One story, Two women... Real Estate Success!

Debra Gould is not only a famous home staging diva, but is also a smart real estate investor.  Aside from her ability to transform homes into hot properties, she also knows how to spot a good real estate bargain.

I was particularly interested in one of her real estate success stories. 

Here is an excerpt of Debra Gould’s real estate success story from

Toronto Life: Home Made Success by Jen Wareham

"I saw the house and I saw the street and I thought ‘There’s no way it should be priced at that level. It’s $50,000 below where it should be.’”

The three-bedroom semi was listed at $259 000, when others like it were going on the market for $299,000 and selling, she says, at around $310,000. After Gould determined that wasn’t a typo, she moved fast.

Within 24 hours, Gould and her daughter were in Toronto at the agent open-house with an inspector in tow. It was the Thursday before the August long weekend, so many agents—and potential buyers—were out of town. Her instincts had been right; the house was a gem, despite the red shag carpets and ugly paint. Later that night, she returned with an offer. Before she went to bed, the house was theirs for $2,000 under the asking price."

Two months later, a similar property across the street sold for $100,000 more than she paid!

I had a very similar experience when we bought our house.  It was like window shopping for houses using the Internet, real estate magazines and local newspapers.  I was checking the development, market prices and sold properties in the area.  If there is a bargain priced property, my husband and I would schedule an inspection as soon as it gets listed.  We wanted to check it out if its really a bargain or there is something about the property or its location that lowers the price.

One afternoon, while I was doing my usual window shopping in the Internet I chanced upon another bargain priced  newly listed property.  I told my husband later that night that we are going to inspect a property the following morning.  It turned out the property is a real bargain because the owners wanted a fast sale because they are moving interstate.  To add, it was just an investment property for the owners so the house was not really staged to sell.  Overall, the location is superb, the house is still pretty new and just the right size.  With my husband’s blessing and trust to my instinct, we gave an offer price to the agent right after the open house.  Since it was a Saturday, the offer had to be put forward on the next business day.  We negotiated the price on Monday and closed the deal by Tuesday morning. By Tuesday afternoon we secured the property with a deposit.  We just made it right in time, before higher offers from other buyers came.

Up to this day, my husband is still amazed with how fast we decided and secured that house.  We barely saw it for no more than 10 minutes when we made an offer.  However, since I am familiar with the market and sold prices of similar properties in the area, I know that we are getting a good deal. The rental income was also good considering the amount of money we invested.  To add, the nearby regional centre is nearing completion and will be launched in exactly one year after we bought the property. 

The profitability verdict: 5 months after; similar properties are selling between $70,000 to $90,000 more than what we paid =) The house is still in good condition.  To add,  through our able lawyer the owners reimbursed us the cost for any repairs.

You can say the Debra and I used our window shopping and bargain hunting skills into good use, giving us more money in our pockets for more property shopping spree!