In February 2018, a home in Wheaton, Illinois was on the market for sale. The home went under contract, however, there was a two-month close date the seller agreed to. The seller originally felt comfortable with an extended closing date because the buyer was paying cash and had no mortgage contingency. The seller was relieved and moved on with their plans to move out of state to prepare for a new employment opportunity.

In April, just one week before the scheduled closing date, the buyer canceled the deal for unknown reasons. The buyer had no contingencies, so they forfeited their $2,000 earnest money.  The $2,000 was good to be able to keep but that was a small price to get for the lack of piece of mind the seller now had. The seller briefly considered suing the buyer for further damages but quickly realized that was a rabbit hole that few disgruntled sellers choose when they weigh risk versus reward.  

G&C Realty & Development, LLC received a call from the seller just one day after their sale contract fell apart. We shared our documents, process and procedures with the seller, and he swiftly hired us that same night. Within 24 hours of the management agreement being signed, we placed the home on the market for rent. Within seven days we executed a lease from a financially qualified tenant. The new resident moved in four days later.

Although the seller’s plan initially was to sell his property, he was extremely grateful when he realized he was going to be taking home an additional $300.00 per month, which was above and beyond their total monthly expenses. He was then able to quickly build equity since he was using the additional funds to pay toward his mortgage principle. That is $9,000.00 per year in wealth he was now building vs the initial sale going through and losing the opportunity forever. I found out later that he had less than $5,000.00 in proceeds from the original sale if that initial contract would have closed.

In September 2018, the same client contacted us with interest in purchasing property a family member of his was considering selling. GC was able to coordinate that sale, prepare the unit for rent, and within seven days we rented the unit to a remarkable applicant.    

We love this story because we were able to help a disgruntled seller become a growing investor. Now he’s on the path to building wealth as a seasoned investor.