It was February 2018 and I was doing my usual door knocking and checking in with my local families. Can’t remember if I had my little kiddo with me that day…it all seems so long ago since I can’t even fathom door knocking now with everything going on (I spend more time on the phone nowadays, followed by meeting them in person).
I was dropping off some flyers, introducing myself and seeing if there was anything in the world I could do for the neighborhood.
A couple days later I received an email from a gentleman who wanted to sell. He didn’t know exactly where he wanted to go but he knew the market was hot and was looking to cash out.
After sitting down with him, I learned he had bought in 2013 (only 5 years prior) for about $400,000. He hadn’t done many upgrades but maintained the property well.
We decided to list the property at $690,000 with the intention of getting over $700,000.
We closed at $720,000.
This is someone who ended up buying at a pretty good time and took advantage of selling when the market was high and moving quickly. Interest rates were low, just under 4% at the time.
He ended up renting for about a year and then moved out of state. Within that year, interest rates crept up almost a full percent, causing the market to slow in the second half of 2018.
I always talk about how impossible it is to time the market, but with this seller, we sat down together and talked about what we know RIGHT NOW. Here are the things we knew at the time:
– He bought at a great time.
– He had gained $300,000+ equity in 5 years.
– When we sat down in 2018, we knew the market was hot. We didn’t know what would happen in the next 6-12mths.
– He was open to coasting for a bit – renting and seeing what happens with the market….
He decided to go for it, and I think it was a great choice because it’s what he wanted and I also thought it was a pretty smart move. He ended up buying a new home out of state and seems pretty happy…
That last part – being happy – is always the goal.