The Deets
Home #1 | 3 beds 1 baths | 1440 sf
Home #2 | 3 beds 2.5 baths | 1669 sf
Petaluma
Offers - It's complicated
Close Date March 2020
Prologue
Selling and buying a home at the same time is really tricky. The number one challenge is how to take the equity from the old house to buy the new house simultaneously. There are loan products that can help you bridge the transition but at a cost. In this case, and just at the beginning of the pandemic, I was able to procure an off-market home and put this on the market at the same time. Read on for more understanding of the transition.
The Why
I helped Brian and Alli buy this sweet little home in February of 2017. The goal was to buy something preferably in Novato. Perhaps a little condo under $400K. However, once they realized they could buy a home in Petaluma, the condo went out of the window.
The way to sell this house came about when they'd started looking for a bigger home.
As the family grew it came time to buy a home that was more in tune with their family lifestyle needs. We wrote several offers to no avail, the market was really low in inventory, and lots of buyers overbidding.
Real-Time Experience
In a market that was relatively tight - aka no inventory - I started making calls to agents who have a steady book of business in Petaluma. Tada! I found a house before it went on the market and the seller accepted our offer. There were a lot of moving parts. Alli and Brian were selling their house contingent on buying this house and the seller of this house was selling this house contingent on buying another house. Luckily, the seasoned agent on the other end knew me well enough and had faith in my ability to pull it off.
Next Alli, Brian, and I
We keep in touch. Brian is hilarious and makes me laugh. I've tapped his knowledge of landscape design (his profession) and we share pix of our DIY accomplishments. Every time I ask the to dinner though, Alli is pregnant. So new house new baby. Maybe they're done buying houses? Here's their newly remodeled kitchen, a BIG improvement on the tile hell that was there.
Real-Time Advice
I'm so honored Alli and Brian trusted me to manage two huge parts of their life. I had to dig deep to find them the house they bought. It took more than a few phone calls, but I didn't give up. Working with a seasoned agent on the other side was definitely part of the success of this story.
