Stories

Jenny and Aaron

Two busy professionals need help coordinating getting a house ready for sale — and sold — on a timeline.

Jenny and Aaron were past clients and needed help selling a parent’s house. They had met with several other realtors who did not feel like a good fit and were proposing costly and lengthy renovations to the kitchen and bathrooms. 

The house was a bit outside of my usual market but I met with them, looked at the house, and heard their goals. They were very busy and needed to be “hands-off” with the process, and they had a specific timeframe they needed to sell within. 

The house had been in the family for over 50 years and clearly did need some updating prior to listing it. I went in and thought about what the market would respond to rather than my own preferences. In my mind a “light refresh” — sanding the floors, painting the walls, and repairing the little bothersome things — would do wonders for the property’s value without needing to renovate.

Jenny and Aaron are both very busy professionals and needed help coordinating the whole “refresh” process. In my past life I was a building contractor, so I intimately know how to get a house ready to market and I have a lot of contacts ready to help folks very quickly.

My view is that I don’t want my clients to spend money on a project unless I know that it will make money for them. I met with the contractors at the house and forwarded their proposals to the sellers. They agreed to go with the plan that I outlined, and several weeks later — it was a lot of work! — the house was almost ready.

While it looked much better now, the house was vacant and unfurnished. It would take a lot of imagination by potential buyers without any furniture in it! So I connected with my excellent staging team and we put together and carried out a plan to temporarily furnish the house to make it feel like a home.

The property came on the market just as the pandemic was descending upon us. Rules were changing every day and part of the challenge was communicating with the seller and potential buyers about what was okay and what was not okay for showings.

With in-person visits becoming less practical we hired a great photographer so potential buyers could fall in love with the house through pictures. This approach allowed the house to sell very quickly even as the pandemic was shutting everything down.

Jenny and Aaron needed us to really hear their goals, create a plan, and bring in specific professionals they could trust to get the job done properly. We were able to give them an easy, smooth and well-crafted experience, and perhaps most importantly we sold the house well within their requested timeline.