When I first walked through this home for the listing appointment, there was a lot to love. The homeowners had taken care of the property, and overall, it showed beautifully.
But in real estate, very few listings are as simple as taking photos and putting the home on the market, and this one was no exception. The rear deck desperately needed to be replaced. Leaving it as-is would have affected the perception, and ultimately the price, of the entire property.
The seller knew it would be a problem, but also didn’t have a casual $8,000 sitting around to invest in a new deck while preparing for a move, getting kids ready for the school year, and staring at a mile-long honey-do list.
We could have listed the house exactly as it was. We could have taken beautiful photos, marketed around the deck, crossed our fingers, and waited to see what buyers thought. But that wasn’t going to help the sellers achieve the market value they needed to move into their next home. So instead of lowering their expectations, we solved the problem.
Wednesday: The Listing Appointment
We met with the homeowners, toured the property, reviewed our pricing and marketing strategy, and identified the deck as one of the biggest obstacles standing between the home and the way we wanted buyers to experience it.
Thursday: We Found the Money
Archie is an alternative selling solutions company and an affiliated business of The Parker Group. It gives us the ability to approach situations differently when a seller has equity in their property but doesn’t necessarily have the cash, time, or flexibility to solve a problem before selling.
James, our Business Development Director, reviewed the situation and quickly made the decision to fund the deck replacement.
The Weekend: A Brand-New Deck
Our contractors got to work. By the end of the weekend, the old deck was gone and a brand-new one was in its place.
Monday: Photos
Instead of photographing a house with an obvious project hanging over it, we brought the property to market looking the way we believed it needed to look from Day One.
What Happened Next?
Multiple offers.
Under contract three days later.
$20,000 over list price.
I sh*t you not.
Now, here’s the obvious disclaimer: replacing a deck does not automatically mean your home is going to sell for $20,000 over asking.
The point is that strategy starts at the listing appointment, and oftentimes the best thing we can do for a seller is solve the problem before putting a sign in the yard.
Any real estate agent can come into your home, prepare a market analysis, hire a photographer, put the property on the MLS, host an open house, and wait for buyers to react. At The Parker Group, we work to identify the problems before the buyers do.That starts at the listing appointment and continues with a pre-list home inspection, which helps us uncover repairs or concerns that may not be immediately obvious. From there, we work with the seller to determine what can realistically be addressed based on their goals, timeline, and financial situation.
Sometimes that means replacing a deck.Sometimes it means helping someone who has fallen behind on their mortgage get caught up so they have time to sell properly instead of making decisions under pressure. Sometimes it means paying off an existing mortgage and helping fund the next move so repairs can be completed and the current home can be shown in its best possible condition (yes we will really go that far).
Every sale is unique, and the strategy behind that sale should be equally unique.But our goal stays the same: protect our clients’ interests and help them make the most strategic use of their investment. That investment represents years of mortgage payments, appreciation, renovations, sacrifice, and equity. Our job is to help sellers figure out how to leverage all of that as effectively as possible for whatever comes next.
That’s the difference between simply listing a property and advising someone through a real estate decision. That’s what real estate should look like. That’s The Parker Group.
