Case Study 3 (Mayview)

 

 

 

To close on their dream house, Max and Deirdre needed to sell their current house for top dollar. The problem was they had kids, a dog, and a nanny—and only weeks to get it all done.

 

When Max and Deirdre first saw the historic Stanford house that is now their home, they were impressed with more than just the property. Chris Iverson did such a professional job of presenting the Stanford house—as well as guiding them through the complexities of buying on the Stanford campus— that they knew he was the right choice to sell their Palo Alto home, too.

 

“He went to great effort to represent the Stanford house, and we knew he would do the same for us,” they said.

 

 

But could any agent, even one very expert in the market, get it all done in time? “When you only have 60 days to arrange a loan and lease from Stanford, while simultaneously prepping the client’s current house for a fast, no contingency sale, there’s no time to waste,” said Chris.

 

To make the sale in time, Chris helped Max and Deir- dre get their house ready to show in just two weeks. “We packed and moved a family of five, plus nanny and dog in three days,” said Chris, who brought in a team of experts, including Cindy Hofen of Managing Moves and More, a professional move manager, to help the family sort through what to take and what to let go.

 

After moving out in record time, Chris and his team encouraged the sellers to invest in paint, floor refinishing and landscaping. “We even walked around and thought, this is beautiful. Why are we selling?”

 

 

Could they set the price a little higher and still get the high-quality offers the sellers needed to meet their strict deadline for the Stanford home? His instinct, born of deep knowledge of the Palo Alto market, was to turn the dial up. Chris set the price at $2.5 million, and waited.

 

“As the house was being prepped, Chris kept us updated on the market, what homes we were competing against, what the buyers were thinking and looking at and what other homes were selling and not selling. He kept us educated on the competitive landscape in real-time.

 

We were also looking at the Facebook IPO and the market frenzy in the run up to that. Chris brought up ‘what if it isn’t the next Google’, and how that could affect what buyers would be will- ing to pay for our house. Ultimately, we took offers the day after the IPO, a week sooner than originally planned, and it turned out to be excellent timing. “ explained Deirdre

 

With the eight-year-old home looking brand new, Chris began to watch the market very carefully.

 

 

The house sold for $250,000 over asking price. “We expected to be overbid by $100,000, so we were extremely happy to end up where we wound up.”

 

The four offers were all fairly aggressive and of high quality. “The sellers and I talked through the strengths and weaknesses of each one. In the end, it was clear that with a little further bidding, we could reach $2,750,000 in cash with no contingencies."

 

Which is exactly how the owners of a beautiful home in Palo Alto became the owners of a historic home in Stanford.

 

With the move behind them and the deal done, the sellers were amazed by what they and Chris’s team accomplished in so short a time.

 

“We’ve never had this complicated of a real estate transaction before. I was extremely impressed with how he handled all the details, which were themselves fairly complex,” said the sellers.

 

“I knew we had to move fast, or not at all. But I was confident we could do it,” added Chris.