I thought it would never happen.
I sold a listing off-market.
There wasn’t much hope that we could sell 1704 Azul Vista for $2,000,000+.
There had been only one sale over $2 million ever, and it was an off-market sale in May, 2022 – the absolute peak of the frenzy. The five sales since then had struggled too, with most taking weeks to sell and various discounts needed – in blue below:
The last sale of the 3,372sf plan was in August, 2022 for $1,669,000.
My sellers and I agreed that the $2,200,000 sale was an outlier, and with the subsequent sales ranging from $1,600,000 to $1,760,000, we would be satisfied with $1,900,000, so we listed for that amount:
Donna correctly pointed out that our clients had not done much since we sold them the home in 2017, and even though it was the former model, it’s now a 20-year old former model. We agreed to embark on a thorough kitchen remodel to dazzle the buyers and ensure we could get the $1.9 million. Thankfully, it would take 6-7 weeks to complete the work, and we planned to hit the open market in February.
Then Tanya came along with her new listing.
She inputs 1021 Camino del Arroyo as a Coming Soon listing, priced at $2,350,000 because it had a $500,000 down-to-the-studs remodel – so they figured they deserved to use the $2.2 comp. Here’s the best part – someone who was crazy about this floor plan and neighborhood made a full-price cash offer, sight unseen!
I’ve been friends with Tanya for years, so I called her to get the scoop. She also tells me that Paul had called and he has a new listing of the same floor plan coming up too. I’ve known Paul for a long time, and once we all start talking, we realize that each of us would have a listing of the same 3,372sf model hit the market in three consecutive weeks!
The $2.35 listing set off a buzz in the neighborhood, and when the moving trucks rolled up to my listing, the word really got out. Paul’s listing looked at power lines and water tanks, so he kept his price at $1,895,000 – and got $1,960,000. But an agent whose buyer didn’t like Paul’s listing called me.
We did a kitchen remodel and had the ocean view. But there was still plenty of the 2005 model-home look, and it’s known that ocean views from San Marcos are intermittent at best.
I tell the agent that our price is going to be $2,200,000, and she sends over a $2,175,000 cash offer!
The $2,350,000 was such a lucky sale that we resisted the urge to think we would get that much or more if we went on the open market – there wasn’t any other solid evidence. This isn’t Carlsbad, and it’s not even San Elijo Hills – it’s Lake San Marcos!
We took the deal.
I did input it onto the MLS after the buyer released all contingencies, and let it sit for almost 24 hours to see if there was any other interest.
I didn’t get a call.
We agreed that we did the right thing!
