A SELLER STORY
You see this question posed all the time on real estate web sites all the time including TheStoryBehindTheHome If you are selling your home, it’s a place to almost immediately guesstimate the current value of your home and other homes in your city, state, or zip code. It’s easy to find facts and figures which will make you run out and tell all of your friends, neighbors, and co workers, and even your realtor just how much your home is worth. As fast and easy as it is to find data, you can easily misinterpret and be misled by facts,figures,and data that tells the wrong story about prices, properties, and the value of real estate.
It is my mission to make sure that my clients do not tell this story when they tell friends, neighbors, and co workers about how their experience. The best way for me to do this starts with the story behind the home. My education,training,and experience shape my real estate vision and expertise for clients. When we combine your story with my expertise and training, the entire real estate experience comes to life with meaning, purpose, and the beginning of a whole new chapter for you.
THE BACK STORY:
I’ve set up an entire system that combines the best tools, my skills, and expertise as a framework focused, managed, and executed according to what you want to achieve; meaning, purpose, and results. The sale or purchase of your home is a given. During our initial online or in person consultation, we work through what that house will look like, feel like, and live like for you. Trust me, we will cover every. little. detail. But I want you to understand the backstory, the context and meaning behind the entire process. It is an understanding about the financial, lifestyle, and future impact of taking this step toward achieving your goals. For these primary reasons, I offer a comprehensive strategy to each step in the process. The foundation of the story behind the home is the context of the story. Understanding what it means for you, creating a purposeful method and strategy to get there makes sure that the end result will reflect what the value of a home means for you.
ARCHITECTURE:
There is a story behind every home. Living where we do, you can find tons of stories about houses, land, neighborhoods just about anywhere you turn. I am drawn to architecture,design, and style from the inside out. How those elements work together effect the appearance, livability, and value of every home.Maybe it’s my love of history, buildings, and the people that occupy those places in time that draws me to the significance in architecture and structure. My Mom sold houses while I was growing up and I witnessed how the best situations are those that connect people, places, and homes. I work with sellers to help identify key elements to the exterior architectural and interior design elements of their home that not only describe valuable spaces and designer details. My educations, marketing, and writing expertise communicate how architecture, design from first impressions to interior accents create an atmosphere of personality, lifestyle, and character that carves out the top spot among the competition and market inventory that helps other agents, their clients, and the community appreciate how architecture,design,and details of the story behind the home connect sellers with focused,interested potential buyers.
LOCATION:
A great example lives on Cathedral, here in Alexandria. The story centers around the community location, luxury, and appeal well above the highest standards of design, layout, lot, and architecture. The neighborhood was close-in, close-knit, and several classmates lived there, too. My clients knew a few families from St. Stephen’s lived in Malvern and other neighborhoods close to the school learning more about the area as she picked up and dropped off friends, teammates, and classmates. Even the tennis coach lived in that neighborhood. They drove around to find for sale signs and to get to know more about the homes on each street. After a couple of weeks she was drawn to Cathedral Drive. One day she noticed landscapers mowing, triming, mulching the yard. There were painters on ladders brightening the trim and shutters. She stopped for awhile watching the meticulous work and care given to every inch of the property and the house itself. When she picked up her son from tennis, she caught up with the coach and described a professionally manicured lawn, stately entrance with dual brick stairs lined with decorative wrought iron railings. Without missing a beat, the coach said, “I know that house! I think the kids are all at college and they are getting ready to move.!” That same day on her way home from tennis practice, Stacy called me excited, nearly breathless asking me to find out if they could see the house. It started with a great location for her family that was close-in and connected to school, sports, and clubs in the community.
LOCATION, COMMUNITY, CURB APPEAL
Everyone talks about curb appeal. The best first impression highlights the best exterior features of the entire property. This home looked just like a home from the pages of a storybook. Professionally manicured lawn with mature trees and bright plants and flowers created a beautiful first impression. As we walked along along a brick walkway at the right or left of front stairs, each of noted the simple yet decorative hardware and door frames on each of two rich grain wood doors.
Standing in the two-story foyer, the floor plan and design details were present everywhere the eye could see. It was clear that this home was special and every improvement, detail and design element was not only memorable but served a purpose that added comfort and luxury to the entire home.
