After failing last year with a real estate agent, Angela and Blake Preston are still somewhat stunned and definitely delighted by how quickly they sold their own home using ComFree.
Their four-bedroom Glendale bungalow was on the ComFree market for mere hours at an asking price of $175,500 when a prospective buyer called and asked to see it. She immediately made an offer.
"We had only just listed it and were planning our first Open House, so I told the woman who phoned that she'd have to wait a few days and come to the viewing," says Angela. "The woman, a nurse at Grace Hospital, pleaded to see it because she couldn't get here for our Open House."
Angela and Blake relented, showed the woman their Gagnon Street home, and she immediately offered them $180,000. They accepted and never did need the Open House. "We could have gone ahead with the Open House and might or might not have made a few thousand dollars more, but we were happy to get what she offered and it saved us a lot of fuss," says Blake.
"It was a quick and smooth transaction and we probably saved close to $10,000 in real estate commissions. We decided the offer was fair and would allow us to retire to our cottage at Grand Marais with a minimum of fuss."
Even better, the purchaser was newly married and anxious to acquire quite a bit of their furniture, so that makes their move to the cottage even smoother.
Last year the Prestons listed their home with a real estate agent for several months. Only nine people came to see it and they had no serious offers.
"It was annoying because we had to drop anything whenever the agent phoned and said she wanted to bri ng someone around," says Angela. |
"We had to go out and take our dog with us and it was definitely interfering with our lives whenever someone came."
They finally took the house off the market.
Then daughter, Lori, suggested they try ComFree, since she had successfully used the company. "We were a bit anxious about doing it ourselves, but my daughter promised to help us with everything," says Angela.
The first day they were listed on the ComFree website they had 240 visits and that rapidly increased. In fact, people were still phoning long after the sale had been finalized, so there was very strong interest.
After 29 years in the house, which has an outdoor pool, the Prestons will move with their dog Cinammon to the cottage they bought some years ago in Grand Marais.
Blake is 63 and a construction worker. His wife retired some years ago from the retail grocery trade.
"We love it at the lake," says Blake. "I plan to work for a few more years in Winnipeg and will rent an apartment in the city for a while but our real home will be at the lake."
Both say they were amazed at the speed of the sale, especially after the months of frustration last year with the agent.
"ComFree is very professional and we'd definitely recommend them," adds Blake. "It sold so quickly and, on top of that, I just won a nice pay increase so will have no problem renting a place in Winnipeg for work purposes, while making our home at the lake."
And the lady who bought their house is also delighted, so it's been a win-win situation.
Angela and Blake sold their Glendale home
before their first open house, and for more
than their asking price.
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