A Success Story
On Gore Creek
Custom Chalet-Style Mountain Home
The Gore Creek/Vail Story
Gore Creek Chalet – Vail, Colorado
The Home’s Issue
The heirloom chalet-style home backing onto fabulous Gore Creek had been on market with a local Vail realtor for nearly three years, with a mere four showings over that time. At that point, the out-of-state seller, a longtime friend in his late 80s, contacted me. He was starting to have memory problems, which made productive business conversations a little more difficult, and because he had been a realtor in a different era, he resisted the idea of staging, except for exterior beautification alongside the creek. The home was seriously over-priced from the very beginning and was getting stigmatized after its long stint on the market.
Jim’s Creative Solution
I called the owner of the Vail Valley Re/Max office to ask about doing a 50-50 marketing plan, as well as an always mandatory market analysis to establish the “just right” market price of the home. Three ideas were conceived to re-present the home to the marketplace:
a) limited staging/brightening of the interior and removal of dated window coverings, which the owner finally agreed to;
b) creation of a pretty sitting area down by the creek, complete with colorful flowers; and
c) a marketing video that featured a young man fishing in the creek to emphasize this unique feature of the home.
The Changes Executed
The selling price was adjusted to reflect the actual market. Tired draperies were removed to let the light shine in. Brand-new marketing materials and a video were created. Very little money was spent to properly market the home. Many times, it’s not spending money, but implementing fresh ideas that counts—and patiently communicating with sellers about the realities of the market.
Please note:
The seller, well advanced in age, refused to allow us to professionally stage the home.
However, we prevailed in finding the buyer and achieving a sale regardless of that.