Displayed on the wall of the guest bedroom of our home is an 11-by-14 original painting of a strawberry-blonde, curly headed toddler in a red, Hawaiian-print summer dress sitting on a hammock, reaching for the face of a young-ish woman, clearly her mom, with similar colored hair and features. They are surrounded by palm trees, sand and blue skies. It is the perfect scene. Of course, the artist omitted the fine lines that had begun to form around the eyes when this woman smiled. Nor did she include the deepening crevices in her forehead and between her eyes. What the viewer of this painting, commissioned for a children’s illustrated book, wouldn’t know is that the mom was considerably older than she looked in the picture, and this toddler was the last of three children, born to a mom considered too old to have had any more, and none of which had set foot on actual Hawaiian sand.

Regardless, this painting is mine. It was done by my best friend, an artist, and given to me as a gift when my youngest was 3. There is no amount of money I would take for this painting. It is not for sale.

Neither are many people’s homes — specifically, one couple who I met with this week. They were approached several weeks ago with an unsolicited written offer to purchase the property. The home is nearly 50 years old and offers little in the form of updates. It does, however, sit on over 2 acres of land and backs to a main road featuring a newly developed subdivision. It seems the developer and builder have run smack dab into the end of production in this new subdivision … unless … they can convince someone to sell them more land. This is where my clients enter the proverbial illustration.

They showed me a copy of the contract that was hand-delivered to them. It seemed like a fair price for the home, were it not sitting on 2 acres of prime land with a large workshop in back and water rights included. The problem really consisted, however, of the fact that the house was not for sale. This home belonged to the parents of the current owner. It had been in the family from the time it was built. In fact, the home next door, a run-down shanty on a dirt road, was also a family member. She too had been approached with an offer.

“There are several problems for us to solve before considering selling,” my new client explained. “Where are we supposed to go? We have no motivation to move right now and take on a new payment at a new interest rate that is five points higher than our current rate. Not to mention, we need at least an acre of land for my workshop, and this was my parent’s home. There is considerable sentimental value in that.” He was clearly distressed. This had not been on his radar at all, and now it had been dropped like an undetonated grenade about to go off. He asked what his options were. He wanted to know if they could force him to eventually sell at market value.

I informed him that this wasn’t a case of imminent domain. There was nothing except money right now that could compel him to sell. It was completely up to him. “Is this where you planned to retire?” I asked. Reminding him that he was under no obligation to ever sell, I did ask if it would make sense at any point in the future for him to sell and, if so, what would be his price?

He responded with a number considerably higher than the unsolicited offer price, but not high enough in my opinion. I then recommended that we sit down and talk about the intrinsic value of the property to him and his family. I suggested we take away what it is really worth — the fair market value — and outline all the other costs as well. There is the cost of moving, the cost of time to find a new home that functions well for what they need and their lifestyle, the cost of the emotional wear and tear and the value of sentimentality. Essentially, this home is not replaceable. However, if life could be made easier, then they would consider. Thus, all of these costs should be taken into account.

After long consideration, we came up with a price that makes better sense. It is appreciably higher than the initial offer. Essentially, a property that is not for sale is worth more than one that is if there is a viable and interested buyer who wants it. The painting on my wall, however, buyer or not, is still not for sale.

Jen Fischer is an associate broker and Realtor. She can be reached at 801-645-2134 or jen@jen-fischer.com.

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