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How it played out
Negotiating on facts
My clients were searching Northbrook, Glenview and the surrounding towns. When this house came on the market, we moved on day one. The sales history of the same model gave us a fact-based case on price, and we bought it for $900,000: $25,000 under the asking price.
Their own updates
Over the next two years the owners painted the kitchen cabinets, put in new countertops and a backsplash, and freshened the paint.
A buyer's eye
When they outgrew the house, I walked it the way a buyer would. We fixed bathroom cabinets and fixtures, painted rooms and rearranged furniture. Cheap fixes with high impact.
The scary comp
Six months earlier, a similar home listed at $949,000 had sold for $905,000. We listed at $975,000, and I told my sellers that if we got $20,000 over, at $995,000, we'd be winning.
The launch
More than 25 families came through the open house. By day three we had six offers and asked for highest and best.
Choosing the winner
We didn't just take the highest price. The winning offer was also the highest, and it came with $100,000 in earnest money, an appraisal-gap commitment, no mortgage contingency, an as-is inspection for major issues only, and a closing date that let my sellers close on their next home the same day.
The result
It sold for $1,080,000: $105,000 over the asking price, $180,000 more than they paid two years earlier, and the highest sale in the neighborhood at the time (MLS).
“Cheap fixes, the right price, the right terms, and an agent who'll help you do all of those things. That's what gets you to the finish line.”
The owners, in their own words.
The same family hired me three times: to buy this house, to sell it, and to buy the next one.
“We started by looking at a few houses, liking the first house we saw, put an offer the same day, and got our offer accepted UNDER ASKING on the same day!”
M.N. · Bought this house, 2022 · Full review “Ultimately, we sold the house for nearly $200,000 more than we had purchased it for two years prior, and over $100,000 above asking price.”
M.N. · Sold it, 2024 · Full review “Over time, he managed to secure the house for $350,000 below the asking price, along with additional incentives like finishing the backyard fence, installing CAT6 wiring and a Tesla charger, and ensuring cable lines were in place.”
M.N. · Bought the next one · Full review “Praveen seamlessly coordinated the sale and purchase so that we closed both homes on the same day, using the proceeds from our sale for the new home's down payment.”
M.N. · Both closed the same day · Full review
Figures from MLS records, except the open-house count, which is Praveen's own. Listing photos by Realvision, used with permission.