A few sunday’s ago I received a pleasent phone call from a White Rock REALTOR® who had clients looking for a Penticton condo. Referrals always make my day!
The clients and I had a wonderful and memorable real estate experience. It’s a little lengthy as I am detail oriented when it comes to clients and real estate.
We looked at seven units in the Lakeshore Towers. Six that were listed and the seventh was one I scouted out from harassing local agents for sleeve listings.
I previewed most of the condos before they came to town and
marked out the parking spots that came with each condo.
We started off in 160 Lakeshore, the 2nd phase of “Lakeshore 3.” The Buyers were pleased with the first unit and I asked them to make note of the view that they were currently admiring and the basic Venetian blinds. The Husband mentioned he would really enjoy a fireplace. This unit had one parking spot and looked over the water but, being on the 6th floor, also looked into the top floor of a neighbouring deteriorating apartment complex.
We moved on up to the 10th floor and viewed the same layout but this view was far superior, no neighbouring apartment view and a richer, unobstructed, lake view. This unit was priced $20,000 more. So, this replicated unit with engineered hardwood enjoyed the exact same layout but featured blackout gorgeous drapes, a closet-organizing system in the master walk-in closet, extra cupboards in the laundry room, an extra parking spot and The Fireplace! This unit had $50,000 in upgrades including professional paint and design with classy wall paper and an additional parking space. These parking stalls sell anywhere from $10,000-plus.
We looked at the third unit on the 10th floor and it only confirmed that No. 2 was a front runner as this view looked right into one of the other towers….olla neighbour!.
We scurried down to the second floor to view the pool, hot tub, gym, looked at all three lounges, talked about the guest suite arrangements and pet weight restrictions.
We viewed three more. One in 100 Lakeshore, the first of the three towers, and it was the second choice but a far cry from the value of No. 2. We ventured over to the 3rd phase of Lakeshore 3 which is 75 Martin only to find the view also faced neighbours. We viewed another that was a penthouse but only offered one bedroom and a shared patio.
We knew what we had to do. It was to be No. 2, known as the “$400,000 Baby.”
The buyers were making this purchase to be closer to their daughter, who announced she is pregnant. This also happened to be their daughter’s 26th birthday. Grandma to be hadn’t finished the scrap-booking of the wedding and now she is planning on enjoying summers in Penticton with her daughterand future grandchild.
We agreed to meet at the office to write up an offer on the unit that was listed “contingent”. This was a little worrisome as it was a clear winner by a long stretch.
What would we do if we couldn’t get it? There was no answer, it just wasn’t an option. Or hoped it wouldn’t be. We wrote a strong offer. The seller’s real estate agent notified us that there was one contingency and it was that a local lady had “first dibs” to purchase this condo. She didn’t have an offer with a 48-hour clause involving real estate agents. She was trying to sell her house and had it on the market. The deal was made that if she could sell her house, or come up with the money the property would go to her. She was given a certain amount of time (7p.m.) to make the call of coming up with the funds or selling her home.
She did manage to secure the funds but this was frustrating to the seller who had given her “first dibs” just to discover she could have done this the whole time. The seller then opted to sell the unit to my clients as he was miffed with the “drama” around the other buyer, as she had wasted two months of his time.
I drove to Mt. Baldy, one-and-a-half hours away, to get the last initials as our offer was accepted as is, with our price (we were prepared to pay more :)), if we would bump up the dates.