Multiple Offer Success on This Waterfront Woodbridge Condo
In late May I got word that I had been approved as the Court Appointed Listing Agent for 440 Belmont Bay #203 in Woodbridge’s waterfront community of Belmont Bay. The court’s involvement in the property became necessary when all the heirs to the estate were unwilling to sign off on listing the Belmont Bay condo for sale. It was a real shame for the waterfront condo, that had sitting vacant since the latter half of 2020.
Properties can develop problems when they are not occupied. Systems that are not in use, be they plumbing, heating, or cooling can age much faster. When I was notified that I would be the listing agent of this unit, I took the key I had been given and checked out what I would be dealing with. Being a court ordered sale, this waterfront condo would be sold strictly as-is. Those words can strike fear in buyers, so making sure the condo was showing as best it could was my mission.
If you read my posts, you may remember the day in early June I posted about cleaning off a waterfront balcony, loaded with dirt and “wildlife boogers.” That was this condo. When you have a waterfront view to sell, it is going to be the star of the show. Removing as much grime as I could to made standing outside and taking in the view the pleasant experience it was meant to be.
Inside the condo, there were things I could not, and did not fix. There was a water stain below a window. Covering that up with paint was a definite no-no. Who know what caused it? There were significant drywall cracks, and one that appeared to buckle. Those I called the condo association to check out. Their building maintenance manager did an inspection of the cracks and informed us in writing that they were present because of the lack of heating and air conditioning during the three year vacancy period. Whew!
Carpet stains were spot cleaned and water front windows cleaned thoroughly. The entire unit was given a cleaning once over and then the more artistic part of my job began–staging.
The waterfront theme was one I wanted to hit home. I found the lovely blue and coral shell plates and light blue irridescent glasses at a home decor store. It also helped to play off the existing blue Corian counters in the kitchen. By this time, the list price of $500,000 had been determined.
You can virtually walk through the property yourself and see how everything came together. The one thing I could not change was that our Northern Virginia area was under a Code Red heading to Code Purple air quality due to the Canadian wildfires the day the photographer came out. The difference between the dense haze off the balcony in the immersive tour vs. the still shot that post production added a realistic blue sky to was dramatic. Even the still shot still had haze on the water, that gave the impression of a morning fog lifting. Thank goodness I had snapped some shots of the balcony view myself when air quality wasn’t an issue.
The condo had three interested buyers almost immediately. While the Special Commissioners (court appointed sellers) checked their boxes of ordering an appraisal to make sure they were accepting a reasonable offer, even more buyers offered on the unit. By the time a final decision was made on June 30th, the property had been on the market for twenty days.
Even though there are things that need immediate attention in this Belmont Bay condo like replacing the water heater and washing machine, the buyer will get A/C and dishwasher that were replaced in 2021. And they will get a water view from every window in the unit.
This sale is scheduled to close July 24th. Stay tuned for the final sold price.
Chris Ann Cleland
Associate Broker
VA License #0225089470
Long & Foster Real Estate
Call or Text: 703-402-0037
Email: ChrisAnn@LNF.com
www.UncompromisingValues.com
The opinions expressed in this blog are those of Chris Ann Cleland, not Long & Foster. All content is written by Chris Ann Cleland without the aid of artificial intelligence.