How One Saskatoon Home Seller Generated Three Offers in Two Weeks After Months of Frustrating Failures

To say that Don and Sherry were frustrated would be a massive understatement.

They knew that the Saskatoon real estate market had taken a turn and that a large number of homes for sale would impact them, but they also felt that they had a good home…a desirable property in a decent neighbourhood. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but they felt confident that someone would buy it.

A change in life circumstances had brought about a new direction. After pounding out the details in their heads, and then on paper, Don and Sherry were excited to get home, back to the island that they remembered with great fondness. They put their home on the market in the middle of April with the objective of getting moved and settled before the new school year began so their girls could start the year with the rest of their class.

They were excited the day their home hit the market but as the weeks dragged by, Don and Sherry’s hopes began to fade. By the time that their first listing term wound down at the end of June close to 50 prospective buyers had viewed the home. Each time the home was shown they tidied the house, packed up their two kids and made themselves scarce. Their lives were turned upside down, and so were the lives of their girls. They reduced their price by $25,000 over the term of the listing. They were now asking less than they had paid for it more than two years earlier. Worse yet, they were no closer to their goal of heading west. In fact, that dream now seemed even further away from them.

Occasionally, when they insisted on it, they got a little feedback from their agent. “The buyers didn’t like the pink bedroom…The buyers felt that there was a little too much work for them…The buyers didn’t care for the way that some of the woodwork was a bit worn,” their agent reported.

“Our agent told us that these are all small items, easy and inexpensive to fix, so they shouldn’t be a problem for us in selling,” Don explained as we sat together for our initial consultation.

“I agree with most of that statement, Don. These are small items, easy and inexpensive to fix. That being the case, we should fix them. In the same way that you don’t want to complete these repairs, neither do prospective buyers, and they have so many options available to them that they simply move on and view more homes,” I explained.

A brief staging consultation was immediately scheduled. First, a room by room walk through, then a plan of attack. We were looking to make recommendations that give us maximum impact for minimal expense. Four days later, the pink bedroom was history, and so were the paint chips that plagued some of the major traffic areas of the home.  The worn woodwork was a simple fix. Done! Total cost to address these, and a handful of other items? Less than $1,200.00 on a house with a value of greater than 500K.

Within two weeks of listing the home, we were able to present three offers to Don and Sherry. Ultimately, a sale closed in mid-August. Don and Sherry’s girls started the new school year with the other kids in their class. They’re home, together, on Vancouver Island.

This is one of a hundred true stories I could share with you about a failure that a seller experienced. Stories that could have been avoided.

This is a market where details matter…everything matters, but if you do it right you can sell your home, and you can sell it for a good dollar, without having to show it 50 times.

We’re ready to help you do it right.

Call us today at 306-241-6676 or fill out this simple form to get the ball rolling. We look forward to serving you.

Norm Fisher

Request a Complimentary Value Range Analysis of Your Home

Request a Complimentary Value Range Analysis of Your Home

The Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA) IDX Reciprocity listings are displayed in accordance with SRA's MLS® Data Access Agreement and are copyright of the Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA).
The above information is from sources deemed reliable but should not be relied upon without independent verification. The information presented here is for general interest only, no guarantees apply.
Trademarks are owned and controlled by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Used under license.
MLS® System data of the Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA) displayed on this site is refreshed every 2 hours.