Downtown Palo Alto
Terry and Mauri had owned their downtown Palo Alto home for more than two decades, and they had renovated it into a sleek, ultra-modern work of art. It was beautiful, and it was not for everyone. The stairs to the top floor floated without handrails, and the upstairs hallway floor was made of glass.
Other agents gave the conventional advice for an unusual home: price it low, hold open houses, and stage it with overstuffed couches.
Chris took the opposite approach. There was only one home like this, and the one buyer who loved it would pay a premium for it. His job was to find that buyer.
Terry had $1.8 million in mind. Chris recommended $1,998,000 and backed it with weeks of tracking comparable sales.
There were no open houses and no lockbox. With floating stairs and a glass floor, crowds of visitors made no sense, and the sellers kept their home immaculate. Buyers and agents contacted Chris directly, and he attended every showing. High-end photography did the screening, so the people who came to see it were the people it was meant for.
Within two weeks, a buyer who loved minimalist design walked in and fell for it. Chris negotiated to $1,980,000, all cash, no contingencies, with a free two-month rent-back.
