Selling in a hot market: One homeowner’s experience

Now this is the story all about how,

a person in North Idaho sold his house.

And I’d like to take a minute just sit there and park it,

and I’ll tell you how my friend made a killing on the real estate market.

For the purposes of this article, I’ll refer to my friend as the Fresh Prince, and I won’t be mentioning specific locations or prices, in part because the sale is pending and, well, it’s none of your darn business.

The Fresh Prince wanted to sell his house in Post Falls. It had been a rental property for him for years, but he wanted to get away from that hassle (and also take advantage of the North Idaho market frenzy).

The home needed a few touch-ups. Some new carpet in one room, a splash of paint in a couple of others. He also arranged for some basic landscaping improvements, as the property had been somewhat neglected in the past couple years. They were marginally-priced updates that his Realtor suggested would help him meet his target price. The process only took a couple of weeks, and the home was listed in June after the previous renters vacated.

The Fresh Prince bought this home six years ago. It hit the market this month more than $200,000 over what they spent on the property in the first place.

The first day on the market, the Fresh Prince received an offer, sight unseen, for $25,000 over the asking price. It seemed like an incredible offer, and not that surprising given the current demand for homes in the area.

Unfortunately, within hours of the offer, the buyer backed out for unspecified reasons. No matter. The Fresh Prince’s house had a showing that day that resulted in another offer that landed $10,000 over asking price.

Even then, the demand for showings remained high, and so the Fresh Prince’s Realtor decided on countering with some supplemental “pot sweeteners,” including the buyer paying for closing costs.

More showings occurred, but the interested buyer came back with the desired contingencies before new offers arrived. So the Fresh Prince accepted the offer. All told, the home was on the market a total of four days.

The Fresh Prince celebrated with his friends (including DJ Jazzy Jeff, probably) and then offered this column some advice for other sellers:

“If you price your house fairly, you are going to get a lot of interest, squarely,” he said.

Not his best rhyme, but yes, the house sold at the price point of several comparables in the area.

So what’s the Fresh Prince going to do with the profits he made by selling his house in the hottest market in America? He’s going to sit on his throne in Bel Air, of course.

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Neighborhood of the Week wants to know about your local buying experience. Contact Tyler Wilson at twilson@cdapress.com, and let us know what rapper you’d like to be referred to as in the article.

You can also let us know about more standout neighborhoods and new developments that we may feature in an upcoming Neighborhood of the Week. Real Estate Agents: Take advantage of Neighborhood of the Week by sending in your suggestions for featured areas, including sites outside the normal confines of Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Hayden.