I get that Brian. The comps in the area were kind of low, but not truly comps. They were way smaller in square footage/ bathrooms and had no finished basement and had old/no upgrades at all. I'm talking about substantial upgrades, for instance: 40 yr old radiators & old furnaces with window A/C units, compared to my new 90% efficiency furnace, new a/c compressor and all new ductwork. I was given no value add even for that. It is a beautifully renovated and unique property (built around 1940), there was nothing in the area like it, unless you went to brand new construction, which is starting in the mid-500's.
As it turns out, the original contract fell apart, but then, the same buyers came back January 1st with a larger cash offering. Still not enough for my bottom line, so I didn't go with the deal. So I continued waiting for the 60 day MLS time to lapse to relist in February as a new listing. The original buyers came back again, a week before I was going to relist, with the lender going higher on the appraisal/mortgage commitment and them putting in much more cash for the difference, which finally hit my number. So the deal went back on. They literally fell in love with the design/finishes and could not find anything they liked more in that price range. In the end, the upgrades and higher end finishes ended up getting their value.
As it turns out, that experience was a cakewalk compared to what I dealt with after the title search revealed there was an IRS lien for quarter of a million dollars, from the previous, deceased owner. That was way more stressful to deal with, but after much bureaucratic drama, I finally got it worked out. On the upside, I lost about 10.lbs after going through that and have acquired some very specialized knowledge dealing with IRS tax liens. So glad this deal is done! I'm really looking forward to moving on.
