Midtown Seller Yanked Out of Short Sale by a Miracle

My real estate business in Sacramento is based on always going that extra step for a seller and to consistently do what is best for my client. I wish all businesses were run that way but I may as well wish that Donald Trump would shave his head for all the good it does me. When my seller in Midtown initially contacted me last fall, she decided to hold off on selling her home in Midtown because she would not get enough to pay off her mortgage and all costs of sale.

Then she called again this summer and said she has resigned to doing a short sale. All the comps pointed to a lower price for her home and she was absolutely convinced a short sale was in order. A home a block away, very similar, sold at about the same price she asked me to list at. I sent her the listing paperwork, prepared my visual inspection, shot photographs, colored corrected in Photoshop and uploaded the listing to MLS.

Within two days we were in escrow. That same day another buyer’s agent called to say she was working with a buyer who desperately wanted a home in that particular location and had been looking at homes in Midtown for a long time. This home was perfect. How perfect was it, I asked? Because we are already in escrow. Although, because it’s a short sale, it is absolutely legal to cancel the buyer in favor of an offer that is better, especially if that offer makes this home NOT a short sale. Now see, another listing agent might have dismissed the buyer’s agent by replying the home was in escrow and no longer available. Instead, this Midtown Realtor asked: Was her buyer willing to cough up another 20%?

Sure enough, the buyer’s agent sent an offer that would pay all the costs of sale, including the commission and pay the mortgage in full! The existing buyer was none too happy when informed, but the buyer, not wanting to cancel, then bumped the original offer out of short sale territory as well. It was a huge jump in price. The buyer really wanted the house. We have no inventory.

By some sheer miracle, it appraised. The appraiser was comparing it to homes in Land Park because it shared the same ZIP code. I didn’t discourage that thought process. Was it worth that higher price? Obviously it was to the two buyers who competed for this home. The seller, of course, is ecstatic. I’m happy too because my Midtown seller was saved from a short sale. And it was the right thing to do. We closed.