i love my clients Archives - Living Room Realty

First Time Homebuyers, from Handshakes to Hugs.

Posted on March 31, 2023March 31, 2023 by Janelle Freeman

I had the pleasure of meeting Jon in early Autumn of 2022 at a wee condo in SW Portland while hosting an open house. It was a lovely condo: very modern, floor to ceiling windows, two levels, 700 square feet. The downside being the many pet restrictions, and a high HOA. The $360,000 price tag looked good; however it didn’t quite work for Jon. Fast forward about six months later, and they were ready to begin in earnest as first-time homebuyers. Off to a coffee date we went where I had the pleasure of meeting Kevin, talked shop, made a plan, and we began. After talking to a lender and exploring neighborhoods around the city, they were seeing just how much home they could buy.

And then…we found THE one.

With Jon and Kevin, it was discovering that by doing their research, planning ahead, and getting all of their dogs in a row, (only because they have four of them, it couldn’t be ducks, and I couldn’t resist.), they landed this gem of a house. Instead of a 700sqft condo with the teeniest patio, they closed on their first, nearly 2,000sqft two-story house in the Montavilla neighborhood, 1940’s floor to ceiling windows included! It also has an enormous and private backyard for all their doggos.

This happened it seemed in a blink of an eye. (Another reason why it’s SO, SO important to prepare). When I got the call that they were ready to go, we immediately began to plan our house tour. It was so much fun! Only one day of touring several houses before we found THE house. Newly price reduced and it was within their reach. Of course, they weren’t the only ones who loved this house, and we competed with multiple offers. That’s often how it goes with price reductions, or corrections as we say. They drum up buyers to act. And act and win we did!

Prepare, my friends, prepare! The preparation for owning your first home takes time, patience, and sometimes a strong constitution. With every client I meet, I advise them to do the research, while I help guide them along the way. Get your advocates together, whomever that may be, whether it’s your bandmate, therapist, barista, pal, family, your people! Talk about it. Get excited about it! You’re about to take the plunge into homeownership, on to the adventure of building equity. Then find your cheerleaders/master negotiators – your LENDER and your AGENT. Once all of that is in order, the house hunting begins in earnest, and life changes completely. It’s an exciting ride first-timers!

Janelle Freeman, Realtor (@janelleisrealestate) • Instagram photos and videos

Adventures in Real Estating: Selling During Covid

Posted on May 21, 2020May 21, 2020 by Living Room Realty

This dreamy South Tabor farmhouse of infinite possibilities just sold in the midst of covid panic at $52k over asking with 7 offers in just 3 days. Many congratulations to my client — all his hard work getting this gem ready for market paid off big time!

Before covid began, we met to discuss how he could best prep his home for the market. I always recommend scheduling a consult and walk through with your REALTOR® before embarking on home projects. This can save you lots of time and money, as we are able to identify which changes will have the greatest impact on your sale in the current market. In this case, most of the work was focused on the exterior, but inside, fresh white paint and top notch staging brought the house to life in a whole new way!

Here is the living, dining area and kitchen before…

And after!!

It was as if the whole house sprang to life! I remember walking through after it was painted and could practically feel the walls beaming and calling out for the next stewards of home.

One of the aspects I love most about this home is the SPACE! All kinds of spaces for all kinds of imaginable fun. Outside there is not only a nice sized grassy backyard + side yard perfect for garden beds, but also a hot-tub cabana, big locking bike shed and a carport with storage and workbench. Inside, the 3 bedroom/2 bath home also includes a den and office upstairs while the basement offers a finished bonus room, laundry area and unfinished space for storage or projects. But I think my FAVORITE space is the upstairs bathroom ~ clawfoot tub and Mt. Tabor views? Yes, please!!

My seller put a lot of love into creating a lush grassy backyard where an old blank deck lived before and added many sweet details and upgrades to the exterior to boost curb appeal and honor the 1910 vintage of the home.

When the time came to list, we had just hit the 1 month mark into this new covid reality and I offered my best advice on competitive pricing as things were still feeling a bit uncertain in the market of pandemic proportions. Covid protocol for all potential buyers meant current preapproval letters, masks, shoe covers and hand washing at the beginning and ending of each showing. No more than 3 people in the house at a time and 30 minute showings with 15 minute buffers. When the listing went live we had immediate interest and within 48 hours over 40 showings were scheduled. Three days later, my seller went pending with a solid offer that beat out 6 others at $52,000 over asking and stellar terms.

Throughout this transaction, both my seller and the agent on the other side were excellent communicators, easy to work with, and at the end of the day everyone wrapped up feeling really happy about the outcome. I am deeply grateful to my client for his ease in trusting my expertise and putting in the time and energy to give his house the best possible outcome in our market.

These are the stories that really light up my spirit: feeling the energy of a home brighten up with a little bit of love and elbow grease ~ the house that calls in its new owner like a match that was meant to be ~ clients’ joys of new beginnings ~ and navigating through unprecedented times with presence, awareness and clear communication. If you are curious about the market in these times, or are looking at buying or selling now or down the road, I am happy to chat over some socially distanced coffee or tea. Let’s connect!

Stay safe out there, be gentle with yourself, and take care of each other ~ we will get through this ❤️

Many Blessings,

Sarah

A Creative Key Day – Social Distancing in Real Estate

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Living Room Realty

Working as a REALTOR® is a very personal and intimate profession. We are constantly entering homes, meeting with our clients throughout a transaction and hosting open houses, where if we are lucky, a large number of people come into contact with us.

With the level of care that we take to be physically involved with our clients in their process of purchasing or selling a home it is no surprise that enforced social distancing regulations has brought forward opportunities for REALTORS® to think outside of the box of our typical practices!

Over the past few weeks I have been following closely the guidelines and suggestions from the National Association of REALTORS® and looking to leaders within Living Room Realty’s brokerage for how, as an industry, we should navigate our normative practices in the midst of COVID-19.

As a person who genuinely loves a challenge and even more loves being creative, I decided that I would come up with a way to physically see my client on key-day while having a light-hearted take on social distancing. Key-day is often the most joyous of days in the process of home buying and I wanted to make sure that I was taking the correct precautions to keep my client safe but also maintaining the “fun” in such a special day.

How did I achieve this mix of safety and fun you may ask?

In regards to safety I used gloves and Clorox wipes to give the keys, key-chain and a clear plastic gift box a good wipe down. I then sealed the box with fresh ribbon and sprayed the finished product with Lysol disinfectant spray.

In Regards to the fun; I then took the sanitized key box and attached it to a brand new cat toy wand so that when I was face to face (and at least six feet apart from my client) I could effectively and safely transfer the keys to his hands – touch free!

I could feel my smile going ear to ear as my client laughed with me and shared his entertainment of my methods. Not only did we still have fun on key-day we were able to do so safely.

I am a firm believer that using my resources of creativity during times like we are seeing today, will serve me in future transactions. Experiences like these promote innovation in our practices as REALTORS® and may even prompt more “fun” in the process for our clients!