1106 N. Cordova Street in Burbank closed escrow today. We had two offers very quickly after putting it on the market at the end of May, and it sold over list price at $464,000. The transaction went very smoothly -- I wish all transactions could go this well!
Here's how we got offers over listing so quickly: 1) The sellers had the home expertly upgraded. No, it wasn't a flip in the classic sense as the owners had lived there 17 years until they bought a bigger house last summer. They spent some money, and it showed. 2) It was beautifully staged. (That's the living room, above.) I thought this was essential as the house was small and I knew furniture would make it look bigger. I'll post a before-and-after video soon. 3) I marketed the hell out of this.
The inspection went pretty well as far as inspections go, although the water heater conked out and the sellers had to replace it. The buyer, her agent and his team were really on top of things and responded to everything in a reasonable, timely manner. And we had a back-up offer.
However, there's pain in every escrow. The only pain here was with the appraisal. As I said in a previous post, the first appraisal came in low. Even though the buyer was putting down a hefty sum, Wells Fargo balked. The buyer changed lenders (Great Western), we had a second appraisal that came in to value, and the lender got the loan done in two weeks (!!!). And everybody is happy!
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