How did we get 18 offers and a sale price 32% over asking on this tear-down?

When the senior seller of this property called, we knew her timing was aligned with a perfect storm of market conditions. Her family had been in the home and on the land for over 70 years. The modest home had been well-loved and lived-in, but had reached the end of its useful life. So her potential sale represented a rare opportunity to redevelop this prime residential lot in extremely desirable West Bellevue. She was ok with the knowledge she had a tear-down.

She thought she would plan for a listing six or seven months in the future, because she couldn't leave the home any sooner. Normally we love planning ahead with a long lead-time. But this time we knew the conditions were ideal immediately; and might not be in 6 months.

We laid it out for her: her likely buyers for this tear-down in a prime location were flush with cash from recent stock market run-ups. Inventory was extremely short, even more so for developable land, while the demand in this area for new luxury homes was very strong. Meanwhile...it was a presidential election year, and one likely to be a serious roller coaster. Election years are always uncertain and volatile for the markets; in this case we expected more volatility and uncertainty than usual. This meant there was real risk in waiting for more months to pass.

We also explained how builders typically prefer long closings, to give them time to prepare their plans and permits...but when they compete for a purchase they can often be convinced to provide substantial non-refundable cash payments up front for security in exchange for the longer closing. So she could potentially sell now into an extremely hot "micro-market" for her property type, and still have the benefit of remaining in her home as long as she needed to, while avoiding the risks of waiting closer to election day.

She absorbed this information and agreed with a plan to rush to market, offering no access to the home and selling the property as land with a tear-down. The builders and private individuals looking to build their dream house came out of the woodwork for this one.

The result? 18 offers and a sale price 32% over asking. The seller got $200,000 non-refundable cash up front, an agreement that no one needed to enter her home and that the property was accepted as-is, where-is. And she got to stay through her retirement date. Now the sale is closed and she has ridden off into the sunset to live closer to her daughter and grandchildren. Case closed.