I was their Realtor when they relocated to Miami years ago … and I sold their house for them last month as they got ready to move again… recruited halfway across the country by another top University.
But it’s the story about them finding their new home that I wanted to share with you … You’ll see why.
Tired after previewing houses, they arrived at the last one . In the front yard was a tent … with the name of their new University blazoned across the front… a bowl of ice .. drinks… snacks… gifts (personalized hats with the kid’s names from their new University).
Welcome notes were taped to the bedroom doors … and a handwritten note at the staircase detailed everything special the sellers loved about the house … In that note the sellers shared the dreams they had had for that house … what they had hoped and wanted and intended to do with the house … from finishing off the upstairs ‘attic’ and turning it into a home theatre … to finishing off the basement and creating an indoor recreation area. In that note, they promised to finish off the attic, create a home theatre… and install a 52 inch flat screen for the buyers … if they chose to buy the house.
A picture of that note was stapled to the buyer’s purchase offer that came in later that night.
Those kids were sold from the moment they set eyes on the tent, the bowl of drinks, and the hats with their names. They went from being sad to be leaving their friends and memories behind to being SO excited about their new home and new adventure.
Thought and effort went into that sale. And it was that welcome, and the promise of something special that sold that house.
There’s more to selling a house than just opening up the house and turning the lights on. It’s about more than just seeing that the beds are made, and showing off the house as though it’s a model home. It’s about making it feel like home.
This story that did that. With thought and effort, those sellers touched the buyers by making it personal. Yes theirs was a beautiful home to begin with (No it wasn’t perfect … but was just about as close as it could be, without coming with the pool the buyers had hoped for- and will some day put in!) It sold because of the caring and promise it exuded … the sellers personally welcoming that family BY NAME … and BY UNIVERSITY AFFILIATION… with a handwritten promise to make that house even more special … for those buyers.
