In January, my client - a high school classmate now living in Chicago - entrusted me with the sale of his mother’s lovely, if not dated townhome in Brentwood. His ask was simple: sell it quickly and get $1.5M. The following is how we generated buzz, multiple offers, and a sale price almost 18% over appraised value in the middle of a pandemic.
Step 1:
Refresh the Home: Using Compass Concierge, we removed 40 years of tired carpeting and wallpaper, added hardwood floors throughout, new lighting, new HVAC, and a fresh coat of paint that brought a new sense of brightness to the home and my seller didn’t have to front any costs or incur any interest.
Check out the before and after photos (Bedroom, Dining & Living rooms):
Check out the before and after photos (Bedroom, Dining & Living rooms):
Step 2:
Generate Buyer Intent: Without Open Houses, you need to rely heavily on digital marketing to create buyer intent. We invested in a full day/twilight shoot with photography, video, and drone footage and then applied virtual staging to create a new reality across all social channels and a dynamic website.
Step 3:
Create Exclusivity: It’s human nature to want to be an insider. Real Estate is no different. Utilizing the collaborative Compass "Private Exclusive" network, we were able to generate buzz, gauge buyer interest (and pricing tolerance) without accruing days on market. Then when we felt we had it right, we went active and were in escrow in 3 days. Here are the results:
- Appraisal Price: $1,425,000
- List Price: $1,525,000
- Compass Private Exclusive: 3 showings
- MLS Active: 3 days, 16 showings, multiple offers
- 20 Day Escrow
- Sale Price: $1,672,256
A native Angeleno, Paul Small grew up in a "show-biz family" and began his career as a third-generation theatrical agent impacting the careers of actors and writers including the likes of Crispin Glover, Paul Haggis, Ray Liotta, and Demi Moore. After beginning a family, he traded Sunset Blvd for Madison Avenue and spent the next 20 years in advertising, creating and implementing marketing strategies that drove new business growth, resulting in the successful onboarding of clients such as Coca-Cola, Comcast, Electronic Arts, Nike, Pinkberry, Princess Cruises and the US Army among many others.
Small now applies those same principles of agency; integrity, accountability, and perseverance to his clients as they work together to define and fulfill their real estate investment strategies.
