What makes a listing in Bellingham super successful?

A successful listing and sale in Bellingham doesn’t happen by accident—it’s the result of smart positioning from day one.

I pulled a report of some of Bellingham’s most successful home sales in the downtown core neighborhoods in the last year. My definition of success, for the purposes of this exercise, was the property closing at 5% or more higher than list price. And again, I focused on Bellingham’s “core neighborhoods” — because successful strategy should be different for listing homes in Bellingham’s southside neighborhoods.

If you scan this set of listings, you will see that the vast majority of the homes that garnered 5%+ over list hit the market fully dialed: thoughtfully prepped, professionally presented, and strategically priced to create momentum.

But perhaps the most interesting element to a successful sale is strategic timing. Notably, about 70% of these homes hit the market in the first half of the year—before inventory really started to build—highlighting how much having strategy in your timing of list can impact the final result.

And, just a tidbit about the buyers searching in these neighborhoods. At the risk of over generalizing, I’ve noticed a trend that the buyers wanting to own homes in the downtown core tend to be more emotionally driven. They consistently gravitate toward historic homes that have preserved their original character rather than being overly modernized. New is not always better to this buyer. And, the story behind the sale is important to them. They want to connect with the home from the minute they read the listing description online, through the story each image tells as they scroll through, to the second they walk through the front door and get a feel for it. This requires a certain level of strategy from the person bringing the home to market.

Strong results come from understanding the micro-market, and timing the launch carefully. When a property shows beautifully, feels turnkey, launches at the right time, and is priced to invite competition, the market responds quickly and decisively.

My team at HeartHomes Bellingham knows how to align these powerful forces to create the conditions that invite multiple offers—and that’s what ultimately drives a standout successful sale in our real estate market.