4411 Los Feliz Blvd, Unit 1104, Los Angeles, CA
Strategic pricing and a pre-market plan created buyer competition, multiple backup opportunities, and ultimately an all-cash closing, significantly over asking price.
Previous Time On Market
Before Full MLS Launch
Both Initial Offers
Navigated before Closing
Final Purchase
Sold price
When the seller first contacted me about his Los Feliz property, it had already been on the market for about six months with the previous agent. There had been showings! There had been interest! There had even been multiple offers!
But none of those opportunities had resulted in a completed sale.
Before recommending a new price or marketing plan, I wanted to understand exactly what had happened.
I asked about the previous showings, buyer feedback, offers received, and, most importantly, why those offers hadn't made it to the closing table.
The seller was very open with me, and that conversation gave me something extremely valuable: context
Instead of treating the property like a new listing and simply starting over, we could learn from what had already happened and build a strategy around it.
One thing I remember clearly from our first meeting was that it had gotten late and the seller was tired.
We had gone through the numbers, the previous marketing, and the strategy I was recommending.
Rather than asking him to make an important decision while he was exhausted, I suggested that he sleep on it.
I told him I would come back the following day.
When we met again, we discussed the additional questions that had come up, reviewed the plan one more time and made the decision to move forward together.
That trust became important throughout the transaction because the strategy I was recommending required the seller to look beyond the traditional idea of simply choosing a list price and waiting for offers.
One of the biggest decisions involved the asking price. Based on my analysis, I recommended positioning the property approximately 10% below what I believed the market value could ultimately support.
That did not mean I believed the property was worth 10% less. The lower list price was intentional.
It was a marketing and negotiation strategy designed to attract attention quickly and create competition among buyers.
I explained something very clearly to my seller: The list price is a strategy. It is not an obligation to sell.
If the market did not respond the way we expected, or if the offers were not acceptable, he was under no obligation to accept them.
The goal was to avoid another prolonged period on the market and instead create enough buyer activity that the market could begin competing for the property.
Once the listing agreement was signed, we didn't rush the property onto the market.
I wanted time to prepare it properly. We spent approximately two weeks developing the launch.
That included professional photography, videos, direct-mail marketing, private pre-market exposure and Coming Soon promotions. Thousands of postcards were distributed as part of the campaign.
The objective was simple:
Build awareness before the traditional on-market clock became the center of the conversation.
Instead of waiting until launch day to begin looking for buyers, we wanted buyers already paying attention when the property became broadly available.
The strategy began producing results quickly.
Before the property had fully launched on the MLS, we received two offers.
Both were above asking price. One was an all-cash offer.
The other was approximately $30,000 higher than the cash offer.
After more than six months of unsuccessfully trying to sell the property during the previous listing, we suddenly had multiple buyers competing for it.
That was exactly the environment the pricing and pre-market strategy had been designed to create.
The seller was understandably excited. After waiting so long on the previous listing, he didn't want to jeopardize a strong offer for the chance to squeeze a few thousand dollars more out of the market.
We accepted an offer and opened escrow.
At that point, many sellers might assume the marketing should stop. I recommended the opposite.
We already had an open house scheduled for that Sunday, and I believed we should still hold it.
WHY?
Because having one buyer under contract does not mean the transaction is guaranteed to close.
A strong backup position gives a seller options. So we held the open house.
The turnout was dramatically different from what the seller had experienced previously. He told me that some of the earlier open houses had attracted only one or two visitors.
This time, we had substantial buyer activity and several people who were seriously interested in the property.
At the time, we did not know just how important those buyers would become.
Approximately a week and a half into escrow, the buyer's contingencies were due to be removed. They were not.
A buyer hesitating to remove contingencies does not automatically mean a transaction will fail.
But it is a signal that needs to be addressed. I explained the situation and the available options to my seller.
We ultimately issued a Notice to Perform, giving the buyer the required opportunity to satisfy the contractual obligation. At the same time, I was not simply waiting and hoping the buyer would perform.
Because of the marketing campaign and the open house, we already had interested buyers in the pipeline.
I secured a backup offer. And that buyer offered about $10,000 more.
The original buyer ultimately did not remove the required contingencies. The seller exercised his contractual rights and canceled the transaction.
But because we were prepared for that possibility, we weren't suddenly back on the market looking for our next buyer.
The following day, we moved directly into another transaction. And this time, the price was even $10,000 higher.
That is why I believe a listing strategy should extend far beyond simply getting one offer.
A seller needs options!
Unfortunately, the second transaction also encountered circumstances that prevented it from closing.
They were circumstances beyond our control. At that point, the property had experienced two separate escrows.
Two buyers. Two transactions that had not reached closing.
This is exactly when many sellers start to feel discouraged.
But we still had something extremely valuable. We had buyer interest.
Because of the initial marketing campaign, the open house, and the follow-up work, I had several people I could contact. I went back through the interested buyers. I followed up with people who had attended the open house. I contacted buyers who had previously expressed serious interest.
I even reached back out to the agent representing our original buyer.
Rather than putting the property back on the market and waiting for someone new to appear, we already had relationships with people who knew and liked the property.
Then the situation changed again. Approximately three days later, the buyer from our second escrow wanted to return.
By then, some of the issues and concerns surrounding their original decision had been resolved.
We negotiated a tighter agreement. And then something else changed.
The buyer decided to purchase the property with cash.
What had begun as a complicated transaction suddenly became a much cleaner path toward closing.
Approximately 15 days later, the sale was complete.
It's easy to look at this transaction and say the property sold because of the pricing strategy.
But that would only tell part of the story.
It wasn't one thing. It was the combination of everything:
And when things didn't go according to plan, we could adjust without starting from zero.
That is what a comprehensive listing strategy is supposed to do.
Many homeowners understandably focus on one question: How will you find a buyer for my home?
That is an important question.
But another question matters just as much: What happens after we find the buyer?
Real estate transactions can change quickly.
A good marketing strategy should generate attention.
A complete listing strategy should also give the seller options when something unexpected happens.
That was one of the biggest reasons this transaction ultimately succeeded.
The seller had already experienced six months of uncertainty before we met.
My goal was not simply to relist the property.
It was to create a completely different selling environment. That meant
The transaction certainly did not follow a straight line.
But because we had options at each stage, the seller never had to feel as though everything depended on one buyer.
Ultimately, the property sold to an all-cash buyer and closed about 15 days after we reached the final agreement.
For me, that is the most important part of the story.
Getting an offer is one thing. Getting the property to closing is the job.
Insert actual Seller Testimonial HERE
William H Gaskill
Los Feliz Home Seller
Insert actual Seller Testimonial HERE
Kim Deck
Los Feliz Home Buyer
Principle Agent
Now's the perfect time to find out what your own home could be worth in today's market. Simply fill out the form to receive a complimentary home valuation report and gain valuable insights into the current value of your property. Don't miss out on this opportunity to discover the potential value of your home!
Copyright © 2026. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy.
Share My QR |
|