Lauren had stamina. We started talking to her about buying a new house around five years before we finally did so — just asking initial questions, looking to see what was possible with our income, eventually checking out some places, but waiting for the time that was right for us. She never put any pressure on us and was so patient and understanding. That was amazing. When we were finally ready — because we have two kids and we became maxed out on space and needed a yard and basement desperately — we were looking to buy the new house and sell our existing home very quickly afterwards. We didn’t end up in a contingency, but it was similar. So our situation was complicated. Another dynamic at play was the market was turning significantly, going from a seller’s to a buyer’s market quickly. Lauren was great in helping us navigate what that all looked like, giving us a good understanding, and reassuring us that it was possible, that we weren’t crazy for going that route. She hired a really quality photographer, who took photos of each room from every angle, used a drone, made a video. They didn’t skimp on anything and went above and beyond for what technically was a manufactured house, a simple 3-bed, 2-bath, lower-priced house. She overcame the challenges. And we learned a lot about the importance of staging a home through Lauren, to a degree I had never heard before from any other realtors. Lauren’s advice really helped us stage the house well. So with the photographer and great listing on top of that, we felt like all that contributed to us being able to sell at market value and get that offer during the first weekend that it went up for sale. Again, that’s even as the market was turning. That’s pretty incredible. She’s really got it together and knows what she’s doing. On the buying side, I would say it’s the same. We had a lot of questions that Lauren worked us through, for instance how much was reasonable in terms of asking for certain repair work to be done, and how much we could request from the seller. The inspection had revealed several issues. Lauren was great navigating and negotiating that. We were able to get the sellers to drop the price by $5,000 initially, then we got an additional $10,000 for repairs, like replacing windows, get radon mitigation installed and some more small things. Lastly, we’d say Lauren was really fair and respectful, in terms of giving us information, but leaving it up for us to make decisions. It was very professional.
