428 Woodlawn Ave
Planning a cross-country move with a house to sell (and needing to buy one at the other end!) is a daunting task. A team of professionals with aligned values and processes can make it a breeze.
Chip and Marie's Story
Let's start by saying that off-market listings aren't really The JFKLiving Team's MO. We're loud and proud about our listings, so it takes a really unique situation for us to list a home that isn't on the open market (i.e. isn't going to appear on Zillow for home buyers to find). But with Chip and Marie, who had a stunning Collingswood property to sell, an off-market deal might've been the best thing that could've happened for them.
Chip and Marie first reached out to The JFKLiving Team in September 2024. They were interviewing a handful of Collingswood real estate agents to help them on their upcoming journey: a move from New Jersey to Kansas City in order to be closer to Chip's parents. JFKLiving's Pip met with them ASAP to understand their situation. Chip and Marie's goals were clear:
- Sell their Collingswood home...
- Purchase a new home in Kansas City...
- And have the New Jersey and Kansas City real estate agents work seamlessly in tandem to ensure a smooth move, minimizing their stress while they embarked on this huge change.
Luckily for these Collingswood sellers, Pip has a huge network of vetted agents across the country and was able to put the couple in touch with Jeremy Applebaum in Kansas City. Jeremy was able to faciliate them getting under contract on a home lickety split... and with a contingent offer. (The contingency was on them selling their Collingswood property, so Pip needed to get to work ASAP to get that sold!).
A Few Home Projects:
428 Woodlawn Ave in Collingswood was a beautiful home, but Pip knew he could push the limits on price if they made a few changes. At Pip's recommendation, Chip and Marie hired a local, trusted handyman and cleaner, and they:
- painted a feature wall and wood trim details to the primary bedroom to enhance its appeal (the bedroom went from 'meh' to 'WOW'!)
- repainted the front door to give the best first impression
- deep cleaned the entire house
- made some strategic purchases (new lamps, luxury bedding) to stage the house without needing to pay thousands of $$$ in professional staging fees
With the home prepped and ready to go, Chip and Marie were just waiting on one more thing... Chip's official job offer for his new role in Kansas City! As soon as that came in, it was all-systems-go on selling the property. Which Pip helped them achieve in record time, and with a $35,000 over-asking price offer secured (find out how he did it—and how he did it off-market—below).
Not only was the offer that Chip and Marie accepted an incredible amount over the asking price, but the buyer also proposed a rent-back period for these happy sellers. (A rent-back enables the buyers to close on the property, but allow the sellers to remain in the house for a predetermined period of time—they essentially become the new homeowner's tenants for a few days/weeks!). This proved invaluable and Chip and Marie actually stayed in 428 Woodlawn Ave for 4 days before they were able to leave for Kansas City. Phew!
Selling "Off-Market"
There are multiple reasons why a homeowner might sell their property off-market. One example is desiring privacy; they don't want masses of strangers traipsing through their home.
Another reason is testing the home on the market, which is exactly what we did for 428 Woodlawn Ave.
This home was unique in that it was by far the largest property on the block, with some beautiful upgrades, and very few "comps" (comparable homes that sold recently that help determine market value).
Chip and Marie were due to Kansas City for a week, and Pip convinced them a Broker's Open, which is only accessible to real estate agents and brokers, would give a great test of the market and what buyers were willing to pay.
It paid off; an agent brought a buyer with a fantastic offer, and Chip and Marie were saved the hassle of public showings and open houses.
The Results
This was an unusual situation (selling off-market) so we don't have our usual stats to show you—# of open house visitors, how many thousands of views and comments the video tour got, how many views the Zillow Showcase Listing got... instead we can share with you the incredible outcome.
Thinking about selling your Collingswood home?
We'd be thrilled to help you receive results like this home here. Drop your address in the form below and let's get started.
