Who Does This?
We do….and we love it!
When our children both left for college, we took a good, long look around our family home. It had been full of life and love for many years, and it held many precious memories. But now… with the newly found freedom of being just a couple again… we looked at our family home through different lenses.
And now we saw the 4 extra bedrooms…the extra baths….the upstairs game room where the teenage friends had hung out. In the garage was the second refrigerator that had housed enough sodas, waters and snacks to feed a small army of … well… teenage boys! Next to it was the extra freezer because… you know… frozen pizzas could never be in short supply. And of course Ice Cream…. one flavor would never suffice when the kids brought over their friends.
And now, without the anchor of school districts and ball fields and gymnastic centers tethering us to a neighborhood…now we could look with fresh eyes.
Now we could start to dream about where we might enjoy living. And how.
We decided to sell our family home in the suburban neighborhood….
This past year was not a stellar year for home sales, but we had newly found freedom and were ready to spread our wings. And fortunately, my designer’s eye for details along with the love and tender care we had invested into our home showed! We were able to sell our home during one of the worst down slumps in the real estate market in many years. With the help of our creative, energetic agent, Elicia… And the design and staging talent I had gained through my years with November Design Group… And a bit of commitment to “live clean, orderly, and lovingly” in our home while it was on the market… We Sold in November of 2008. Now that’s a miracle!
We were ready for something different. Something new. Fresh.
The years spent in the big, family home had enabled us to collect some beautiful pieces of furnishings and art. Working as a designer, I was fortunate to find some unique pieces and snatch up some nice furnishings we love and enjoy. We would love to be able to keep our favorites and enjoy them, sans the fears of chocolate shakes spilling on them…
We love many aspects of our city, and enjoy Austin to it’s fullest. We often would drive from out in the suburbs all the way down to Barton Creek to eat at our favorite Taco Deli. We love biking around Town Lake and through Zilker Park. We enjoy the Domain, and one of my favorite grocery stores is Whole Foods. We often joke that we take “field trips” to Whole Foods…. because driving all the way to downtown from the suburbs…. for a grocery shopping trip… seems indeed, like a field trip! But it is worth it because we loved shopping there.
We love the many different outdoor areas Austin offers. The trails, the lakes, the bike paths. We love them, and love exploring them. We always enjoy exploring new places.
And the uniqueness of the different areas in and around Austin and in the Hill Country. There are many wonderful choices.
If we were given our choice…
then I would love to try a few different areas and really get to know the areas to find my favorite. Live amongst the neighbors. Find the little bistros and taco spots that you only find when you live there. Ride our bikes along their paths and visit the little shops in the area. To enjoy the local book store and the parks. To experience how the drive feels… to view the sunsets from that spot in town… To ask “Where would I like to live?”
If we were given our choice….
Oh wait…we ARE given our choice…
We found an ideal way for us to explore all the areas, live with the freedom we desire, and still enjoy our beautiful collection of furnishing and live in a beautiful home.
And we have the privilege of helping someone else who is wanting to explore that next phase of their life, find their own freedom.
We are living as Resident Home Stagers, helping others navigate through the difficult maze of selling a home that has, for whatever reason, had to be left vacant. We know we can add life and love into these homes, and that people don’t buy houses, they buy homes. I love bringing the houses to life with the warm, inviting sounds, scents and sights of a home well loved. When we stage and manage a home, we care for it as we did our own. And we know the homeowner is looking for his freedom and next adventure, as diligently as we were our own… so our goal is to help them sell their house so they can move forward in their freedom.
It is a wonderful opportunity. Our adventures are
Invigorating. Fresh. New Alive.
The homes we live in are beautiful, often much more than we imagined we would ever find!
And we love knowing that just by being there…living how we live…enjoying what the owner loved… we are helping them find their freedom.
We love where we live.
Making life easier for the Realtor who commits to helping the owner sell….
For Homeowners who are gaining their freedom!
It’s a win-win-win...
and we love it!
