Buying While Selling: How A Denver Agent Uses HomeLight Trade-In To Soothe The Stress Of A Common Conundrum

As an experienced Denver-area real estate agent, Shurie Fletcher understands her highly competitive local market. So when she met a recent pair of clients who wanted to move into a new school district, Fletcher knew that selling their existing home wouldn’t be a problem.

“In Denver, the market inventory is so low and everything is so competitive right now, I knew without a doubt that their house would sell very quickly,” she says.

Her concern was over how easily — or not — she would be able to find the family a new home in a short amount of time.

“It was giving me a little bit of heartburn,” Fletcher admits. “I can do anything I put my mind to and I knew we could do it. I just didn’t want to put a lot of stress on my clients. They have two kids, three dogs, and one of them is a nurse who has been working on some COVID-19 stuff.”

Fortunately for both Fletcher and her clients, she recently learned about HomeLight through an agent training session and decided to take a closer look.

Beating the odds with HomeLight Trade-In

The program she decided to propose? HomeLight Trade-In.

The HomeLight Trade-In program takes away the stress and inconvenience of having to sell one home before buying another. By making a guaranteed offer on a client’s existing property, sellers can become buyers with no sales contingency and no pressure to find temporary housing between permanent homes. Agents stay involved throughout the entire process, and clients receive any additional funds over and above the agreed-upon sales price of their former home. It’s an all-around win.

“The way I presented it was, ‘This is the way to go for ease,’” says Fletcher. “I told my clients that we can’t present a contingent offer right now, the odds are just against us. They’re very analytical and numbers-oriented just by professional and personality, and I knew they weren’t going to feel good going in and throwing ridiculous money at a house. HomeLight Trade-In was a way to be a lot more competitive.”

With the added bonus of a smooth transition between homes, Fletcher’s clients ultimately agreed to move forward with HomeLight. They saw the low, fully transparent program fee as an investment into their convenience and ability to buy with ease — just as Fletcher hoped when she presented the option.

“It’s a very easy thing,” says Fletcher. “If an agent knows what they’re doing and can present it right, that fee doesn’t have to be seen as a con. It can be seen as a convenience and you’ll get it on the back end.”

Braving the weather to beat the competition

Once Fletcher and her clients were set up with HomeLight, they began looking for a new home for the family and quickly honed in on one particular property.

“There was a huge snowstorm in Colorado,” Fletcher remembers of the day they walked through the house. “A lot of people just don’t want to mess with that, and I get it. I don’t want to be out either. But my clients wanted to cancel and I said, ‘Nope, this is when we go, get in the car, figure it out. I’ll meet you there.’”

Fletcher knew that other agents and potential buyers were likely to bail on their plans to look at that house that day, which meant her clients would have an edge if they showed up. She was right. They did end up making a strong offer and got the home for just $5,000 over asking price. It was an almost unheard-of feat in Denver’s ultra-competitive market, where homes often sell for tens of thousands over list price.

And Fletcher wasted no time in keeping the Trade-In process moving forward for her clients.

“Once we were through inspections on their new home, I went full steam ahead on getting their previous home ready for market. We listed the same afternoon that we closed on the new house.”

True to Denver’s bustling market, the home didn’t last more than six days.

“We got nine offers and a 10-day cash close,” Fletcher reports. The home ultimately sold for $60,000 above its asking price.

Successful agents have tools like Trade-In

Experienced agents like Fletcher understand that having a program like HomeLight Trade-In as a tool in their arsenal can give them a competitive advantage both for winning clients and then winning homes for those clients.

And since HomeLight works directly with agents and clients alike, everyone is kept in the loop through open, clear communication. It’s just another way to keep stress levels in check and get the job done.

“You’re hurting yourself and your client by not knowing what options are out there to help your client,” says Fletcher. “I think HomeLight gives you more power and tools in the belt to kind of throw your weight around, especially with clients who have limited options.”

Header Image Source: (Shurie Fletcher, Compass)