For each and every one of my listings I put my heart and soul into the entire process from start to finish - from prepping the home for sale, to going under contract, to closing. I will go above and beyond to get through any issues that come up along the way, such as inspection issues, appraisal issues, loan issues. etc. This home was no different, but it did come with its own challenges, some heart break and plenty of tears.
But this wasn't any old transaction. This house in particular holds a special place in my heart since I had lived across the street and was close friends with the owners, Matt & Jill, for 18 years. I socialized with them most weekends, enjoyed BBQs on their back deck, watched amazing sunsets, and played pool in their basement.
We celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and weddings together.
Sadly, Jill passed away in Spring 2021 after a long battle with Huntington's disease, and 18 months later we lost Matt to prostate cancer. I have remained close to their only child, Jackie, and her family. After Matt's passing, Jackie & husband Collin decided to rent out the house for a year while they decided if they wanted to move in to it eventually, keep it as a rental for future residual income, or sell it and put the money towards a new "dream home."
This past Spring they made the agonizing decision to sell, after their nightmare tenant was continuously late on his rent and then eventually just stopped paying rent altogether. Unfortunately, the house was left in disarray and required a lot of cleaning, painting and repairs, not to mention the smell of a possible marijuana grow operation.
They spent the next couple weeks removing junk, making repairs, cleaning, painting, and installing new light fixtures, hardware and appliances. I helped with curb appeal by weeding and planting new perennials and ornamental grasses in the rock borders. I scrubbed the sticky goo on the LVP floors and sanded and touched up trim.
When it came time for staging and photos, I used my own furniture and purchased some accessories like rugs and lamps. I borrowed original art from a local friend and artist Nisha Ghela to add splashes of color and visual interest to the bare walls.
I purchased flower pots from Lowe's and added a new front doormat. (Note: These days, home stagers are in such high demand, that none were available for several weeks, and they wanted to charge up to $3,000!)
Next was professional interior pics and aerial drone photography.
We finally went active in the MLS on May 15, 2025 at $775,000. After 3 open houses, 23 showings and 15 days on market, we got a cash offer of $765K (less than 1% under list price). In Erie, the average days on market is 50 days.
But listing and going under contract is the easy part of this job. Unfortunately, the inspection revealed many issues.
First, the roof had hail damage and after going around and around with insurance and roofing companies, the sellers were told it was NOT covered by insurance. Buyers wanted to split the cost of a new roof, but sellers offered a credit of $5824 (which would have been their deductible IF insurance had covered it). Many buyers would have terminated over this, but they didn't.
Next, the sewer scope couldn't be completed because it was so clogged and needed to be cleaned & re-scoped. Of course, they discovered it had a very long "belly" of standing water & debris (some recommended to have it replaced, while others said it was fine). Buyers were okay with this and didn't ask for repair! Phew!
Then there was the marijuana smell. No matter what we did (open windows, paint walls, ozone machine, deodorizers, etc.), the smell was not going away. The
house needed full mitigation involving painting every interior surface with KILZ and then repainting. To the tune of $25K. Yes, we probably could have done it for less, but how long would it take? Sellers went ahead and offered the $25K price reduction.
Then there were HVAC duct work issues, the water heater was old and rusting, there was water in the sump pit, but no sump pump (I credited $500 for the pump) the deck was not structurally sound...the list went on.
After all of this, the buyers STILL wanted the house. But they also wanted credit to make the repairs themselves.
Sellers and I discuss our options.
1) Let the contract fall through and we go back on the market; however, we now have "actual
knowledge" of the inspection issues that would have to disclose everything. (And the next Buyers will likely want them ALL repaired);
2) Let it fall through, take it off the market, and Sellers could make the repairs, but...how long would that take? Would it be July or August before it was ready to be re-listed? Not to mention that we are in a tough Seller's market with lots of inventory and not a lot of buyers. Can you say "Buyer's Market"?
3) Take it off the market and rent it out again (but still have issues that would need to be addressed down the road); OR
4) Take the hit and move on. Sellers decided to bite the bullet and take the $$ hit.
We finally closed on 6/27/2025 for $734,158 -- only 45 days from start to finish (not bad considering the hiccups) and about 95% of list price (.9473 to be exact).
While this transaction had plenty of challenges, and could easily be described as the "Listing from Hell", I consider this one to be a success. It wasn't our ideal outcome, by any means, but we got to the closing table. Buyers are happy. Sellers were still able to walk away with a decent net proceeds amount that was super close to their goal and they are now able to close this difficult chapter and move on with their lives.
P.S. Check out some of the before and after photos of this incredible journey!
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Sally's Curb Appeal
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If you're thinking about selling, and wondering what you need to do to prepare your home for sale, give me a call!
Sally Heldman
Broker Owner
Metro Brokers / Heldman Real Estate
303.475.4508 CELL
sally@sallyheldman.com