Windermere Professional Partners

Selling Your Luxury Home? Proper Preparation is Key!

June 11, 2021

Pierce County’s real estate market is extremely competitive for buyers right now, and well-positioned homes are selling quickly. But even though many homes are selling for multiple offers and over asking, we’re still seeing sellers leave money on the table or fail to sell their homes at all. If you’re selling your home in Pierce County, you still need a smart and savvy listing agent to represent you.

REALTOR® Martin Miller of Miller Luxury Group recently sold a gorgeous 4,323-square-foot home on Fox Island. The last time this home was on the market with another listing agent, it actually did not sell. Martin worked with the sellers to properly prepare the home for the market, and with the right pricing and timing, the Fox Island home was listed for $1,380,000 and sold for $1,400,000 in just 6 days.

How Martin & His Clients Prepared this Fox Island Home for Sale

Around 2 years ago, this home’s seller reached out to Martin about selling their home. When Martin first starts talking with sellers about listing a home, he likes to begin by doing a market analysis. This will give Martin and the sellers a general idea of the price range they can look at listing the home for, but then Martin will go visit the home in person to do a listing consultation. At this time he tours the house and will make adjustments to the price based on the condition of the home, any special features, etc.

For this particular Fox Island home, Martin made a few recommendations on what needed to be updated in order to make it a more attractive opportunity for potential buyers. For example, the home was mostly carpet previously, but Martin knew that to get top dollar, the seller would need to put in hardwood flooring at least on the main level. He also recommended that they prepare the unfinished basement a bit more for the buyers. The basement was ready to be finished and transformed into something new, so Martin advised his client to put gravel in the basement so it would be ready for the next owners to pour cement and finish the space if they wanted to.

Then it came time to address this home’s curb appeal. They made sure to freshen up the home by painting the exterior, and they also had the roof cleaned. There was a bit of moss on the corners of the roof that you could see, and you definitely don’t want buyers preoccupied by that sort of thing when they first pull up to the home!

The seller had also been thinking about putting in a new patio, so Martin advised him to go for it—people always love having great outdoor space, especially recently! In addition to the brand new patio retreat, they also had landscapers come to weed the yard, mow the lawn, and put new mulch throughout the landscaping.

The Perfect List Price

Listing a home at the right price is absolutely crucial. It’s essential to work with a real estate professional who is knowledgeable about your specific home type, neighborhood, city, and current local real estate market. With this particular Fox Island home, Martin analyzed what was happening in the real estate market in the near vicinity. Fox Island has its own unique market, and Martin looked at all of the homes on Fox Island that were of a similar size and in the area. There wasn’t actually much in the area to compare to at the time, but fortunately there was a comparable house down the road that had been listed just 2-3 weeks beforehand. However, Martin’s clients’ house had more square footage, a possible basement, more land, and was more private, so Martin took this into account when deciding to list the home for $1,380,000.

Executing a High-Level Marketing Strategy

Once the home was completely refreshed and prepped, Martin had professional photos taken of the home, and a videographer created a gorgeous video tour of the home and the surrounding area. Once the home is listed, Martin does paid social media advertising in addition to posting info, photos, and video of the home on his social media channels. He also has his file manager send out emails about the listing to other real estate agents who may know of the perfect buyer, and of course he also has informative flyers at the listing for when people come to tour the home.


Choosing the Right Offer

This Fox Island home was listed on a Thursday, and there was quite a bit of interest and several showings. Friday and Saturday were especially busy showing days, and on the offer review date the following Tuesday, Martin had 2 solid offers to present to his clients. At first an offer that was a little low came in, and during a back and forth with this potential buyer, a much stronger offer came in.

Martin pointed out the highlights of each offer and shared it with his clients, and then they sat down and reviewed every aspect of each offer from the price, financing, closing date, earnest money, etc. Martin always likes to ask his clients their opinion first—he doesn’t want to taint his clients’ opinion by sharing what he thinks first. Martin is there to guide you to make the best decision for you!

Martin’s seller client chose the second offer—this particular offer was $20,000 above list price at $1,400,000, it came with solid earnest money, and it was clear that this buyer wasn’t messing around.

Take a Tour of this Fox Island Home

Discover resort-worthy living with this 4,323-square-foot masterpiece on 2.25 gorgeous acres on Fox Island! In addition to 4 bedrooms and 4 baths, this extraordinary property is brimming with luxe living spaces both inside and out. Relax in the sunlit living room where a stunning floor-to-ceiling river rock fireplace anchors the space, and host gatherings in the stylish gourmet kitchen and dining area. Your opportunities for elegant hosting and indulgent relaxation expand even more thanks to a picturesque deck and patio; enjoy being surrounded by park-like beauty at every turn with views of Mt. Rainier and the Narrows Bridge! Click here to see all photos and info.

Would you like to learn more about listing your home on Fox Island or Gig Harbor? REALTOR® Martin Miller is ready to help—you can call/text him at (206) 250-3902, email him at [email protected], or contact him here.

You can also follow Miller Luxury Group on Facebook and Instagram here.