Selling a home can be stressful when you live in it.
Now imagine trying to sell that same home from France.
That became the reality for one family selling their longtime home in Desert Ridge in Phoenix, Arizona.
The family had moved to the United States from France and spent years in Arizona raising their children. When it was time to return to France for family reasons, they faced a problem.
They knew very little about the U.S. real estate market or what would be required to prepare and sell their home.
CITIEA agent Tracy Williamson quickly discovered there was another challenge.
Years of deferred maintenance had accumulated at the property.
What followed became much more than a typical listing. Tracy helped prepare the home, coordinated contractors, navigated a failed first contract, managed additional repair estimates, cared for the property after the family moved overseas, helped manage a troublesome pool, worked through solar-transfer delays, and ultimately helped her clients complete the sale from thousands of miles away.
The equity from their Arizona home then helped make their next chapter possible.
A dream home in France.
Case Study at a Glance
Community: Desert Ridge
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Representation: Sellers
Agent: Tracy Williamson, CITIEA
Seller Situation: French family relocating back to France
Initial Challenge: Significant deferred maintenance
Pre-Listing Work: Exterior repairs and painting, stucco and wood repair, cool decking, landscaping, roof tile repairs, interior paint and drywall
First Result: Quickly under contract above asking price
Setback: Additional issues discovered during inspection caused the first buyer to walk away
Remote-Sale Challenge: Sellers needed to return to France before the property was sold
Additional Issues: Roof underlayment, AC system, pool remodel, flooring, pool equipment, landscaping and solar-transfer complications
Strategy: Obtain competitive estimates, disclose and quantify known issues, and find a buyer comfortable taking on the work
Final Outcome: Successful sale at a price the sellers were happy with, allowing them to purchase their dream home in France
Preparing a Desert Ridge Home With Deferred Maintenance
When Tracy first evaluated the home, she saw issues the sellers did not necessarily recognize.
The family had lived there for years, but routine maintenance had been deferred.
That is not unusual.
Homeowners experience a property differently than buyers do. Something an owner has stopped noticing can immediately stand out to someone walking through the home for the first time.
Tracy's first job was education.
She explained the local market and helped the sellers understand which issues should be addressed before putting the home in front of buyers.
Then she helped them figure out how to get the work done.
Getting Competitive Contractor Bids Before Listing
Because the sellers did not have an established network of local contractors, Tracy gathered multiple competitive bids from professionals she knew and trusted to provide quality work at fair prices.
The pre-listing work included:
- Exterior paint
- Stucco repairs
- Exterior wood repairs
- Cool decking repairs in the backyard
- Major landscaping trimming and cleanup
- Roof tile repairs
- Interior painting
- Drywall repairs
The objective was not to make the house perfect.
It was to address visible deferred maintenance, improve the home's presentation, and put the property in a stronger position when buyers arrived.
Once the work was completed, the home was ready to launch.
The First Launch Worked
The initial response was strong.
The property generated significant interest and quickly went under contract above the asking price after a successful launch.
The sellers were thrilled.
They had not realized their Desert Ridge home could command that level of interest or value.
For a moment, it appeared the most difficult part of the process was behind them.
Then came the home inspection.
The Inspection Changed Everything
The inspection uncovered substantially more work than the sellers and Tracy had initially realized.
The scope and potential cost of the additional items surprised the first buyer.
The buyer requested a significant amount of repairs.
Ultimately, the deal fell apart.
For the sellers, the timing could hardly have been worse.
They had urgent family reasons to return to France. They also had significant equity tied up in their Arizona property and had found a home in France they hoped to purchase.
They needed the Desert Ridge sale to work.
But they also needed to leave.
"Go to France. I'll Watch the House."
At that point, Tracy gave her clients reassurance that changed the nature of her role in the transaction.
She lived in the neighborhood.
She told them they could return to France and she would keep an eye on the property, continue working toward a sale, and manage what needed to be handled locally.
The family moved in with relatives in France.
Tracy went back to work in Desert Ridge.
Turning Inspection Surprises Into Information
The failed first transaction had revealed something valuable.
The next buyer could not be allowed to encounter the same surprises.
Instead of waiting for another inspection to create uncertainty, Tracy began gathering competitive estimates for the additional work that had been identified.
