Whatever Happened to Lindsay & Dan?

Just an update from their agent--

Lindsay had been contributing to this blog on her experiences with the sale of their home. They had JUST put it on the market. Then we all got too busy to continue the thread.

They received a strong purchase offer on their home one week after it was listed. They reached a meeting of the minds not long after and it went under contract. The Home Inspection was without incident and they expect to close the first week of August.

Why So Easy? Two Transactions, Incident-Free & Hassle-Free

Finally, two transactions that were incident-free and hassle-free. How and why did this happen? I'd like to hear from readers what were the characteristics of their smoothest real estate transaction ever.

In these two transactions, like all my transactions, I was careful to note phone calls, keep emails, notes from personal meetings, receipts, address requests for information as quickly as possible and respond to phone calls as quickly as possible.

In the first, I was selling my home. In the second I was buying a replacement home. In the first, my home wasn't actually on the market, another agent came to me because our home fit the needs of her client. At first request, having previously considered selling we gave an asking price, and verbally agreed to what we would accept, though the terms needed to be defined. We were not able to agree to the buyers' requested terms because we didn't have a home selected that would replace our current home. So we weren't able to reach agreement.

Two months later, however, we did find a home that met our needs. We acted on it immediately, at the same time going back to the aent who brought us the original offer to find out if her clients were still interested. They were. We accepted their offer and their original terms.

In the second, the purchase of what we hoped would be our replacement home, we looked at the home almost the first day it went on the market and put in our strong offer almost that day. There were other offers submitted and we immediately agreed to increase our offer price. Our offer was accepted, and we moved forward with both transactions.

What actually happened along the way to keep the transactions running smoothly?... more to come in a follow up post.

And by the way, I just don't buy this premise put forth in Wired Magazine: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.05/realestate.html

Post #4 from Lindsay

Well, We've survived "open house week" We took some fantastic pictures on Thursday for the house listing with Cande. She wanted to come in the afternoon to get the lighting just right. Cande is a fantastic photographer, and it was great to document the house in such neat and clean condition. I have to admit I really like living in a clutter-free zone. It makes me appreciate why we bought this house in the first place. It is an 1890's house that is by no means perfect or square but it has some amazing personality and soul. It was built when Interlaken was at its height of prosperity. We live on a street called Railroad Avenue, and by no coincidence. The street terminates where there once was a railroad stop. Our house was one of the nicest on the street and that is due to its proximity to the railroad stop.


Wednesday, Cande held a realtor's open house at our home complete with wine tasting, cheese, and bread. Another Realtor had a client in the area and they decided to stop by and do a walk through while Cande was here. We also had someone come for a showing on Saturday so we are doing well. Cande held a public open house on Sunday but no one came. The weather wasn't very nice. We will see what tomorrow holds, maybe there is an offer on the horizon...

Interlaken Open House, Sunday

So here it is, Sunday, the day of our first public Open House at the sweetest Victorian at 3695 Railroad Ave in the Village of Interlaken.

BUT-- Not only is it / raining-- but it's blowing, the wind whirling and whipping through the trees! (see photo).

But I am in heaven on the porch, with wine, cheese, lemonade, crackers and other goodies. I know it's hard to get out today. But it's just such a pleasure to be here!

So, come on out if you can, until 1:00 this afternoon.

$125,000. New Village Listing in Interlaken: Beautiful Victorian

I can't wait for you to see charming Victorian home in the Village of Interlaken!
This wonderful,well-maintained 1890s farmhouse has a huge,inviting wrap-around porch on two sides that affords three different entrances to the home. Upstairs are three bedrooms and one bath, and there's a second full bath down.
The formal dining room has large breeze-swept windows, and a built-in cabinet for linens and dining pieces. Two pass-thrus open up the dining room and living room to the updated kitchen for gracious entertaining.
Newer fixtures, fresh paint in soothing colors up & down. Many newer double-pane, easy-care windows throughout. Property has an exceptional barn/garage built in 1999,with garage door opener and space for 3 cars. A large second floor loft above the garage is ideal for workshop or studio space and has plenty of storage space.
The current owners have made lots of updates and have added stunning perennial gardens.
Here's the link to this Listing-- and you can register for more expanded listing information here on my website: www.CandeCarroll.com and type in mls 131763 or 3695 Railroad Ave., Interlaken

Post #3 from Lindsay: Getting ready to sell

We had a realtor friend of my Mom's over (Cande) to give us an idea about what might be involved in selling our house.
My husband and I decided that the time was ripe to put our home on the market but we really didn't have the foggiest idea about how to do it. It's the first time we've ever done this because the house in question is the first place we've owned.
Cande hadn't ever seen the place before so it was fun to catch up. She got to see our place and meet our daughter for the first time. She asked a few very good questions about our situation. She wanted to know a.) How soon do you want to try and sell your home? b.) Where do you want to relocate to? c.) What will be the asking price of the home?
We wanted to know what we needed to do to show the home as soon as possible. Her answer was to fix a few odds and ends that we had to get to anyway even if we were going to stay and also in an off-hand sort of way "oh and just tidy up the place," and she'd be back the following week to take some photos for the listing.
This last sentence makes me smirk internally. You see, I am a recovering pack rat and my husband is a pack rat in denial. I say recovering because it's a disease that you are never really cured from. The idea of moving makes me cringe at the thought of having to get rid of the stuff one accumulates when one lives in one place for a while.
I like to consider ourselves green individuals. This is just a simple excuse to hang onto everything in case one might use it later. What does a person do about said problem? Call the family for reinforcements. I say family because only they could manage to tolerate doing such a heinous task and they work for unlimited food and beverages.
Over the weekend the family helped us clear the detritus of several years of living in one place. I'm not going to say that it was fun, but boy I guess I wouldn't mind staying so much now that it's done. Wouldn't they be mad if I called them up and said "April Fools!" Ha!

Post #2 from Lindsay: Why Does Anyone Move?

My husband and I have recently acquired a beautiful baby girl who for the last 6 months has joined us on our daily 2-hour commute to our jobs. We live 7 miles from work, however, between us and work lies a giant 300-foot deep, 38-mile long chasm filled with fresh water known as Cayuga Lake.
There have been schemes hatched about getting a boat and working out dockage on both sides of the lake, but due to various logistical barriers, including a boat that just won't run when we get it to water's edge but will start on command within the confines of our yard with no trouble, we have scrapped the idea.
Getting back to our daughter, I have been lucky enough for the first six months of her life to bring her along to work with me. I have wonderful employers. That time now is coming to a close. It's hard for me because I'd really love to keep her at work but she is getting to the point where she needs to have a day care situation.
Truthfully the thought of leaving her with someone else has been one of the biggest heartaches of my life. It's amazing how you change when you become a parent. How someone can have such a death grip on your emotions and yet be so innocent and blissfully unaware of it themselves. You wonder if they will ever know just how much you unconditionally love them. What a sappy mother I am.
So with a new expense at our feet, daycare, one place in our budget that could be trimmed is gas expenses. Other benefits of getting closer to our jobs would be more time in the day not spent in the car. I can tell you for a fact that 2 hours a day of forced confinement with your spouse is good for your relationship but it might be boarder line overkill couples therapy.
We would also be closer to our family who also lives an hour away from our current home. It's time to sell.

Lindsay