Corken + Company has had many wonderful client experiences over the past 20 years working as a Denver Real Estate Agent, and we want to share one of these special stories with you. Our motto “Real Estate Solutions Without Limits” is prevalent in our marketing materials, e-mails and on our website, but many of you might wonder what it means, exactly. This review we received from a recent client will help you better understand how our process makes us different from other brokerages, and also why it’s important to choose your Denver Realtor carefully and wisely.
“I often talk about the need for salespeople to “MAKE it happen” vs. “letting it happen” or “wondering what happened.” I’d like to share a story with you about someone who MADE it happen and a story that highlights one of the truly great sales efforts that I’ve ever witnessed.
The irony about this story is that it’s not about a salesperson on my team or even a story about a sale to a large or small enterprise. This is a story about Denver Real Estate Agent. Our real estate agent @LoriCorken just concluded a phenomenal sales campaign, worthy of recognition and of sharing.
The background here is that my wife and I have been trying to sell a rental property on and off for about 11 years. We had 3 different rental companies and agents who listed the property and had did receive some lowball offers, but nothing close to market value. The house is not your typical rental property either. It’s a 4500 square foot home in a gated community. It was built in 1998. The basic reason that it was difficult to sell is that it needs to be updated. The house is in good shape, but it needs probably $60K to $70K of upgrades to the bathrooms, flooring and other aesthetics to make it more appealing. People were actually paying $100K to $125K more for similar homes that had already been updated, just to avoid upgrading a home themselves. We just didn’t have the funds to do the upgrades, so we would list the home, fail to sell it and then lease our home. This cycle was repeated several times since 2006.
After another failed listing in the fall of 2016, we put home for lease on the market. We leased to a family who begged us not to sell the home out from under them as some of their other landlords had. See, they hated moving and asked us for a 3 year lease, which isn’t all that common. We agreed and signed the 3 year lease in April 2017.
Now for the meat of the story. This is how Lori, our Denver Real Estate Agent, sold our rental property, even though it wasn’t for sale and even though we committed to honor a 3 year agreement with the tenants. Quite honestly, selling the property before 2020 had never even entered our minds.
Fast forward to October 2017. 6 months into the tenant’s 3 year lease agreement. Lori approached us and said that she was working with a couple who was outbid on another house in the neighborhood. That couple really, really wanted to live in the neighborhood and Lori asked if we would consider just showing them our rental property to see if it might appeal to them. Lori was well aware of our tenant situation and because we like and trust her, we agreed to let the prospects tour the home. What happened next blew my mind.
“The couple wants the house,” Lori said. “They’re going to make an offer.” We fully expected another lowball offer, so we didn’t get excited or even approach the tenants at that point. Lori knew that we had committed that we wouldn’t sell this home while the tenants were there, so even if a decent offer was made, we’d still have to deal with asking the tenants to do the very thing that they said that they DIDN’T want to do–move again before the 3 years was up. If they said no, we would have to reject the offer. We made a commitment and were prepared to honor it even if it meant that we had to walk away from a sale (which I HATE doing).
Well, to our surprise, the offer was a fair offer. So now what? My wife (the “property manager”) and Lori went to have a talk with the tenants. They explained the situation to the tenants and committed to make it painless for them to move. Lori told them that she would find them another rental property close by (she is an expert in the area and Denver Real Estate for sale) and we committed that we would cover any increase in rental costs over their current rent for the remainder of the 3 years. We would also pay to pack up, move and unpack their belongings. As I had recently lost my job, we appealed to their sense of decency by relating how important it was for us to be able to pull our equity out of that property to help us while I am searching for my next role.
The tenants were highly stressed. They were even angry. However, they’re good people and understood our dilemma, so they reluctantly agreed to look for an alternative place to move. Then, Lori took the ball and ran with it. She held their hands and committed to take care of them. And she did just that. In fact, she didn’t just find them a great rental property–she found them a great home that they are BUYING.
Yesterday, we closed on the sale of the home. Lori got some commission on that. In about 2 weeks, the tenants close on their home purchase. Lori will get commission on that, too. The buyers of our rental property are excited to start renovating the home, the tenants are looking forward to moving into their new home and we are ECSTATIC for this unexpected opportunity to finally sell this property and get our equity out of it. Because of Lori’s exceptional efforts, 3 different families are in a “happy place.”
Throughout this process, there were several times where things almost fell through. Without going into details, I will tell you that each and every time there was a snag, Lori made it go away. She worked her tail off to pull off this highly complex transaction and earned MORE than every dollar she is receiving. She made purchasing a home in Denver look effortless.
I was so impressed with her efforts that I wanted to share this story. Lori did what great salespeople do-she MADE it happen. She understood all of the needs and wants of 3 different parties in this transaction, she honored her commitments, she was creative and found ways to make this deal even bigger, she had a sense of urgency, she would not give up, and she pulled together one of the most brilliant deals that I have ever witnessed.
Nirvana for me will be building a team full of Lori Corkens in my next role.
Thank you, Lori!”
We hope this story warmed your heart as much as it did ours. Contact us at nolimits@corken.cotoday for all of your Denver Real Estate Agent needs, and to learn how Corken + Company can be here for your Real Estate Solutions Without Limits, too!
