Does Who Lists Your Home Make A Difference?

You're not sure? Let's look at some data.

We, at Changing Streets, believe every home is different. But in reality there are situations when they are the same and it is up to us to drive value. This is true in newer subdivisions that build a couple size homes, and certainly with townhomes and condos.

The first example is of three homes in a newer over 55 community just nortwest of Raleigh, North Carolina. The three homes are the same model, but two had significant upgrades at construction (demonstrated by original price). All three were on the market at the same time, and closed with 35 days of each other.

Through preperation and marketing our seller able to sell for over $20,000.00 more than the other homes. Our team was onsight for photo prep making sure everything was in its place, we left curated showing instructions and our home presented very well. The second place home was "staged" by the agent and unsettling, the comments made claims the showing could not support. The third place agent simply did not understand the assignment and it cost his client $48,000.00.

The big tell in these situations is the original price, you can tell which homes were upgraded at initial purchase, and how well the agent marketed the home on the resale by the "difference" or equity gain experienced. Our client (we sold them the unit initally and the resale) made $70,000.00 more than the Athena owner and $109,000 more than the Farm Leaf Drive home.

Below is a townhome development in Apex, North Carolina. We sold unit 2578 Rambling Creek to a client in 2019, in 2023 they were ready to sell. The same model was a home listed at 2510 Sunny Branch for $690,000.00 by an experience and popular agent. The home was well presented and had an amazing location with a view of the community pool and open space. This was the best comparable and competition.

Our client had a unique home, pond view end unit (all of these below are end units except our listing at 2574 Rambling Creek an interior unit) and wanted north of $700,000.00. A challenge we accepted. Knowing homes sell for more in the first weekend we strategized with our client and put together a plan, and prepared. We executed to plan and they closed for $715.000.00, the other listing sold for $670,000.00 a $45,000 difference! These were now the comps for the neighborhood, and three more townhomes were listed within a month in the $680,000-$695,000 range.

There is a great deal of construction in the area, mostly smaller townhomes at much larger prices per square foot and fewer amenities (pool, clubhouse, common areas). The listing agents worked against each other instead of together and it was a race to the bottom with prices, not analysis of listings, area, photos or listing improvements and mistakinly thought they were competing with the new builds. We knew through analyzing purchaser data who was buying those units, and knew the features in our units would appeal to a more seasoned buyer, the other agents had no idea what we were talking about. We know this because after 90 days one seller fired their agent and called us.

Our new listing 2574 Rambling Creek was the only interior unit for sale, meaning losing 5 large windows, and the natural light, on the side of the home. The sellers were determined to maximize there sales price inspite of the other homes for sale and price reductions. We took the listing which had been listed with a large trendy company and agent. Our prep work took 8 hours of cleaning, changing light bulbs, (so they matched and created the correct lighting for the space), even changing rusty street number screws.

In the end you can see the seller did indeed outsell all the end units, what you don't see is that they received nine offers, rejected all but two, the first buyer backed out for personal reasons leaving a sizable due dilligence fee with the sellers, the second buyer was part of a multiple offer situation and won with cash and a quick close.

These are common results we don't list houses, we prepare, market and tell the story of homes. A big difference our clients appreciate.

Bottom line is the knowledge your agent or brokerage has and the willingness to use it to your benefit is crucial. We are not an agent, Changing Streets is your team, and we play a different game.