How to Get Top Dollar for that Home in Land Park

You want to hear something insane? I ducked into Taylor's Market in Land Park this weekend for a quick stop to buy veggies. I wasn't buying enough stuff to require a cart or a hand-held basket, and I was in a hurry. So, I piled the veggies into my arms, rushed to the cash register to dump them, and the bill rang up to 8 cents shy of $29. What did I buy?

• 2 pounds of strawberries
• 20 ounces of lettuce
• 1/2 pound of mushrooms
• 12 ounces of tomatoes

Granted, the mushrooms were sliced and the lettuce was washed, but geez Louise, for 30 bucks that should include a delivery fee to homes in Land Park. I shouldn't have to go to the store myself. This may sound odd to you, but up until a week ago, I haven't been in a grocery store since October. That's because October was the last time my husband went out of town.

When did groceries get to be so expensive? When I first started shopping for myself -- which would be 40-some years ago -- I had a system in place to figure out how much I was spending. When the grocery cart was filled just about to its brim, that meant I had reached $25, which was my weekly grocery budget. Now, 25 bucks won't even pay for veggies I carry in my arms.

I mention this because it's all in the perspective. We tend to hang on to our memories and form expectations of what's going on around us based on those memories. It's like a seller in Land Park expecting a real estate agent to sell her home like they did it 30 years ago. Times change. Today, everybody is online. Nobody is looking in the newspaper to buy a home.

I have to stop to think about it because I've been in the real estate business for more than 30 years. I've evolved with the business. I didn't wake up like Rip Van Winkle to discover the world around me had changed. I changed with it. It's second nature for me to be online, to Tweet, post virtual tours, use Photoshop to enhance my home photos, to manually upload listings to various websites, and I agonize over and try to perfect each and every real estate listing. I keep my fingers on the pulse of the real estate market around me and what's happening in Land Park, which is also where I live.

Maybe that's why my Land Park listings sell at top dollar. I love it when some other agent sneers, "That home will never sell at that amount." And, then it does. If you're looking for a Land Park agent, call or text Elizabeth Weintraub at 916 233 6759.