Monday, April 14, 2008

One Happy Homeowner


Meet Ed.


Ed and I in 2008

Ed is one of my all time favorite clients, and I have many favorites. I meet Ed in 2001, after I helped his close friend sell a small one bedroom condo and buy a renovated two bedroom condo. Ed and I met and instantly became close friends. As a first time homebuyer, he was cautious and a bit nervous, but I knew we would find the perfect place for him to call home.


Ed and I looked for a year. Yes, a year. Many agents would have given up, and in fact, a couple had with Ed before I came into the picture. They got frustrated with his search and tried to push him into buying a home that wasn't right for him-before he was ready. Finally, I heard about a great unit that he could customize with the developer through the grapevine before it came on the market. The developer was willing to make the home custom fit for him with his choices of paint colors, granite, closet space, etc. I worked side by side with the developer by creating a punchlist of items, dropping by to check up on the progress, and making sure the right paint chips went into the right rooms.



Ed's First Home in 2004

Ed ended up settling into his condo for two years, just down the street from my house. We saw each other in the neighborhood and as with many of my clients, we remained friends. He helped me with my restoration projects and even helped paint some of the condos that I restored. I could tell he was getting the itch to start a new restoration project of his own...and soon, I was listing his custom condo. We staged the home, did a fantastic marketing job and I arrived early to the open house with a crowd at the door. The condo sold on the first day, proving, if you price a home right and it looks beautiful, it will sell-fast. Ed bought a gorgeous home with me in an adjoining suburban neighborhood with plenty of space for his dog to play and a nice vegetable garden. He was living the American dream.




Ed's Second Home in 2006

Ed's new home was wonderful, and this time, he renovated the entire place. The home was really his own, but after another couple years, he decided to move back to the neighborhood where it all began. Surburban life was fun while it lasted. This time, the market had shifted, but because he put so much sweat equity into his new home, and it looked even nicer then the first, he still sold relatively quickly, and with a small profit!



As you may imagine, Ed and I were pretty close by this time. We both had helped each other with our various renovation projects, and he was a fantastic source for paint color consultation. He had really gotten the real estate bug, and decided to become a Realtor. He started working at the firm I was with. Ed is now a fantastic agent, working with homebuyers and sellers through the daunting process of buying and renovating their homes. He has modeled his business habits after mine, and has espressed to me on numerous occasions the lesson we both learned and all Realtors should live by-with the right amount of patience, guidance and a knack for matchmaking, any client can be a happy homeowner.

And he truly is.

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1 comment:

tinaduryea said...

I should talk to you about my renovation project!