How Long Did It Take to Sell a Southside Park Bungalow at 411 U Street?

Before I tell you how long it took to sell a Southside Park bungalow over on 5th and U Streets, I can share a few other details leading up to this. I know people see the days on market and wonder if they should go into Sacramento real estate. It all looks so easy. Although it is not that easy, and I suspect some people find it difficult to believe.  They do not understand why the professional agents, those like me with four decades in real estate, can turn over inventory so fast. Couldn’t possibly be because we know what we’re doing, now could it? Must be because the market is so danged hot.

Well, I’ve got news for you. The market is not all that danged hot anymore. I keep saying it, but we are on the tail end of the seller’s market. Because I’ve weathered four decades of real estate and been through a dozen up-and-down markets, I know how to adjust to market conditions. My marketing is chameleon-like. It changes with the market movement. You know how chameleons change colors depending on their environment? If they land on green grass, they turn green. They become brown when crawling up a tree trunk. Well, that’s what I do.

I first started to work on this property last April when I was in Hawaii. In fact, continued to work on it when I made my next trip to Hawaii in June. We got the pest report, which was minimal, not even $500. Which is unusual for a Southside Park bungalow home built in 1927. The seller took meticulous care of this home. We made a number of trips to the house to advise the seller on preparation.

While looking over the comparable sales, I decided to advise the seller to increase the price he initially had agreed upon. We could get more money, given the competition at the time we went on the market. Sure enough, first day on the market, an interested buyer popped up. She has $100,000 to put down. But she spent too much time thinking about making a purchase. Enter a second buyer. Then a third buyer.

The third buyer, well, I thought we’d get an offer from that agent but in the meanwhile, the agent with the second buyer called. Of course, I let her know about buyers #1 and buyers #3. We could get an offer from either one of those buyers any minute. So she swooped in with an offer for her buyers and the seller accepted. Just as a courtesy, I let the other agents know the Southside Park bungalow is now pending.

This is how buyers lose a home. Not acting fast enough.

411 U Street, Sacramento, CA 95818 is pending after 5 days on market. Darn, I’m all out of listings again.