How we sold 9021 Lake Butler Blvd for $300K over ask
Butler Chain Estate · Seller Representation · 2024
The Result
$300K over ask · 26 days to close · 6 offers
Original FSBO list
$3.5M
Relaunch list
$3.8M
Closed price
$4.05M
Offers received
6
The Challenge
What we walked into.
The seller had spent 90 days attempting a for-sale-by-owner listing at $3.5M with no offers and only a handful of low-intent showings. Lake Butler buyers were scrolling past it because the listing looked stale, the photography was amateur, and — counterintuitively — the price was reading as too low to be a true waterfront trophy home. When we took over, the first thing we said was the opposite of what they expected: we needed to raise the price, not drop it.
That was a hard conversation. The seller had been told by friends and a previous agent that 'any price is just a number' and that discounts drive traffic. In the Butler Chain, where comparable sold homes in the prior 18 months were clustering above $4M, a stale $3.5M listing was signaling 'something's wrong with this house' — the opposite of what they wanted.
Our Strategy
What we did differently.
- 01
Reprice UP 6% to $3.8M and relaunch as 'coming soon' — anchoring buyers to the trophy-tier price band where this home actually belonged.
- 02
Professional drone + Matterport 3D + twilight photography package, shot on a clear-sky evening with the water glassed out.
- 03
Targeted $10K social campaign focused on West Coast transplant buyers — Bay Area, Seattle, LA — where $4M cash buyers were actively shopping Central Florida waterfront.
- 04
3-day private offer window for agents and VIP buyers before the home hit public MLS, which created real urgency and a pre-seeded bidder pool.
- 05
Encouraged escalation clauses in the offer instructions so our highest-intent buyers could protect themselves in a multiple-offer scenario.
Execution
How it went down.
The relaunch hit 'coming soon' on a Tuesday. By Friday evening we had 14 private showings scheduled. The public MLS listing went live Monday morning. By Sunday night of offer week we had six written offers, four of them at or above list. Two were all-cash with 14-day close. One included an escalation clause that topped out at $4.15M.
We called the top three buyers on Monday and asked each for their highest-and-best by Tuesday at noon. The winning offer came in at $4.1M cash, 10-day close, no inspection contingency, and a $250K earnest money deposit.
Results
What the seller / buyer actually took home.
Closed at $4.05M in 26 days — $300K above the new $3.8M list, and $550K above the seller's original FSBO price. After accounting for commission and concessions, the seller netted roughly $250K more than they would have at the original FSBO price, even without paying a buyer's-side commission on the FSBO. The 'expensive' listing strategy paid for itself many times over.
Raising the price felt insane when Ryan first pitched it. He walked me through the comps for 45 minutes and I still didn't believe him. Six offers and $550K over my original ask later, I've stopped second-guessing him.
Seller · Lake Butler Blvd · 2024
Ryan's Reflection
Ryan Solberg
Broker · MaxLife Realty · BK3354351
Your transaction
Think you have a similar challenge?
Every case study on this site started with a single conversation. Tell us what you're working on — we'll tell you whether we're the right fit to close it.