A few weeks ago I sold a home in Ambleside, West Vancouver that got 37 offers and sold for $753,000 over asking. It was written up in the Globe and Mail. I'm a North & West Vancouver Realtor. We used this strategy to sell this home.
There were many updates on this West Vancouver home done over the years but the house needed a lot of maintenance and did not show well. The lender was in the process of foreclosure, which was set to happen March 21, 2024.
The Seller had 2 choices - sell the property prior to the foreclosure or allow the bank to take over the property and sell it. Obviously, the desired choice was to take control of the Sale and sell it prior to foreclosure.
We had no time to prepare if we were going to make this happen.
The Strategy
In order to create urgency we listed the property under market value and declared a date for offers (March 1, 2024). I made it easy to show the property by listing 4 public open houses.
The Process
During the 4 open houses we had over 300 groups through the property. There were 7 inspections done.
The Result
The home received 37 offers and sold, pending recission period on March 1, 2024.
My Sellers went from being in the hot seat to having the opportunity to begin a new chapter. The best part of my job is taking a tough situation and enabling clients to turn it around. In a review the Seller wrote for me he said "Michelle Vaughan saved me, and those I care about, when I truly thought we were about to lose everything, and I will never forget that. She is the best real estate agent you will ever find".
I'd like to respond to some of the comments on the Globe and Mail article.
Viejo Lector: "needs work" is code for the tenant has to go.
Why would you think this? The tenants downstairs were the best tenants I have ever worked with. The new owner is keeping the tenants. Needs work is code for NEEDS WORK. The roof had issues, there were tiles that had been half removed in the bathroom, there were outstanding issues with the district that the Buyer assumed responsibility for.
app_7325801: Selling below assessment isn't easy to achieve in Vancouver, let alone in that neighbourhood.
The agent shouldn't be proud of this deal...But you can use the assessment as a bottom line minimum value for property.
95+% of sales are (well) above assessment. Selling below assessment means it's a tear down or something else is seriously wrong.
The agent shouldn't be proud of this deal...But you can use the assessment as a bottom line minimum value for property.
95+% of sales are (well) above assessment. Selling below assessment means it's a tear down or something else is seriously wrong.
I am very proud of this deal. You are making assumptions about assessed value that are not true. Assessed value and market value are two different things. Most properties in the area have been selling under assessed value recently. Had you looked up comparables for this property you would have a good idea of what market value is. I am also proud of this deal because the seller had a very short period of time in which to make it happen prior to foreclosure.
Doctor Demento: Tell us where the buyer's money is coming from, specifically did it ever see an income tax cycle in Canada or is it being imported and parked from Hong Kong or Shanghai or Tehran or Beijing or Moscow.
You may not be aware but there is a ban on Foreign Buyers now in Canada. The purchaser was a local with strong ties to the community.
JKN4: Does government not require proof of the legal source of funds used to buy property? If not, they should. In fact, maybe all buyers should now be checked for this.
Yes, the government does require Realtors to Fintrac clients, including gathering a lot of information and a receipt of funds record to determine the source of funds. All Buyers are checked for this.
z55man: The lender would have made BIG money on foreclosure.
The lender only gets the portion of the proceeds that is owed to them.