From Costa Rica to Mardi Gras Parades

My client Sally has lived in Costa Rica and Austin, TX, and now travels the world, plotting her next adventure.

Hometown Pride

But like a lot of native New Orleanians, she has a real sense of connection to the Crescent city, a lot of hometown pride, and wanted her two daughters to love this place like she does. So, years ago, she bought a condo (half of a duplex) near the parade route and made it a point to bring them for Mardi Gras every year. Says Sally, “My girls (now in their twenties) are more and more in love with New Orleans, but they’re old enough to go on their own.”

A Condo for Someone Else to Love

In Sally’s mind, the condo had served its purpose, and it was an old house sitting vacant too often. She explains it this way: “It was time for someone else to love it.”

Sally and I went to St. Martin’s Episcopal School together back in the day, and our mutual friend Michael lives a few blocks from the condo. When Sally was ready to sell, Michael said, “You need to call Tracey.”

The condo needed some work before listing, and because Sally wasn’t in New Orleans, I stepped in to spearhead the efforts. She valued that I have an appreciation for and understanding of older homes -- as well as a long list of tradesmen and vendors at my fingertips who are reasonably priced and quick to respond.

After the work was done, we priced it right, and the condo sold quickly.

At some point, Sally says she’ll re-invest in something a little smaller, noting, “My husband loves New Orleans as well. He’s one of those converts.”

I'm honored that Sally had this to say about working with me:

“From the get-go, I felt like Tracey had my back and anticipated a lot of my needs. If we had a dilemma, and I was stymied, she had the answer and knew what to do. In every scenario, she went above and beyond and was always there to facilitate.

“I’ve worked with a lot of real estate agents in Wyoming and Costa Rica. Everybody’s got different styles, different levels of engagement and trustworthiness, and she just checks all those boxes. Even the agents who are really engaged don’t always go that extra step or approach things with friendliness and calmness like Tracey does.

“I love that she NEVER loses her cool! She approaches any potential problem with good humor, efficiency, expediency, and I just love it. Not only could I really count on her from before we even signed the contract, to the very end, but she just made me feel comfortable. She’s all business, but she approached it like a friend would to me, and in a business-like manner with everything else. We could laugh about things -- and relieve the tension with some humor. That was huge. She’s awesome!” - Sally Owens Leman

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