Posts with tag 'Choosing A Charleston Realtor'
30
I Never Became a Psychologist... Or Did I?
When I graduated from North Georgia College and State University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, I honestly wasn't sure where that degree would take me. Like many college graduates, I had spent years learning theories about people, communication, relationships, and decision-making. Then graduation arrived, and life quietly nudged me in a direction I never expected.
Life led to a career in banking at SunTrust. I absolutely loved it. I began as a personal banker and eventually became licensed in financial services. Later I joined the SunTrust at Work program and eventually became an assistant manager. Every promotion brought more responsibility, but what I remember most wasn't the titles. It was the people.
Every person who sat across from my desk...
27
Listening to the Photographs
Yesterday afternoon I spent a couple of hours with a family preparing their home for professional listing photographs. Most people probably imagine that a photo shoot is all about cameras, lighting, and making sure the house looks perfect. There is certainly some truth to that. Before the photographer ever takes the first picture, I walk through the house turning on lights, opening blinds, clearing countertops, hiding trash cans, putting toilet seat lids down, and making sure anything that doesn't belong in a photograph quietly disappears. In this home, that even included gathering up every dog toy before the photographer arrived.
Once everything is ready, the photographer begins working room by room. As she moves through the house, my job is simply to keep the homeowners one step ahead of the camera. If she is photographing the living room, we wait in the kitchen. When she moves into the kitchen, we step into a...
20
Why I Measure a Home Before I List It
A professional home measurement is about more than square footage. It helps buyers, sellers, appraisers, and lenders work from the same information and reduces surprises later in the transaction.
When I tell sellers that I would like to have their home professionally measured before we put it on the market, I occasionally get a puzzled look. After all, the county already has a square footage number. The tax records have a square footage number. Previous MLS listings have a square footage number. Why spend money measuring it again?
The simple answer is that those numbers are not always the same, and they are not always correct.
Over the years, I have hired professional measuring companies to measure homes before listing them. Some homes measured larger than previous records. Some measured smaller. What surprised me most was that...
18
The Day You Close Is Not the End of the Story
The closing table may end a transaction, but it is only the beginning of living with the decision.
One of the things I wish more people understood about real estate is that success is not measured by whether a transaction closes.
Success is measured by how the decision fits someone's life years later.
Over the years, I worked with one family through multiple purchases, sales, new construction projects, and relocations. Looking back, their story reminds me that every housing decision creates a ripple effect that continues long after the moving boxes are unpacked.
When buyers are searching for a home, they naturally focus on what they can see. The floor plan. The neighborhood. The garage. The backyard. The location.
Those things matter.
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