02/02/2026
This one was special - The homeowners were a military couple referred to me by another military family I had recently helped find a new home from abroad before their move back to the United States.
My seller clients were to be reassigned to a new duty station overseas, but the government shutdown left them in limbo, awaiting final orders. When the government finally reopened and those orders became official, they only had a few weeks to pack up, and prepare for their OCONUS PCS. They originally wanted to list as soon as their furniture had been shipped out in mid-December. I advised that wasn't the ideal time to list, and encouraged them to wait until after the new year, when everyone had a few days to settle back into their routine. They took my advice, and we planned an early January launch.
In the meantime, they also took my suggestions for some light work around the property, and knocked out the short list of minor HOA violations noted in their resale inspection. They also agreed to my suggestion to have the home staged to highlight its full potential. In late December they left me the keys before their flight overseas, and in the first week of January I worked with the stager, the photographer, and the Matterport 3D artist to get the home prepped and the marketing finalized. Everything turned out beautifully.
Finally, on Monday, January 5th we launched. The following day I held an incredibly well-attended broker's open (especially for early January!), followed by a Wednesday evening after work open house, and by that night we had an offer!
The offer was a strong cash offer, with one minor caveat - it included a coinciding settlement contingency for the buyer's home in Florida; It was already under contract and was scheduled to close in only a few days. This meant the buyer's house in Florida had to close as a condition of their purchase of my client's home. But, after reviewing the information regarding the buyer's Florida home, I had several questions.
Since my clients were 12 hours ahead, I connected with them later that evening to discuss the offer, and I shared my concerns. They agreed to hold off before responding so I could do some additional due diligence. I spent the following day connecting with everyone I could find connected to the sale of the Florida home; The listing agent, the buyer's agent, the buyer's lender, and even the title processor. After spending the day chasing everyone down it was finally revealed the settlement of the Florida home had already been rescheduled twice, no one could confirm if the buyer's insurance policy had yet been bounded (homeowner's insurance is currently a huge obstacle in Florida), and there was some discrepancy over the buyer's funds relating to the recent sale of an inherited home and several outstanding debt payoffs.
That evening I explained the situation to my clients and laid out their options to accept the offer and see how everything unfolded, or to hold off for a few more days to make it through the weekend and the Sunday open house, as the home was getting such positive attention, I felt very optimistic there was another offer out there. So, they decided to wait.
As suspected, we had strong showings through the weekend and a successful open house, and a few other potential buyers began expressing interest. As such, an offer deadline was set for Monday at noon, and by Monday morning we received the second offer, which was, in my client's opinion, a slam dunk; A second cash offer and closing only 16 days later.
My clients ratified the offer the same day, and were thrilled with the results. Their attention to detail and trust in my suggestions lead to the outcome they had hoped for, and I'm thrilled we could make it happen considering the stress they had endured in the months prior to the their overseas move. An added bonus for the neighbors is that the sale of their home has set the new price per square foot record for their immediate neighborhood.
Working with military clients and others who are out-of-town or overseas is something my team and I do regularly, so if you know anyone who may have a similar situation on the horizon, please connect us, as I would love the opportunity to manage their sale or purchase as well.
6602 Thurlton Drive, Alexandria, VA 22315
Sold for $789,000
