What one Kingston sale taught us about pricing an exceptional home when the comparable sales don't tell the whole story.

By Susana Murphy | Founder, ALANTE Real Estate

Gretchen and Joe Jackman called me the way they always do: ready to make a decision, not ready to waste time. I've worked with them for 17 years now, across several transactions, including a home sale, so when they called this spring I already knew two things. They'd trust my read on the market, and they wouldn't want to sit around waiting on anything.

Joe had retired. Gretchen retired this year too, for health reasons. They'd talked about downsizing for a while, and now the timing finally made sense. They also own a second home up in the mountains of Maine, so their next house didn't need to be big. It needed a primary bedroom on the first floor and to be in genuinely good condition, since they weren't interested in taking on another project at this stage.

We went looking first. When we found the right house, they made a call most sellers don't: lock in the next home before figuring out the sale of the current one.

That decision put us on the clock in a way most sales aren't.

The Jackmans had already put real work into their Plymouth home before we started, updates and renovations that mattered to a buyer. But the backyard wasn't finished. An above-ground pool needed to come out. The lawn needed to be re-sodded. A shed had to go. The fence needed repair. That's not a weekend of work. That's weeks, and weeks the Jackmans didn't have, because they'd already gone under contract on their next home.

That left two ways to bridge the gap between closing on the new house and selling the old one: pull money out of retirement accounts to carry both, or sell fast. They didn't want to touch retirement funds. I didn't want them to have to.

The standard order of operations is to finish the prep work, get the photos, then list. Most of the time, that's the right sequence.

It wasn't right here. Waiting on the yard meant weeks of carrying two homes for no good reason. So instead of waiting, I started working my network the moment we knew this house was coming to market, calling buyers I already had relationships with and agents I knew were working buyers in that neighborhood, before the shed was even down or a single strip of new sod was laid.

I made one commitment to the Jackmans upfront: I would only bring them an off-market offer if it met or beat what they'd realistically get by taking the house to the open market. If nothing came in at the right number, we'd finish the yard work and list it traditionally. They weren't giving anything up by letting me try first.

We had a real number to measure against, not a guess. A home in the same neighborhood, larger than the Jackmans', 3,156 square feet, four bedrooms, an in-law apartment, a three-car garage, had just sold for $910,000. The Jackmans' home was 2,736 square feet, three bedrooms, two and a half baths, and a two-car garage. Based on that comp, we set an expected list price of $885,000.

That gave us a real benchmark to hold any off-market offer to.

We found the buyer while the pool was still being removed and the lawn hadn't been resodded yet. The offer came in at $907,500, above the price we expected to list at, and strong against a neighborhood comp for a meaningfully larger home.

No showings. No open houses. No sitting through a listing period wondering when it would sell or for how much. The Jackmans went from an accepted offer on their new home to a signed contract on their old one before the yard was even finished, and they netted more than the traditional process was likely to bring them.

Hi Neighbors,

We recently sold our home in Plymouth, as it is time to downsize and enjoy our retirement.

We are honored to have partnered with Susana Murphy of ALANTE Real Estate, in Plymouth, for her outstanding service and dedication over the past 17 years.

Susana has been our trusted realtor through the purchase of three homes, and each experience has exceeded our expectations. From the very beginning, she took the time to understand our family's needs, priorities, and long-term goals. Her deep knowledge of the local market, professionalism, and attention to every detail made each home-buying process smooth, well-informed, and successful.

What truly distinguishes Susana is the genuine care she shows for her clients. She has always been patient, responsive, and available to answer our questions, offering honest advice and thoughtful guidance every step of the way. We have always felt confident knowing she was advocating for our best interests and helping us make the right decisions.

Over the course of 17 years, Susana has become much more than our realtor, she has become a trusted advisor and great friend. Someone we know we can rely on whenever we need real estate expertise. Her integrity, commitment, and exceptional customer service have earned our complete trust and gratitude.

If you ever decide to sell or just want to discuss potential options and possibilities, we encourage you to reach out to Susana. We're 100% confident that your experience will be the same as ours.

All the best!

Gretchen and Joe Jackman

An off-market sale means the home is marketed and sold without ever being listed on the MLS or shown publicly. The agent sources a buyer directly, often through an existing network of buyers and agents, and negotiates a private sale.

Yes, if the strategy fits the situation. It requires an agent willing to work the phone and their buyer network before the property is camera-ready, and a firm price floor so the seller never accepts less than they'd get on the open market.

It depends on what you're solving for. If speed, certainty, and avoiding the disruption of showings matter more than maximum market exposure, particularly if you're mid-transition to a new home, an off-market approach is worth exploring with your agent before you list.

Most sellers assume the sequence is fixed: finish the house, then find the buyer. But the buyer search and the prep work don't have to happen in that order. If your circumstances call for speed, an accepted offer on your next home, a relocation, or simply not wanting to carry two mortgages, ask your agent whether they can start working their network before the house is camera-ready. The right buyer is sometimes already out there. You just have to go looking instead of waiting for them to find you.

For the Jackmans, that meant closing out 17 years of transactions with a sale that solved for exactly what mattered to them: certainty, speed, and not touching their retirement savings, while still landing above the number we expected.

If you're weighing a similar move, selling a home while you're mid-transition to the next one, I'm happy to walk through what your options actually look like.

Susana Murphy

Founder | ALANTE Real Estate | Real Broker

508-345-5632 • [email protected] • www.alanterealestate.com/susana-murphy

Susana Murphy is the Founder of ALANTE Real Estate and a Luxury Real Estate Advisor serving Boston, the South Shore and Cape Cod.

With more than two decades of real estate experience, Susana advises buyers and sellers of luxury, waterfront, custom and distinctive homes, combining data-driven market analysis, strategic property positioning, sophisticated marketing and candid advice.

Why They Come Back shares the real stories and decisions behind Susana's long-term client relationships, including the clients who buy, sell, move, refer and choose to work with her again.