Having grown up in Alaska, the heat and humidity of Austin was a drastic change for homeowner Cory Larson. He’d moved south for work, but after the Covid-19 pandemic left him and his wife both working remotely, they realized there wasn’t anything tying them to Austin anymore.

Well, there was one thing: their home.

But thanks to the booming real estate market, luck was on their side.

“Our home almost doubled in value over the course of a year and a half from when we bought it to when we sold it because of the crazy housing market,” says Larson, excited that property value wouldn’t be a hindrance to his new plan to move to Colorado — a state where landscapes and seasonal weather would more closely align with feelings of home.

Knowing the complicated logistics of an out-of-state relocation and the competition of a sizzling-hot market, the Larsons’ agent, Oksana Belov, recommended HomeLight Trade-In straightaway.

“They had a very short timeline they were working with. That’s just the way Cory works. He makes a decision and he moves on it,” recalls Belov. “We knew the markets were fast and furious and very competitive.”

HomeLight Trade-In makes it easy, and…

Because the HomeLight Trade-In program makes a guaranteed offer on her clients’ current home and moving out isn’t required until the new property is found, Belov knew it was a perfect fit for the Larsons.

They would be able to remain in their Texas home while searching for a house in Colorado. When they found a new home there, the Larsons could make an ultra-competitive offer since they had no sales contingency. Meanwhile, Belov and the HomeLight team would take care of the final sale in Texas after all was said and done.

“We made some improvements to the Larsons’ house, and based on the recommendations and improvements we made, we were able to sell their house for $100,000 over asking,” says Belov. “We put it on the market for $500,000 and it sold for $600,000 over one weekend.”

It was an excellent payday for the Larsons, since HomeLight Trade-In returns any additional cash (less program fees) to the client when a home sells above the asking price.

…Adding HomeLight Cash Offer makes it even easier

The housing market in Loveland, Colorado, was just as frenzied as Austin’s, so the Larsons also utilized HomeLight Cash Offer, a program that pre-approves qualified buyers and provides the buying power of cash.

With no financing contingencies and the ability to offer a fast close, Cash Offer empowers buyers to present a highly attractive offer. And on both sides of the transaction, Larson says he felt supported and confident through every step.

“It was a communicative, very team-oriented process. The night before I was going to fly back to Texas, my agent in Colorado told me there were multiple offers on the house I was looking at, estimating that offers were $20,000 over the asking price,” Larson explains. “To have a chance, we’d need to offer over asking and it would have to be a cash offer. The HomeLight team just pulled all the levers that needed to be pulled to make that happen.”

Thanks to HomeLight, the Larsons beat out those other offers with a competitive, all-cash offer and scored their lovely new home in Loveland during the same weekend that their Austin home went under contract.

“Everything just worked without a hitch,” says Belov. “It was beautiful.”

Great programs help great agents

Belov has used HomeLight Trade-In and HomeLight Cash Offer with many clients, and she loves how the convenience of both programs gives her the ability to help clients as efficiently as possible.

“I call it a white-glove approach. From the first meeting with HomeLight, the team has this great ability to explain all the financials in layman’s terms, and to figure out the timeline and walk the client right through the process,” explains Belov. “It’s very simple and transparent. It’s personal and tailored to each individual client.”

Belov says she trusts HomeLight so much that she doesn’t stress if she has a scheduling conflict and can’t be on a call with her client.

“I love that I don’t even have to be in that meeting with my client. I know I can just hand it over and everything will be great. My client will know all the options, all the details, and feel like they are taken care of.”