Last summer, I was contacted via email by a woman well in to her retirement looking to know the value of her Morningside home. She’d been in the home for the last three decades and wasn’t sure of what values were these days, especially with foreclosures and short sales impacting every segment of the market.
I offered to visit her home so I’d be able to then compile a list of comparable sales in the area. What I entered into that summer afternoon was not merely a home, it was more of a portal back in time to the “good ol’ days” and the memorabilia of a 30 year marriage. This wonderful woman was filled with countless stories about her husband, son & daughter in this home, a lot of information to digest, a color past & a hilarious sense of humor.
We’ll call her Mrs. Smith for the sake of privacy. When I came in it was clear that Mr. & Mrs. Smith could have possibly been conservationists, while others may have considered it hoarding. Thirty years of living was contained within these walls & every trinket you could imagine was there to document their lives in this home and honestly items all the way back to their school days too.
Mrs. Smith escorted me around as I checked the condition, flow, usable space/square footage and improvements on the home. Some rooms were literally filled floor to ceiling with items – Mr. Smith had always been incredibly resourceful and built countless contraptions/tools. Mr. Smith was eco-friendly long before it was ever considered cool. Mrs. Smith had a unique hobby & collection of let’s say figurines which was endearing and sweet, but took up a tremendous amount of space.
While walking through the home Mrs. Smith revealed the real reason she wanted to know the value of the home was the fact it was time to sell and move on. She’d had to place her husband, suffering from severe condition, in an assisted living facility as unfortunate as it was because Mr. Smith’s need were beyond what she could address on her own.
This was not merely going to be the sale of a classic home in a great intown neighborhood, this was going to be the physical and emotional transition of a woman who’d just had to be separated from her husband for the first time in 30 years. Needless to say, this process was going to require care, understanding, patience, perspective, and an ability to think outside the box for solutions/strategies that aren’t used on a regular basis in the current market.
Over the next few months, Mrs. Smith and I would touch base every few weeks – with setting goals to have 1 room purged a month to eventually reach a point where we could consider bringing real estate agents in to preview the home….as it would be several more months, if not a year, before the home could be “show worthy” for the FMLS. Friends, other agents, & neighbors had suggested getting a professional company to purge everything. Heck, the thought crossed my mind more than a few times. But, it was clear if you sat down with Mrs. Smith and truly listened to her, she needed to do this in her own way – 1 box at a time.
It wasn’t the financial expense of a cleaning crew that was the major barrier. It was the fact that Mrs. Smith needed to be able to say good-bye to her husband, her family memories, and so much more one box at a time. Without acknowledging the keepsakes in each box – the reflection on people and events near and dear to her, Mrs. Smith would not be able to move forward to the next chapter of her life & respectfully say farewell to the past.
Between trips to the recycling stations and giving away things via the internet, there were requests for assistance with moving heavy items or boxes to be brought up from the basement so Mrs. Smith could sift through everything and whenever I came by to assist I knew each visit would include a few special stories.
The stories ran the gamut from stories about inventions Mr. Smith had created for around the home or at Georgia Tech, the family lineage having to change names & religions to avoid persecution more than 70 years ago, to her travels across the country. Heck, there were pictures & stories about her mother in school back in the 1920’s, an old record player & records (45’s), each with its own wonderful story. While in today’s society we’re always in a rush to get to the next thing, I knew it was critical that Mrs. Smith have the opportunity to reflect and share these stories. They were a source of pride, humor, heartache, and those emotions needed to be shared. Each trip had a therapeutic quality to it as I could see Mrs. Smith facing this chapter of transition and reflecting on everything over the last 30 years of marriage and seven decades of life. It was a unique opportunity to learn about topics & events from her, while providing Mrs. Smith with an outlet to come to terms with everything and identify more about who she is today rather than who she was in years past.