MAIN LEVEL MASTERY:
The wide staircase to the second level was directly ahead and tempting to ascend. Instead, we approached a luxurious main level office rich wood floors, walls, and moldings. We learned that the wood floors were wide plank pine floors replicated to those of colonial era homes and carried throughout the main level living areas. The wood walls were reclaimed from railroad box cars because the owner had a passion for and extensive collection of old trains and railroad memorabilia.There was the living room anchored by an enormous wood burning fireplace reminiscent of Mount Vernon when fire was the main source of heat for comfort and served a purpose for families to prepare and enjoy meals while keeping warm. Tons of natural light filled the room through each of four windows just about reaching floor to ceiling on one side and an entire opposite wall of two sets of large double sliding doors that led to a blue stone patio and pool.
UPPER LEVEL REVELRY:
Once upstairs, there was more to uncover about the fine finishes throughout the home.
Every bedroom had wood floors, walk-in closet space, and decorative trim elements of some kind that added character and warmth to the room. Every bath included imported bath, decorative tile accents and light fixtures. An exquisite master suite featured a spacious sitting area, dual walk-in closets, heated porcelain tile floors, stunning luxury spa bath, separate shower and soaking tub.
SURPRISE BEHIND THE WALLS:
It got even better when we walked into the Emily’s bedroom. Emily is the name of the owners eldest daughter. As we walked through, several details were hard to miss. Who wouldn’t love a huge bedroom with a walk-in closet filled with natural light, large windows, wood floors, moldings and light accents? Hidden storage space along the walls on three sides, wainscotting, and crown molding added more space and style. Then, we approached one of the two dormers overlooking the patio and pool. A tiny door unlatched into the hollowed out space lined with wainscotting and decorated with tiny lights and a switch for more light when reading or less light for star gazing, hiding out, or daydreaming. It all came together.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THE MARKETPLACE
Connecting the dots from location, lot, design, and floor plan can translate quality, luxury, and style. It presents the best elements of a home in the most appealing ways. The numbers reflect how well that story translates into market value. In order to tell the best story about higher sold prices and seller net proceeds, there’s a critical two-step approach to market analysis. The first step is designed to arrive at an estimate of value purely on price. This step is a value synopsis that gathers the most relevant data and delves deeper into how those facts and figures apply to your neighborhood and basic similarities and differences about the properties close by. The second step identifies distinct features, improvements, and livability of recent sold properties based on price, property, and location. We prioritize best features, improvements that according to leading reports and professional estimates will increase your bottom line.
At that point, we formulate a list of action items to exceed market expectations so that your property stands out and compels potential buyers to act. When you make your home stand out, it’s easier for potential buyers to connect with the property, community, and make sense of the price because the property reflects the value of that price. That is the most important way to help ensure that the story behind the home is an example of the highest and best market value.
This is one of the best reasons to hire a trusted professional. The expertise here lies in a knowledgeable, careful consideration of the location, property, and market activity. It includes research and analysis that offers a snapshot of the market today, that goes above and beyond the comparables, estimates, zestimates and analysis available to just about anyone.
It’s expertise, experience, and proven approach that delivers the most relevant, comprehensive details that create context for your real estate story. When market data, property features, design, and location are considered according to your expectations, financing, lifestyle, and future plans, the value of the home takes on a completely different meaning that impacts the market and exceeds market expectations.
The market value only has meaning in the context of where clients come from in terms of why they want to purchase a particular home. It also comes from the connection they make to the home they want to purchase. Finding the home that meets the most important criteria includes a connection to the community, the design and layout, and a realization of the real value based on the market data.
In the case of Cathedral, this home stood out in so many ways that a true comparable did not exist. It seems counterintuitive that a home without a real comparable could sell at the highest market value in less time. It can and it did only within the context of its own unique, relateable, and most relevant story connecting it to current market data that supported and magnified the value of its best features inside, outdoors, and around the house.
The value of home sales has to do with more than just a house. Home sales require one seller and one buyer. In order to make that connection, the story behind the home has to be compelling to invite interest and secure a top position among competing properties. A skillful, determined approach that combines facts, figures, and features that communicate quality, pride of ownership, and character can make the difference and define the market value for your home. Market value is the meaningful experience that the story behind the home creates and communicates for you. Let me show you how. I look forward to hearing from you.
Story Behind the Home 