JUST SOLD! South Ogden Tri-Level Starter
Published On: December 28, 2015 Posted by: Jeremy Peterson
I just recently closed on the sale of this South Ogden home with some first-time home buyers. My clients were hoping that shopping during late Fall would help them find a better bargain than during the more active selling seasons of Spring and Summer.
We toured homes all over Weber County while looking at homes in a particular price range. We found a variety of homes in varying states of repair. Some were complete fixer-uppers in nicer neighborhoods while others were smaller homes in superior condition.
After deliberating, we settled on this home in South Ogden located at 5398 S. 825 E. The home had all the features my clients were looking for which included a fenced yard for the kids to play in. The finishes in the home were nicely done and the home was ready for occupancy immediately. My clients specifically wanted something that did not require too much repair given their inexperience working on homes.
The home was listed at $169,900. We made an offer of $165,000 and asked for $5,000 in closing costs. The home had only been on the market a couple weeks. The sellers came back to us with a counteroffer of $169,900 while still offering to pay closing costs. We accepted. A week later, our inspection found some minor items that needed repairs. We rebutted with $168,900 and the sellers accepted the price reduction.
Then, something interesting happened. My client called me to ask about the sales history of the home. He indicated that he felt like they were still paying top price for the property. Given the limited inventory and our inability to find a similar home in similar condition on the market, I told him that it wasn’t a surprise that he felt that way. I pulled some market data from the neighborhood during our conversation. Interestingly, we couldn’t find any similar homes that had sold in the area. Homes in that neighborhood simply had not been for sale. Everybody wanted to keep their home in that area.
We also discovered that the seller had purchased the home for just $140,000 only 10 months earlier. Certainly, it felt like the seller was marking up the sales price quite a bit. Yet, the market seemed to justify his ask price…even if there weren’t supporting sales.
Interestingly, the FHA appraiser assigned to our loan was flummoxed by the lack of sales in the area. He appraised the home at $160,000…nearly $9,000 below our contract price. My clients were surprised at the low appraisal. I called the listing agent and shared the bad news. We thought that this would be a certain death blow to the transaction. However, after the listing agent discussed the situation (which also included sharing the information that a home that has an FHA appraisal cannot be reappraised by FHA for 6 months), the seller decided to move forward with the sale. In other words, my clients benefited by having their sales price reduced to $160,000 AND still had $5,000 in their closing costs paid.
We moved forward and closed a couple weeks later. Congratulations to my buyers! If you are in the market for a home, CONTACT ME, and let’s navigate the market and find a home that meets your specific needs.
