Results

This was a challenging probate listing taken in Pasadena’s Brigden Ranch. Since her reputation precedes her, Ashley was the only “out of area agent” invited to interview for the listing. The attorney told her he had received valuations from other agents that hovered around $400k. But Ashley delivered a presentation that SHOCKED the law firm, and they hired her on the spot. Her last words to them that day were, “…I’m listing this property for just under $1m.”

For some perspective, the the property did not look like the photo here. Instead, the home was infested with rats, trash to the ceiling, holes in the ceilings, racoons in the main living area, broken toilets, and a semi- drained swimming pool with a foreign type of ecosystem growing in it. The late homeowner was a hoarder who never even turned on the utilities for several months.

After clearing the trash, she put the black hole (for lack of better words) up for sale… vacant, dirty, dated and un-staged.

Local agents brought their buyers, and the feedback was consistent… “…you’re overpriced! …this is a teardown! …this won’t sell for more than land value!” She even received offers for less than $400k, all of which were rejected.

She knew the right buyer would discover what made this property special, and it meant so much to her to find the right person who deserved this property.

And she did… she sold the property for $900k to a buyer who collected mid-century modern properties across the country. Lucky for him, he did his due diligence and realized the list price was actually a STEAL for the property he was about to purchase. The property was one of a few properties recorded with the City of Pasadena with historical value and significance – in other words the property was protected from being torn down or having any alterations made to the structural design.

It once hosted Hollywood celebrities and was featured in several motion pictures. It was custom built by world renowned architects Marsh, Smith, and Powell (1951). No other realtor except Ashley even realized that because they didn’t research and review the property history and public records.

The property has received the TLC it deserves from its new owner, with about $180k in upgrades. It recently re-sold for $1.7M. What an amazing return on investment!

When we were invited for the chance to list this gorgeous home, we presented the sellers with our home valuation. It was our professional opinion that the property was worth no less than $1,998,800. However, the recent comparable properties in the neighborhood at the time were selling between $1.35m – $1.6m (depending on the size of the property and upgrades).

To say the sellers were skeptical about our valuation was an understatement. Usually we are the ones having to talk a seller off the ledge because they think their home is worth more than it actually is. But this time, we had to guide the sellers about why they should believe in the value of their home the same way we did.

You cannot fault the sellers for feeling the way they did. For one, we were not in the kind of market where homes were flying off the shelves with multiple offers just by putting a sign in the ground. Not as many buyers were actively searching for homes at the time due to COVID and obtaining strong offers at that time was very difficult to do. Secondly, the sellers had interviewed three other realtors who all provided a “safe” list price, about $300k less than what we quoted.

But THG was the only real estate team who walked in and saw what a truly special home they had. And once the sellers completed their examination of all the facts, they agreed to list with us at $1,998,800.

Other realtors told the sellers THG was wasting their time and that the home would sit on the market. We were met with contention by people who believed that we were doing the sellers a disservice by listing the property $400k higher than any comparable.

But we fought for what we believed the SELLERS DESERVED! We could have listed and sold the home for $200k more than any comparable and still been heroes, but we weren’t going to play it safe on a property THIS SPECIAL!

We are so glad the sellers put their trust in us because after only two days on the market, we delivered multiple offers ABOVE ASKING and sold the home ALL CASH for $2m. It remained a community record for over a year before similar homes began selling for $2m or more.