N.J. house with 32-offer bidding war sells for $118K over asking price

Who can resist a home with that perfect mix of being beautifully restored and having all the modern conveniences?

At least 32 people couldn’t.

That’s how many offers the West Orange colonial, built in 1929 and remodeled in 2019, got when it hit the market in June. The four bedroom, one and a half bathroom home on 0.32 acres was listed for $525,000 and sold for $643,000.

“You could see there was so much love given to this house,” said Tanielle Powell, the listing agent with Sotheby’s International Realty in Jersey City.

The owners were in a hurry to sell the home because they were relocating out of state, she said.

“The pricing was strategically planned to get people in the door and then fight over the house,” Powell said.

The home was prepared and on the market within a week. Two, two-hour open houses were planned for the weekend after it was listed but they ended up lasting four hours because of the large number of people who showed up, she said.

In total there were 181 showings and 32 offers, all above asking price. It was under contract within a week.

Powell said she put each of the offers into a spreadsheet and looked at things like what type of financing the buyers were getting, how much was their downpayment, which lender were they using, the offer price and any terms they were waiving.

For this deal, Powell said, they went with the higher offer because they also had best terms — things like they waived the appraisal and mortgage contingency and any inspection issues except for structural ones.

How the buyer’s agent operates can also come into play, she said. “If the agent is not paying attention to the fine details, it’s unfair to the agent who did pay attention. Sometimes we get offers that are very similar and off by $1,000. [If the agent follows all the rules in submitting their offer], it shows their work ethic, professionalism and it shows we’re going to have a smooth transaction.”

Are you an agent, buyer or seller who is active in this changing market? Do you have tips about New Jersey’s real estate market? Unusual listings? Let us know.

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Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com.