How We Helped a Client During the Pandemic
The pandemic has changed many things in our lives. It has also left us with several unknowns to think about, including how we sell and buy homes. For our client, Jake, purchasing a home wasn’t going to be a new experience. He and his wife had already gone through the process with their first home many years ago. It couldn’t be more complicated than last time, could it? Little did he know that buying a home was a little different from what he last remembered with the pandemic thrown into the mix.
Jake and his wife had thought about moving to a bigger home even before the start of the pandemic. They were outgrowing their current home and wanted to move closer to where Jake’s wife worked. Now that Jake was working from home and his two kids were also attending school at home due to the pandemic, Jake and his family realized that they needed that new, bigger home much quicker than they originally had planned.
So, they began their search.
A Lot Harder Than Expected
Jake and his wife quickly realized that house shopping during a pandemic was a completely new experience. If they were lucky, they could book a private showing with an agent. Other homes were virtual showings only, and they weren’t comfortable buying a home they had never seen in person. The homes they were interested in were also selling fast and for a premium due to the tight inventory. Low on options, Jake turned to new construction and decided to explore what was available there. After researching online, Jake and his wife stumbled upon a builder in the area they were looking to move to and were impressed by the level of customization they could have.
Unfortunately, when Jake contacted the builder, they informed him that the wait time for a new construction home would be about 6 months due to the long waitlist of others looking to buy new construction. The builder also informed Jake and his wife that they needed to have a valid offer on their current home to qualify for and reserve a new construction home.
What were they supposed to do between selling their current home and waiting for their new home? Jake and his wife did not want to pay for temporary living spaces nor deal with the hassle of a double move, especially during a pandemic and with two young kids in tow.
But just as they were about to rethink their decision to buy a new construction home during a pandemic, their builder representative offered them a solution: Marketplace Homes.
Help is on the Way
As homeowners ourselves, we understand how stressful real estate can be and how costly things can get when you don’t get your timeline right. When Jake and his wife came to us in October last year, we instantly connected with their predicament. After learning more about the timeline the builder needed for Jake’s new home, we recommended our Guaranteed Sale program to ease all the pain points Jake and his wife were worried about.
We worked with Jake to find a customized solution that worked for his family. Our partnership with builders allowed us to help the family secure a new construction home without selling their current one immediately. We were able to give Jake’s builder representative a verified offer on his current home so that he could reserve his new construction home and he’d be free to list his home when he was ready. Since Jake’s new construction home would not be ready until Spring 2021, we made a plan to list Jake’s house for $345,000 in February 2021 with a backup plan to purchase it ourselves if we couldn’t sell it.
Fast-forward to February 2021
Housing prices and demand continued to increase and when it came time to list Jake’s house, we were able to list it at a whopping $380,000. Jake and his wife were thrilled because this listing was much greater than what they would have gotten had they been forced to sell their home in October of 2020. In a matter of days, Jake and his wife accepted an offer of $400,000 for their 3-bedroom home.
By working with Marketplace Homes, Jake and his wife were able to secure the house of their dreams without selling their current home, and they were able to make an extra $73,000 on the sale of their current home, giving them a huge payday with no additional stress. Plus, as an added bonus, they avoided a double-move by working with Marketplace Homes because they were able to line the closing of their old home and new home up to the very same day. How about that?
Today, Jake and his family are enjoying their new construction home and are looking forward to the day they can have friends and family over to enjoy the new amenities of their new home. Looking back, Jake and his wife say that they are still trying to wrap their heads around the fact that their house sold for so much more than they originally expected and that buying new construction during a pandemic could be that seamless with Marketplace Homes.
Learn more about how Marketplace Homes can help you sell your current home and get you into your dream home.
Serena Yan worked as a digital content producer at Marketplace Homes in 2021 and contributed many insightful pieces of content to the MPH blog. During her time at Marketplace Homes, she researched the real estate market, analyzed trends to streamline Marketplace Home’s marketing strategy, and found ways to best engage target audiences. Through writing blogs with topics ranging from market trends to home living, she contributed a lot to the early stages of this blog. Thank you, Serena!