Rarely do I miss a client when they move on to the next passage in their life. Today, I miss my new friend and client, Janet Wolcott as she starts her new life in Syracuse.
Janet was referred to me by a mutual friend. I knew that this home was special, it has a casita/third bedroom which is rare at this price point. Our mutual friend mentioned to me that a bit of “creativity” was needed as it was a home completely immersed in the Southwest character.
Heading over to Janet’s home on Palm Canyon, I had all my data, notes, historical sales in the neighborhood intact. What I didn’t count on, or study what how much more or less a “true southwest designed home” would fetch (or rope in) for this home! As I looked around, my mind was running on overdrive to figure out if this would be super desirable… or not… but my creative mind was turning.
Janet could not have been kinder or receptive to my ideas (off the top of my head)… because this was the only Southwest style home with the kiva outdoor stove, southwest tile, vigas poles in the entryway and its own Saloon off the kitchen!
Once I left, I reached out to my photographer and videographer about their upcoming marketing project. Stephen, owner of Hub Media suggested we embrace the entire Southwest ambiance and accent it, rather than try to cover it up. With that, I borrowed a western hat from a friend.
To get this home ready to shoot, we needed to declutter as Janet and her late husband had spent many years and had many memories in this home. My job is to oversee the removal of personal items, photos, books, and the like to get it ready for a new buyer to imagine what their life would look like in the home. After having our stager come over, we realized painting the entire home in a brighter white would make a huge difference. Janet was right on board with this idea. Poor Janet, she was working tirelessly packing away her personal items as well as artwork, photos and knickknacks she loved to look at. Over 40 boxes were packed in that two week period and Delores chipped in as well!
Photo & Video day came and we all felt like we had accomplished so much. The Southwest Décor just shined through all the photo. Janet stayed with us during the daytime and twilight photo shoots to help move items and watch the action. At the end of the shoot that started at noon, I didn’t hesitate to enjoy that Bourbon in Janet’s Saloon!
Once I received the media footage, the story of how I wanted to present this Southwest Property became clear in my mind. Every home has a different story, and it is my job to translate that story into a photo blog and video story to catch buyers attention online. My job is to make that home “jump out’ of the web pages to that buyer scrolling over hundreds of homes for sale in our area. The order of the photos, the day shots, the twilight shots, the sunset shots, the golf view shots…they are all important and their order is crucial to catch that buyers attention online.
“Dribbling” video vignettes on social media hinting of a spectacular home coming soon is part of the work, on personal & business websites. The 3-day mega open house was next and thankfully Janet had planned a trip. Thankfully Janet was going to be out of town for these three days. During this time, even though the open house could be advertised for only 5 hours… we could potentially have buyers in the house for an additional hour or two. Often it takes and additional hour to close down the house, take the signs down and turn off the lights.
After the three day open house we had the offers we were looking for and had an opportunity to evaluate each one and decide what was best for Janet. Then came the “not so fun” weeks where home inspections and appraisals occurred. We made it though smoothly and Janet was a trooper through all of it. I really enjoyed her, and I think she enjoyed working with Delores and I so I asked her to do a client testimonial about working with us on the sale of her home. Just recently I started doing these videos with sellers and building up a library of them from past clients. It is always a risk that a client would say no, but of course Janet was all in!
She was a bit nervous and thankfully Stephen with Hubmedia was great with her getting her to talk about the process of selling and what she enjoyed working with Delores and I.
The fun part of this was to meet Janet’s twin sister Joanne come visit. Wow…could there be any closer twins?! Joanne was here for a few weeks during the escrow period and was here for support to Janet during the video testimonial.
At this point I worried that I had “asked to much” of my favorite client so far in Arizona doing this client testimonial. Janet couldn’t remember she even liked working with me! She was a bit nervous and thankfully Stephen with Hubmedia was great with her getting her to talk about the process of selling and what she enjoyed working with Delores and I.
Closing day was upon us. Janet was to be fully moved out of the home on April 4th for closing day. Her 46 boxes and two cars were on their way to Syracuse. On the 4th it really hit me that I wasn’t just finding Janet a different home to live in, she was moving away. Her family, children and grandchildren were all their waiting for her and so it truly was the next adventure in her life. Shyly I asked if there was a guest room for me, and of course, Janet said there were two rooms, one for me and one for Delores!
Last week, the night before she flew to her new home, we all went to dinner at Briarwood and had one last moment to reflect back on our journey from that first meeting to that night.
Today is Sunday as I write this and I know that Janet is still settling in. I think I might call her this week to make sure that guest room is waiting for me!
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