Lisa Bianco had never sold a home before. She owned a property with her husband in Montclair, but had never been on the selling end of a real estate transaction. That is, until her father died and she inherited his home in Waldwick.
Paul Bianco, her father and a realtor with Coldwell Banker Realty’s Allendale office, died in January from pancreatic cancer. He lived in his home at 106 Waldwick Ave. for nearly 40 years, his daughter said. So, when it came time to sell the property, Bianco said she enlisted the help of Lisa Uvanni, a good friend of her father’s and another Realtor at Coldwell Banker Realty’s Allendale office.
“Thankfully, I had (Uvanni) walking me through it step by step. Lisa was a really good friend of my father’s from working at Coldwell Banker, my dad worked with her,” Bianco said. “So, after my father passed, I turned to her and asked her if she’d like to be the Realtor on the house and she was happy to do so.”
The property was first listed for $398,000 in mid-March and sold for $535,000 at the beginning of this month — $137,000 over asking price — after receiving a total of 79 offers.
The two-bedroom, one-bathroom center-hall colonial home offers 1,000-square-feet of living space and sits on a .11-acre lot. It features hardwood floors throughout, an abundance of natural light, an enclosed back patio and a one-car garage. Uvanni said the home is also located on a completely flat piece of land, which isn’t the case for all homes in that area, and is within walking distance to the train station and local restaurants.
“When everyone in Bergen County and New York City and surrounding areas saw a house in Bergen County for $398,000, they went nuts. It was completely crazy, I had offers before the house was even being shown,” Uvanni said. “Number one, the house is only 1,000 square feet. Number two, the kitchen had never been updated. 1,000 square feet for most people is too small. Even when I lived in an apartment, it was bigger than 1,000 square feet. It has an unfinished basement. It needs a new roof. It needs a lot of things, so that’s why I didn’t think it was going to go that high. It was pretty shocking.”
When it came to getting the home ready to sell, Bianco said it was an easier process than she had anticipated. Because her father was a very neat person, there wasn’t a lot that needed to be thrown away or organized before showing the house.
“I felt as though I had great guidance, so I wasn’t stressed out or anxious about it,” she said. “I spent a significant amount of time in my dad’s home, so I felt very close to him through the process.”
Then, Uvanni said that once the home was officially listed for sale, they held a brokers-only open house and then two public open houses over the course of three days, attracting nearly 700 people in total. While they originally were expecting to receive 10 to 20 offers, Bianco said it became clear they’d receive much more after seeing the turnout at the open houses.
On the Tuesday following the open houses, Uvanni said they called for best and final offers from potential buyers. She said they received 40 offers by 4 p.m. that day, and then had 79 offers by the end of the day. They even received two additional offers the next day, Uvanni said, which weren’t taken into consideration as they were past the best and final deadline.
“It was a bit overwhelming, I’ll be honest, but in a good way,” Bianco said. “Obviously there were lots of offers and lots of choices to make, so we looked at all of the numbers and we looked at all the terms. Lisa enlisted the help of the manager of the Allendale office, so the three of us went through all of the offers together over the course of an hour or two.”
After going through the offers, Bianco and Uvanni said they each listed their top 10 offers and compared them. And, they had the exact same offers listed in their top five, which they said made the decision easy.
“It’s a small house, but people found it very charming. I was grateful for that and I know my dad would have been really, really happy with the response to his house because he took a lot of pride in it,” Bianco said. “I hope that my dad’s looking down and is really happy with the response, with the way things turned out and the way that Lisa and I worked together. Hopefully, the next owner will cherish it as much as he did.”
Maddie McGay is the real estate reporter for NorthJersey.com and The Record, covering all things worth celebrating about living in North Jersey. Find her on Instagram @maddiemcgay, on X @maddiemcgayy, and sign up for her North Jersey Living newsletter. Do you have a tip, trend or terrific house she should know about? Email her at MMcGay@gannett.com.
Read More: Waldwick home receives 79 offers and sells for $137K over asking price