Seller Case Study – Pine Mountain House #2
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As we were renovating the first flooded house we bought on Pine Mountain Drive in Bear Creek Village, we introduced ourselves to our new neighbor and went on to discuss the impact Harvey had on their neighborhood. His home of 11 years had also taken on about 4.5 feet of water. He'd taken great care in cleaning out and remediating the house and told us he was unsure as to whether or not he'd be rebuilding the home or selling it.
About a month into our renovations on the first Pine Mountain house, our neighbor approached us once again and told us he was planning to put the house on the market via the MLS. We asked him if he'd mind letting us take a look and make him an offer before he did, and he invited us in.
Meeting with the seller
Despite having received the same amount of flooding as his former neighbor, this seller's home was in better shape.
The ceilings were still intact, the plumbing recently replaced, the roof was only a few years old, and the water heater was in the attic, so it had survived the flood. And the yard needed much less work than the house next door. The house has also already received mold clearance from a state licensed inspector.
While they clearly had loved their home and the neighborhood, the sellers had decided they were going to move on.
Before photos
Making the offer
After our walk-through, we began to talk numbers. The seller told us what he planned to list it for. We told him that we wouldn't be able to meet that number, but that we would be able to cover all of his costs at closing, he wouldn't have to pay any agent commissions and that we could close in 10 days. Our offer was about $7,000 less than the seller would have walked away with if he received his full asking price when listing his home on the MLS, and based on comparable flooded sales, we felt his proposed listing price was on the high end. He said he'd think it over.
The seller accepted our offer
About a week later we were back at his former neighbor's home checking in on the rehab progress. He came over and asked us if our offer still stood. We said it did. He told us to draw up the paperwork. He had spoken with his wife, and they felt the ability for us to close in 10 days and allow them to move on immediately trumped the potential difference in sales price from listing it and potentially taking months to sell.
He also told us that it was important to him his former home not sit and gather dust like so many other homes in the neighborhood purchased by other investors had. He said he saw how quickly we were doing the rehab on the house next door and said, “If I'm going to sell to an investor, I want it to be you guys.”
We sent them the contract and put down $1,000 in earnest money. Ten days after the contracts were signed, we closed on the flooded home, and the sellers were able to move on to their next chapter. And we began renovations the next day.