The interesting thing about moving, is it helps individuals take stock of the people who’ve surrounded them regularly for a long time. For Mrs. Smith, those contacts began to show their true sentiments and the strength of the bond of “friendship”. She’d joke regularly about how much she’d been lost for so many years in a manner of allowing certain people drag her down. They’d developed routines of speaking with her every day for years, yet never had anything positive to say……she was going to be happy to move and have a new phone number in a different state to help snap that cycle of negativity. Others, showed their love, compassion, and character by offering to help, take her out for lunch/diner, or just to visit. After 30 years with your spouse – living by yourself can be understandably incredibly lonely. Thankfully, Mrs. Smith had one of the cutest puppies ever to help fill the void as well. We’ll call the puppy Snoopy. I’m not a dog person, but Snoopy was one of the most lovable little guys in the world. He was high energy, yet not out of control. He didn’t bark much, except out of excitement when you came to the front door. And he loved to be petted. He’d often sit at Mrs. Smith feet when we talked, or when she was having a difficult time sharing an emotional story Snoopy would pop up on the couch next to her at just the right moment to snuggle with her and be by her side.
By late Fall/early Winter we’d reached a point where other brokers could preview the home. I’d brought two colleagues by about a month earlier prior to the home truly being in even a pre-marketing stage. I wanted their input on a few things & honestly I knew the bones/flow of the home were solid and their presence would probably motivate Mrs. Smith to push through on continuing to purge, which she then kicked into overdrive. We call these “pocket listings”, where you already have a brokerage agreement signed but the official marketing is scheduled to begin at some time in the future. Pocket listings have a special quality to them if they are a true value deal that excites Buyers to take action. For all of those that could look past the countless boxes & 50+ years of collectibles, this was one of those true values….it just required a little vision.
We made it simple, with a private viewing party for specially identified realtors with a track record of activity in the Morningside area & other realtors who may not necessarily have active clients but know a great deal of realtors that in turn have ready, willing, and able buyers for the Virginia Highland & Morningside neighborhoods. With a price that reflected an acknowledgment of where the market truly is, as well as enable Mrs. Smith, the seller, to dictate certain terms – including: limited interference in her personal life with a consolidated showing schedule for only serious buyers (no “looky lou’s or curious neighbors), a very extended closing (a lifetime of possessions still to pack up or purge between going under contract, close, and extended exit date…which ultimately ended up being a 3 month period), limited repairs, etc.
There were a few moments of clarity for Mr. Smith as Mrs. Smith would visit him in the assisting living facility & his words gave proof that he truly loved Mrs. Smith and wanted to ensure that SHE was going to be okay and cared for. Even though Mr. Smith was the one who needed the daily assistance, he still clearly saw his role as the protector and provider for his wife. This was humbling to be a part of and helped put a number of things/relationships in my own life in perspective.
In the end, Mrs. Smith was able to move forward to a new chapter of life with an ability to chase a dream that many had dismissed or thought was far-fetched. In my opinion, it is inspiring to see a woman willing to step out into the unknown and look to fulfill a vision she’d had for years but never had the time/focus to pursue. From all of the stories she shared with me over our time together it was clear she was a resourceful, intelligent, and colorful woman that would find a way to make her dream a reality one way or another. And there’s absolutely no reason at her stage in life she should live with anymore “what if’s”, instead she’ll be able to say “I’m glad I did”, with Snoopy by her side keeping her company and making her laugh.
This is one of the most fulfilling home sales I’ve ever had the pleasure of assisting in. It was one of the best reminders of why I entered the world of real estate, to assist people in critical periods of transition with some of the largest financial decisions of their lives while ensuring their best interests are protected. For that, I thank you Mrs. Smith.
If you know a Mr. or Mrs. Smith that needs similar assistance in Morningside, Virginia Highland, or any other intown Atlanta neighborhood please let me know. It will be my honor to assist them in a similar home sale and each component of the process will be handled with the utmost care and respect.
Michael Neville
Real Estate Consultant
Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Midtown
#1 Individual Realtor for KW Atlanta Midtown '09
404-310-8364
www.LiveInAtlantaGA.com (website)
http://activerain.com/blogs/mpneville (blog)
Short Sale Info & Avoiding Foreclosure: www.AtlantaDignifiedSolutions.com
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