How one homeowner skipped the roof, the carpet, and every renovation — and walked away with more money than anyone else on the street had ever seen.
The Situation
A home that needed work — and sellers who didn’t want to do it
When this Broadview Heights homeowner reached out to Damien Baden of Realty Done, the situation was all too common: a home they loved but were ready to leave, with a to-do list they had no interest in tackling. The roof was nearing the end of its life. The carpet needed replacing. And a growing list of buyer-facing updates loomed over any traditional listing.
Their goal was simple — sell the home as-is, move forward with their next chapter, and use the proceeds to renovate their other property. They didn’t want to sink money into a house they were leaving. And they certainly didn’t want to wait around for months of repairs before they could even list.
What made this harder? The home had a beautiful custom pool — and they were trying to sell it in the middle of winter, when the pool sat frozen and invisible to buyers who couldn’t picture its value.
“Some buyers did not consider the pool of value — and we had to discount them. We were not giving a pool away for free.”
The Approach
Expertise that changed the conversation
Damien didn’t just list the home — he reframed the entire value proposition for buyers. Drawing on his background in new construction, he was able to put real numbers behind every question a buyer might have: what a new roof actually costs, what it would take to add a third bathroom upstairs, what it would cost to build a comparable home from scratch today. These weren’t guesses. They were facts — and they changed the dynamic in every showing and negotiation.
Selling a pool in winter is a real challenge. Most agents would shrug and hope buyers could imagine it. Damien took a more deliberate approach, proactively educating prospective buyers on the pool’s value and helping them see what they were actually getting — even when they couldn’t see it.
He also worked transparently with his sellers from day one. He gave them a frank pricing strategy, warned them clearly about what would happen if they overpriced the property in its current condition, and walked them through past scenarios so there were no surprises. When the sellers chose to list higher than his recommendation, Damien made sure they went in with full clarity on what to expect — and they did.
The Challenge
When buyers tried to use the inspection as a renegotiation tool
The home sat on the market a bit longer than it needed to because of the original list price — a known outcome that Damien had anticipated and communicated. When a buyer finally came to the table, the real work began.
After coming up to a price the sellers were willing to accept, the buyers shifted strategy during the home inspection phase. Despite all material disclosures having been made upfront — ages of systems, known conditions — the buyers came back with a wave of repair requests that Damien believed were designed to claw back money through the back door.
What followed was several rounds of negotiation, with additional parties getting involved beyond the buyer’s original agent. Damien held firm. He presented hard facts, explained his reasoning clearly, and said no — multiple times. To prove the sellers weren’t bluffing, he sent the buyers a release to walk away from the deal — twice. It was a calculated move designed to test whether the buyers truly wanted the home.
They came back. A fair agreement was reached, and the deal closed.
“If you tell someone no and they keep coming back, you know you have a buyer who really wants the property.”
The Outcome
The highest sale price the neighborhood had ever seen
The sellers closed without replacing the roof. Without replacing the carpet. Without a single renovation. And they walked away with the highest sale price ever recorded in their community — approximately $100,000 above the nearest comparable sale.
That money went directly toward the renovation project they had been eager to start. Their timeline was protected. Their stress was dramatically reduced. And the transition they had been hoping for finally felt real.
Damien also arranged a deep professional clean before listing and brought in tradespeople to provide repair quotes in advance — for the roof, and for a potential third bathroom — so those numbers were ready to go the moment any buyer raised an objection. Nothing caught anyone off guard.
“Damien is so knowledgeable and he got us top dollar for our house. I believe our home was the highest selling property in the neighborhood by about 100k. If I ever buy or sell a house again — which I’m sure I will — Damien will definitely be my lifelong agent.”
— Seller, Broadview Heights, OH
Why It Worked
What sellers say they valued most
This seller had worked with Damien before. She knew what she was getting: a straight-talking advisor who sets clear expectations, knows the numbers inside and out, and will protect your interests at the negotiating table even when it gets uncomfortable. That trust was already built — which is why the moment her home was ready to sell, the call went to Damien.
For sellers considering a similar situation — a home that needs work, a timeline that doesn’t allow for renovations, or a sale that feels complicated — this case is a useful reference point. The challenges here were real. The pool, the roof, the aggressive inspection tactics. And none of them stopped the deal or the sellers’ goals.
Knowing when to hold firm and when a “no” is actually the right negotiating move is a skill. So is helping sellers understand realistic outcomes before they’re in the middle of them. That combination — market knowledge, construction expertise, and honest communication — is what Realty Done brings to the table.
Ready to talk through your situation? Reach out to Damien Baden at Realty Done for a no-pressure conversation about what’s possible.
