Page 75 of Heating Up (Nugget)
“Because you’re good at your job.”
He wondered if this was postsex flattery because she had no way of knowing whether he was a good arson investigator. Aidan was fairly sure he was the only arson investigator she’d ever met. However, it just so happened he was the best.
“Thanks for the confidence. You have time for coffee? We could drive through the Bun Boy.”
“I’ll just make a pot at home. As it is, I’m cutting it close because I still have to shower and blow-dry my hair.”
He’d like to shower with her, but he had a feeling if he did, she’d really be late. But they should think about it in the future . . . for the sake of the drought.
“I’ll make the coffee, you get ready,” he said.
Her brows went up, and he got the impression the gesture alluded to them playing house again. She should know he wasn’t very good at it. All she had to do was ask Sue.
* * *
The cabin was even more darling than Dana remembered. Immaculate and furnished tastefully, without too many personal touches.
What most sellers failed to understand was that their family pictures—no matter how sweet—eclectic art collections, and porcelain figurines actually distracted perspective buyers. Or worse: they creeped them out. People wanted to see themselves in a house, not the former occupant. That was why most model homes were decorated as generically as possible. No signs of a person’s religion, political party, or what kind of clubs she belonged to. Unless it was the yacht club. For some reason, nautical themes—except fishnet strung on the walls like at Long John Silver’s—were completely acceptable, even to people who didn’t spend time on the water. Dana supposed it represented a lifestyle of leisure and glamour.
“So what do you think the house is worth?” Mr. Castro followed her around the cabin as she took notes.
“It’s worth what someone will pay for it. The question is how shall we price it? For that I brought along a list of comparatives in the area. I thought we could sit down and look them over together.” She really wanted the listing but knew Mr. Castro would be disappointed with her suggested asking price.
He’d gotten it in his head that the house should be priced at half a million dollars. If she had to guess, that was what one of her competitors had told him in order to get the listing. Well, she wasn’t about to lie.
“Sounds good.”
They sat at the dining room table, and Dana passed him a folder showing all the sales in Nugget over the last three months. It had been a good period as far as the number of sales but still paled in comparison to an urban community of this size.
“I don’t see anything that compares to my property.” He continued to scan the paperwork.
“Not exactly, but other than Sierra Heights, this area is pretty varied. Everything from large ranches and farms to one-room cabins.” She pulled out another sheet from the folder. “These are homes that are currently on the market; your competition, so to speak. I’ve been in all of them. While none is as turnkey as yours, this one”—she pointed to a custom home two miles away—“is a thousand square feet larger and has a pad for a boat or motor home.”
“It doesn’t have a river view.”
“Nope. And that’s certainly worth some money. But this one”—she showed him another listing fresh on the market—“does.”
“I’ve seen that house. It’s a dump.”
“It definitely needs work. But it’s on ten usable acres.”
“So what you’re saying is half a mil is unrealistic.”
“We could certainly list it for that and see what happens,” she said. “But unless we find a buyer who falls so in love with this place that he or she doesn’t care what other homes in the area are selling for, yeah, it’s unrealistic.”
He let out a sigh and waved the folder at her. “You make a good case. Why do you think Daniel from Heavenly Homes thinks I can do better?”
“You have a beautiful place, Mr. Castro. Anyone can see you’ve put a lot of love into it, and sometimes that blurs what’s really happening in the market. We could list at that price, but I think you would wind up being disappointed.”
“What do you think is realistic?”
“Priced to sell? Three hundred and fifty thousand if we go by the comps.”
She figured that would put the kibosh on her getting the listing. No question Mr. Castro wanted more. But what he wanted and what he could get were two different things.
“How would you market it?”
“I’d advertise the listing on theNugget Tribune’s site with a virtual tour. I have a videographer who does beautiful work, and your home is ideal for something like that. A lot of out-of-town buyers subscribe to theTribfor the real estate ads. Of course it would go on our website as well, in our newsletter, and to a number of other publications. And, depending on how you feel about it, an open house or two. Of course we’d hold an open house for local brokers as well. You live in Sacramento so it shouldn’t be too inconvenient.”
