Happily retired from corporate life but feeling cramped in his 1,347 square-foot Scottsdale home, Kent Dickerson was ready to make a move.

He’d just purchased the house in 2020, but within six months of sharing it with his partner, Nancy, the couple agreed that they needed more space.

Knowing the Phoenix real estate market was still just as hot — or even hotter — as when he’d made his recent purchase, Dickerson understood that the process of finding a more suitable home would take time. He turned his eyes back to the Phoenix real estate market with the help of his agent, Keith Schreiber.

Finding a solution with HomeLight Trade-In

To buy a bigger house, they’d also need to sell Dickerson’s existing home. But after writing eight offers and getting rejected each time, it was clear that having a sales contingency was not going to fly. Phoenix sellers were inundated with multiple offers to choose from; Schreiber knew he and Dickerson needed to make stronger offers.

Schreiber, who has been in real estate since 2012, learned about HomeLight Trade-In through his team lead.

“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the perfect product for Kent!’”

Schreiber presented the idea to Dickerson, set up a call with the HomeLight Trade-In team, and the rest — as they say — is history.

HomeLight Trade-In allows homeowners to sell their home without having to put their original property on the market first. By offering a fair price (with no hidden fees) and a guarantee to buy the home, the HomeLight Trade-In program effectively removes a buyer’s sales contingency and provides them with 90% of the property value — all without having to move until the next home is purchased.

It’s instant buying power on a flexible, convenient timeline.

Even better, if the house sells for more than the agreed-upon price, the seller keeps the profit — and in Dickerson’s case, there was most definitely some profit.

“We valued the home at $570,000 and went on market at that price; we ended up getting $655,000,” says Schreiber.

Dickerson, needless to say, was very pleased with the outcome. In the 17 months he owned the Scottsdale home, it appreciated $205,000. Not a bad turnaround!

And in the meantime, Dickerson was able to shop for a new home without the burden of a sales contingency.

Adding HomeLight Cash Offer to sweeten the deal

With the Phoenix real estate market still hotter than the Sonoran Desert in mid-July, Schreiber and Dickerson agreed that bringing HomeLight Cash Offer into the mix would lend an even sharper edge to their purchase offer.

HomeLight Cash Offer provides buyers with the opportunity to make an all-cash offer and remove the financing contingency.

HomeLight approves qualified buyers within 24 hours, then — thanks to a low program fee and the ability to close in as little as eight days — the buyer and agent work together to make an ultra-competitive cash offer.

With no sales or financing contingencies to worry about, when Dickerson finally found the right house, Schreiber was able to help him write an unbeatable offer and win the home he’d been looking for all along.

“It put him at the top of the offers,” says Schreiber. “No one’s going to take a contingent offer right now — HomeLight Cash Offer really, truly enabled us to get the deal we needed.”

More room, more friends

Dickerson has only been in his new home since January, but he already feels, well, right at home.

He appreciates the tightly knit, 28-home gated community where members made him feel welcome before he’d even made the offer.

“The first time we were looking at the house, we met the president of the local HOA by accident,” Dickerson recalls. “They invited us to go to the Christmas party before we even bought the house. The people are very friendly, very nice.”

Though Dickerson spends up to three hours a day engaging in his favorite hobby — pickleball — he still has plenty of room to putter around while he’s at home.

“I went from my little single-story house in Scottsdale to a two-story, 2,511 square-foot home in central Phoenix,” he says, adding that “working with HomeLight has been such a positive experience. I always felt comfortable, and I don’t think I’ve ever encountered people who were so available and helpful. HomeLight certainly has my endorsement as a customer.”

Dickerson’s commute to pickleball is a few minutes longer now than before, but he says it’s well worth the extra time spent. Nancy, who works as a paralegal, is now just nine miles from her office, and the couple has plenty of room for family to visit in their downtime.

“We’re in a good place in life.”