Those items included significant projects such as:
- New roof underlayment
- A new air-conditioning system
- A full pool remodel
- New flooring
The estimates gave Tracy something concrete to work with.
Rather than presenting the next buyer with unknown problems and unknown costs, she could help establish expectations from the beginning.
That changed the conversation.
Then There Was the Pool
Selling the property remotely created another problem that had little to do with contracts or marketing.
The pool required regular attention.
The husband had previously managed it every day. Once the family was in France, those issues did not disappear.
Tracy hired a local pool professional.
Together, they monitored the pool and dealt with recurring problems. Some equipment eventually had to be replaced.
Additional landscaping work was also needed.
Meanwhile, Tracy and the seller stayed in close contact through WhatsApp.
From France, the husband and Tracy worked through pool issues, repairs and other problems that appeared at the Arizona property.
Tracy was no longer simply marketing a listing.
She had become the sellers' local eyes and ears.
Finding the Right Second Buyer
Armed with repair estimates and much more information about the property's condition, Tracy returned to the market looking for a buyer who understood exactly what they were purchasing.
She found one quickly.
This time, the conversation was different.
The known issues were not an unexpected discovery after the buyer had emotionally committed to the home.
The expectations were established upfront.
The buyer understood that work remained to be completed and was comfortable taking responsibility for having that work done after the purchase.
That allowed the parties to negotiate from a much clearer position.
The sellers received a price they were happy with.
The buyer believed the agreement was fair.
The transaction moved forward.
One More Challenge: The Solar Agreement
The second buyer was financing the purchase.
The loan process ultimately took closer to 45 days, in part because of complications transferring the property's solar agreement.
That extended timeline meant the vacant Desert Ridge property still needed attention.
The pool still needed monitoring.
The landscaping still needed care.
Problems still had to be handled locally.
And the sellers were still in France.
Tracy continued looking after the property until the transaction finally closed.
From Desert Ridge to a Dream Home Near Paris
The closing did more than complete the sale of an Arizona property.
It released the equity the family needed for the next stage of their lives.
They were able to purchase the home they had fallen in love with in France, approximately 45 minutes from Paris.
When they sent Tracy photographs, she was stunned.
The property looked like a small estate, with beautiful grounds and the historic charm the family wanted in a French home.
The years they had spent raising their family in Arizona had also coincided with significant growth in the value of their U.S. home.
Now that equity was helping them start over in France.
A Relationship That Crossed the Atlantic
The relationship did not end at closing.
Before the family left Arizona, Tracy prepared a care package filled with souvenirs from their time here.
Arizona had been home for years, particularly for their children, and it was a place they told Tracy they would always miss.
After the sale closed, Tracy received a package in return.
Inside were gifts from France, including macarons from Paris.
What began as a Desert Ridge listing had become a relationship spanning two countries.
What Desert Ridge Sellers Can Learn From This Case Study
There are several practical lessons in this sale.
First, deferred maintenance can become more expensive once a buyer discovers it unexpectedly.
Addressing visible issues before listing can improve presentation, but sellers should also understand that a home inspection may reveal problems that are not obvious during normal ownership.
Second, when significant issues are known, information can be a negotiating tool.
For the second buyer, Tracy had contractor estimates available for major items. That helped turn vague concerns into more concrete expectations.
Third, remote sellers need someone locally who can manage more than paperwork.
A vacant property still has needs.
Pools need attention.
Landscaping grows.
Equipment fails.
Contractors need access.
Unexpected issues arise.
When a seller is thousands of miles away, those ordinary property-management details can suddenly become major obstacles to closing.
Selling an Arizona Home From Overseas
Homeowners sometimes assume they must remain in Arizona until their property sells.
This case demonstrates why the answer depends on the circumstances.
The sellers were able to return to France because they had someone locally coordinating the listing and helping manage the physical property.
That did not eliminate the challenges.
In fact, several new ones appeared after they left.
But it gave the family the ability to deal with urgent matters in France while the Arizona sale continued.
For these sellers, successful representation meant more than finding a buyer.
It meant having someone in Desert Ridge who would answer the phone, meet contractors, monitor the property, manage problems and keep moving the transaction forward while they were an ocean away.
Eventually, all of that work led somewhere very different from Phoenix.
A home near Paris.
And a box of macarons arriving in Arizona after closing.
