Bay Area teachers Natan and Elizabeth Kuchar’s final offer on a 1929 Berkeley property came down to a YouTube performance of popular folk song ‘Our House,’ according to a heartwarming post on tech-powered brokerage Redfin’s blog.
The couple, who both work as teachers, found a house they liked in the Poets’ Corner section of Berkeley on Redfin. After living in a rental property with their three children for several years, the Kuchars were ready to buy a house — and placed an offer on the three-bedroom split-level property.
“It had these very quirky purple and orange stripes on the garage and a well-maintained vintage vibe to it,” Natan Kuchar told Redfin. “We liked it immediately.”
The Kuchars made an offer but, according to Redfin listing agent Jana Cloud, the house was popular enough to receive two other offers. One of them was for $20,000 more than the Kuchars put in. Their listing agent Maya Karpinski told them that they would need to do something creative to stand out from the other buyers.
“The sellers really like you and they’re rooting for you,” Karpinski told the Kuchars, who could not put in any more money for the house. “They want you to offer something creative alongside the financial offer.”
And so Natan, who also records music videos for children on YouTube under the username Mr. Palindrome, decided to upload a rendition of “Our House” by folk band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
“I’m thinking, what on earth am I going to do in a couple hours to win a house,” Natan Kuchar said. “And so I went to my piano and turned on my camera and decided I was going to record this message for Kathy and Josh, and in essence it was me saying, I don’t have the words to describe how much we want this house to be our home, so instead I’m going to sing to you this Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song, ‘Our House’ and that was it.”
As it turned out, owners Kathy and Joshua had listened to the same song when they first moved into the house and were very touched by the video. Three minutes after he sent the video to the sellers, his agent sent him a text message saying they got the house.
“We were very moved,” Kathy, the co-seller, told Redfin of the video. “Seeing that made us realize that they were definitely real people who had told us the truth. When they said they couldn’t go any higher, it wasn’t a negotiating tactic. They really love our house.
After the shock wore off, Natan and Elizabeth advised others to “share of yourself” when looking for a house — one never knows what detail can move the seller.
“We certainly weren’t the highest bidder, so it was very heartwarming to know that some sellers in Berkeley are looking for more than the highest offer.”
