As someone who learns best by doing, my own home journey has been my biggest teacher. My undergraduate education is in Music, Religion, and Philosophy. My Masters is in "Divinity," and I am an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church. I started in real estate as a home owner and quickly moved into investment - flipping homes. I wanted to supplement my modest ministry income, pay-off my schooling, save-up, and grow those savings. In time, I wanted to expand my knowledge of the industry by getting my Realtor's License.
I summarize my journey and experiences below to give you a window into my skills and expertise. Not every realtor is for every person or for every person's goals. May you find the right fit and make the right next-move in your own real estate journey!
In 2007 while markets crashed, I had sold my first residence and was flipping my third investment home in the tourist town of Black Mountain, NC. Even though the housing market crashed everywhere else, my home held it's value and earned our living that year. A new onsite, job opportunity brought me back to Virginia, to Hanover county. Five years and a new career focus later, I moved to the Museum district where I rented for 8 years. During that season, I planned my return into the housing market by studying that neighborhood market, managing rental home maintenance for a term, building and vetting a list of local contractors, and earning my Realtor license.
In 2019, I purchased a home in Church Hill and grew to love the historic architecture, walkable stores and restaurants, a long-term resident population, and a new sense of connection to story and generations past. Our strategic plan was to build-out a closed-access airbnb in the home, thereby generating passive income for a season and housing my mother for a season. Within 5 years, that strategic purchase nearly doubled in value! Having made intentional repairs and upgrades over those five years, we could expect to get a good return on our home investment when we sold. When we decided to sell, I charted out the remaining improvements that would make our home more desirable on the market and help us get the full potential-value out of our property.
With starts and stops, I hired a number of good contractors to handle some improvements, and friends and family showed up to help us tackle other jobs. After completing the remaining improvements myself, I staged the home, and we put it on the market. Our first offer was a good one, and after a week of negotiations and several weeks of due process, we closed in under 30 days.
While we resided there, our Church Hill home paid us in safe shelter, a good quality of life, bnb work & income, and many new neighborhoood connections. Selling our home then gave us the gifts of downsizing, moving closer to dear friends on the southside, meeting a number of financial goals, and providing easier access to the James River.
Our purchase of just that one home got us back into the market as home-owners and propelled us forward to meet emerging needs. This is one small illustration of what real estate can do for you. Message me, and let's have a conversation.
MLS - Agent
RAR - Realtor