Sally Smiles

About one year ago, I met Sally, one of our own Lakewood residents. She called me, because I had successfully listed and sold her son’s East Dallas home the year before, and she was toying with the idea of relocating to her home town of Wimberley, TX to retire. We met and discussed the possibility of my listing her house for sale, but at that time, she was just gathering information, and I obliged. We talked about the current market value of her house, and I gave her some advice on what she needed to do to prepare her home for a potential sale. She nervously told me that the profits from the sale would be going towards her much-needed retirement fund, and I assured her I could help her put more money in her pocket.

One year later, Sally called me again. Reluctantly, she confessed to me that she tried to sell her home on her own, and had even negotiated a contract, but the buyers just suddenly disappeared, without returning her phone calls! She said, “Mindy, I’m ready for you to sell my house now. I can’t take the stress of doing this on my own.” I could tell this was an emotional decision for her, not only because the money was so important to her, but also because her home was dear to her. Sally is an architect and a member of the Dallas Historical Society, and she meticulously restored her 1919 Craft Bungalow to its original charm. For her, this was personal on every level, and I must admit that even I, a Realtor since 2003 who has viewed and sold countless homes, was smitten by this home!

Sally had already moved to Wimberley when she called me, so I promised her I would handle everything, and told her not to worry about a thing. When I arrived at the house on Tuesday, although the house was dusty and in need of some staging, I could tell she had taken my advice, from the year before, to prepare her home on the inside for the sale, but the outside still needed some sprucing up. I hired my landscaping crew to clean up, while I staged the front porch area to give the home more curb appeal. Then, to save my client’s money, I cleaned the place from top to bottom, including the windows. I staged the house with the furniture she left, and supplemented with my own staging items that I always have on hand. Sally called me on a Monday, and by Wednesday, I had the house ready for my professional photographer. Friday the house went on the market at 1:00 p.m., with 5 showings before the end of the day! By Saturday morning, we had received our first of four offers, before we cut them off on Sunday night. I negotiated a quick three week closing, and we contracted Sally’s house for $40,000 more than her original for sale by owner contract price. When I told her the good news, I could literally hear that smile on her face!

It is now two weeks until closing time, and I can’t wait to see Sally’s smile in person!