, 18 minutes after submitting the listing
The agent emails me a contract from his buyers. Well, it seems that they wanted to negotiate, and they offered a price that was $4,900 less than our asking price, with the seller paying $10,000 towards their closing costs. Effectively, they were asking for $14,900 off the price. Needless to say, the seller and I were equally underwhelmed. This was not the type of contract that makes you want to “jump on it and nail it down.” The seller’s response was that he would think about it while waiting to see what the weekend brought us.

Friday – Sold!

Friday, 5:42 PM – 29 hours, 44 minutes after submitting the listing
Well, we did not have to wait for the weekend. At 5:42 PM, a second agent submitted a really smart contract. This was the type that you “jump on it and nail it down,” which is what he did. It was everything that a seller would want while being fair to the buyer. It was a “win-win” contract.

The moral of this story is that nice houses don’t stay on the market long. If you are thinking of buying a house this spring, please keep this in mind. If you see a house that has everything that you want, don’t wait for someone else to buy it. Act immediately.