I feel so blessed to have a career which truly makes a difference in people’s lives and here is a perfect example of that…..
The seller of this home had just lost her husband from a massive heart attack, and he also left behind a son in his 20’s. The seller, in her sixties, had very little money saved and could not afford the payments, so she was forced to sell. Her husband was a hoarder and the home had major deferred maintenance. Her plan was to sell her home and with the proceeds buy a modest home close to her sisters’ family in a small town in Illinois and would likely need to work as well. The other Realtors she interviewed said “just sell to a developer in its current condition who in turn will flip it for a profit, as there is so much work necessary”.
I told her I would hire tradespeople and manage the project if she could fund it as to net a much higher profit than selling in its original condition. Yes, it was a lot more work for me, but she would be losing the one opportunity she had to change her financial future. Between her and her sister’s family they entrusted me and invested the necessary $90,000. It took six weeks from start to finish but here was the outcome:
Home was worth $950,000 to $1,000,000 as-is.
She invested $90,000 which included: new windows, new kitchen cabinetry, new countertops, new flooring in the kitchen & bathrooms along with repairs to the existing hardwood floors & refinished in a popular color, major painting & extensive patching inside and out, refaced the fireplace, new doors, lightly remodeled bathrooms, new faucets, new lighting, new electrical panel, new furnace, extensive landscaping including new fence on one side & new gates, top-notch staging, and many more little details.
The heart-warming outcome…. we sold her home for $1,480,000! She was ecstatic that she could actually retire and purchase a nicer home than ever expected. All my extra work was so worth it knowing the positive impact on another person’s life.
Before
After
