Ralph and Sophie - Penguin

A local lawyer handling deceased estates referred us to Ralph and his wife Sophie.

Ralph had been appointed executor of his beloved sister's estate/home in Penguin - which had to be sold.

With Ralph and Sophie being from South Australia, there was not only the stress of being far away from their home but also wanting to honour the legacy his sister had left for him.

We met Ralph and Sophie for a chat and ultimately a strategy session to work out how we were going to sell his sister's much loved Penguin property.

Being from interstate, Ralph had limited knowledge of the Northwest Tasmanian property market, so we showed he and Sophie exactly what it was up to.

Our market analysis had the property selling in the $750,000 - $800,000 range, and with Ralph's expectations in mind, we placed an asking price of 'From $790,000' on the home.

Ralph and Sophie had done a magnificent job of prepping the home for sale prior to having to return to SA.

The emotions of dealing with a deceased estate sale were clearly weighing on Ralph and Sophie, but we assured them all would be well and they were in good hands and would be kept fully informed.

Not only were we handling the sale, but we also helped co-ordinate buyers of the estate's chattels and gardeners to access the property.

Enquiry on the home was moderate with 4 or 5 inspections in the first couple of weeks, and feedback from potential buyers had the property sitting in the mid $700,000's.

Then a down-to-earth couple who had moved from NSW and had been on the hunt for about 3 months whilst living in their caravan, K & D, came to an inspection and showed solid interest. They were cash buyers from their sale in NSW.

After a second inspection we negotiated a deal for Ralph and Sophie at $760,000, with the only condition being a building inspection.

Contract signed, deposit paid and the building inspector came to take a look about 10 days in.

He found some pressing issues around settling of the structure at either end of the home and recommended professionals who rectify subsidence issues on homes. The likely cost for this type of rectification would come in at over $20,000.

We reported this back to Ralph and Sophie and strongly suggested they be prepared to offer a discount on the sale price to keep the buyers in the deal. Otherwise, if the buyers leave the contract and it goes back to the market, any other prospective buyer had to notified of the issues.

The buyers and Ralph and Sophie were comfortable to proceed at a discounted price and the home sold for $740,000.

An all-consuming matter of dealing with Ralph's sister's estate was at an end, and our buyers from NSW had found their forever Tassie home.