Case Study: Happy Valley Road, Lafayette
Sold privately for $6,500,000
There is a common belief that selling off market means doing less. In our experience, the opposite is true. When a home is shared quietly, every detail has to work harder, because each showing is an introduction you only get to make once.
This story began several months before the home ever met its buyer, when past clients reached out to tell us they were ready to sell their Happy Valley home. We visited the property, ran the numbers, and shared our recommendations for pre-market preparation. Then we sat down together to talk through strategy and find the right path for them. The plan we chose was a private one: we would introduce the home to our own clients, Compass agents, and other top agents, one by one, with a clear next step in our back pocket. If the home needed greater exposure, we were ready to take it to the full open market.
Our sellers had already completed a whole-house remodel before we began working together, so the home had beautiful bones to build on. Over the following months, we prepared it exactly as we would for a public launch. The sellers emptied the house entirely, giving The Tailored House, our in-house staging company, a clean canvas to fully stage every room. We completed professional photography and a floor plan, wrote the marketing copy, and built a dedicated website for the home featuring the photos, floor plan, and neighborhood information. We also compiled a detailed list of the remodel and every other upgrade made during their ownership, so buyers could appreciate the care that had gone into the home. The property was pre-inspected, and our sellers completed full disclosures before a single showing.
Then came the finishing touches, which is where the fun lives. The home was sparkling, with freshly washed windows and a thorough professional cleaning. Outside, we refreshed the landscaping, replaced tired grass with new lawn, and dressed the front porch in a little fall pumpkin magic. We catered a private brokers tour, and after that we hosted one-on-one showings, with our team present at every one.
About a week later, a single offer arrived at list price from a wonderful local buyer who had been searching for years for a home just like this one. That next step to the open market was never needed, and the home sold for $6,500,000 in a transaction that unfolded smoothly from start to finish.
None of this happens without sellers who are true partners. Ours put in a tremendous amount of work of their own, and their trust in the process made every step possible.
The takeaway: A fair price for a beautiful home is earned in the preparation. No shortcuts and no skipped steps, whether the doors open to a crowd or to one buyer at a time. A private sale simply asks us to bring the same polish to a smaller stage, and this lovely home deserved nothing less.
