The Right Buyers

Photo by: David Jenkins, via TMLS

Photo by: David Jenkins, via TMLS

 I mentioned seeing a townhouse online that looked like a possibility for a new home for us. The house had modern updates that J. and I love. It had accent walls and was bright and airy with hardwood floors. It was, in a word, lovely. The Realtor was laid back. After we had walked through the rooms (at least twice), David invited us to sit down and talk in the living room. It was a pleasure to spend more time in the inviting space. We sat and discussed the things we liked about the townhouse.

Photo by: David Jenkins, via TMLS

We talked about our house. We talked about how much we loved our home and how we made it a reflection of us. We told him that we had not upgraded the bathrooms and that there was no granite in the kitchen. David was unfazed. We told him that we had painted the rooms with bold colors. Again, calmness. He said neutral paint in order to sell a house was an outdated mindset. Character is what clients want. He said presentation is important in finding the right buyers. Good staging and good photography.

Photo by: David Jenkins, via TMLS

Jordan and I knew we found our real estate agent. He got us. He got our house. With his coaching we got the house ready to make the best presentation of our house. Really, staging is a matter of editing. The art was our art and the furniture was our furniture. The work we did was to de-clutter (think HGTV).

Listing my home made me feel so vulnerable. I mean, strangers are going to come into my house and critique it. No one likes to have something they created critiqued. David was a calming force and his confidence was encouraging. The house across the street was listed within days of our listing. The neighbor's had a different style from us. Their style was a lovely formal style. Their back yard had a lovely manicured lawn with well shaped bushes while our yard was more of an over-grown English garden. I worried that our house "wouldn't measure up". (Maybe I have issues....) Not to worry, David said. The buyers that will buy the house across the street are not the buyers that will want ours. Our buyers would be people that are drawn to a more casual and modern home. It's all a matter of getting the right buyers to find your home. 

As you already know, the right buyers did find our house. I feel like Sally Field when she gave her oscar speech. My version is: "You like my house, you really like me." And I'm so happy to hear that they really do like the house and are excited to make it their home. 

--If you live in the Triangle and need a real estate agent, send me an email and I'll give you his digits. I whole heartedly recommend him. 

P.S. All photos in these past posts were taken by our Realtor for the listing.