RealEstateRaves

 

It’s not just showing up with a stack of brochures about 1:30pm….at least for me.  About Friday I begin to consider what I should do to prepare for my Sunday hosting experience and what I can do to make the most of it.  We “open house” hosts don’t have preconceived ideas that we will actually sell the home we host but sometimes it actually happens.  This Sunday it’s 2199 Valparaiso Ave. in Menlo Park, CA.  I held this home open last Sunday, met a number of wonderful people who seemed to admire and like the house but never really expressed that passionate love at first sight manner.  That’s the look we hosts are always looking for. 

Real estate is a funny business.  It takes on a personal, emotional, and very private quality where otherwise  honest and upfront folks find the absolute need to “not be discovered” as an interested homebuyer or seller.  Not to dissimilar from the internet experience where most people including yours truly don’t want to come out of our protective internet caccoon and therefor keep our true feelings hidden from view.   Ah the challenge….how to break through those protective defenses to determine if you are talking to a serious buyer or seller.  The answer lies in the question: What’s important about buying a home.  It’s a simple question but the true answer is often burried under layers of feelings, wants, and desires that don’t always rise to the top quickly and often not without a little coaxing by ….you guessed it, your open house host.

So here I sit thinking what can I do to make every visitor’s experience to 2199 Valparaiso memorable.  What I know, this is a beautiful home situated in a nice part of Menlo Park and offering outstanding schools….obviously a very powerful component on someone’s shopping list.  I aslo know the owner of this prestine property had visions of building a home significantly above the norm adorned with the very best of architectural elements one can find today.  A Bentley in the sea of upper class cars.  This he has achieved but not at the return he had dreamed of and now faces the reality of what the “market” will dictate.   Herein lies the wonderful opportunity for a family who wants the [best of the best] in an area considered world class by all accounts.

My challenge is to communicate to you why you should stop what you are doing and hightail it over to my openhosue today to see for yourself what I am talking about.   I thought I would start by describing those architectural elements I mentioned earlier, Hickory Floors distressed for effect, solid pieces of natural Limstone inlaid in the midst of that very Unique Hickory floor,  Nearly 12″ high lightly stained Maple baseboards each with its own mini-crown molding detail, and of course matching Maple Crown Molding throughout,  you have to see the solid single piece  2″ thick Limstone large central counter in the kitchen  surrounded by matching Limstone under custom counters done in picture frame style, solid matching Maple doors to name just a few of the very special architectural elements.  As you walk through this home you can’t help but continue to see the owner’s hand print everywhere you turn.  Bottom line most of us might never commit to such a high end approach to accessorizing our home.

Joe Parsons

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