A Special Home Gets an Upgrade from a Thankful Family of Five
Virginia and Matt Candler adored their home on State Street but with three growing children, they needed more space. The problem was, they weren’t sure they’d find another home to fall in love with – so, they weighed the options of renovating vs. moving. After much deliberation, they decided to pursue both possibilities simultaneously. Recommended to them by friends I’d worked with, I started looking for the right fit. Renovate or Move? The thing is, I understood their conundrum. In fact, I offered them advice and ideas for renovating the home they were in, in order to create more space. While other agents might not be willing to do that, since it wouldn’t result in a sale and a commission, that’s not how I operate. Helping clients find a solution to their problem — whatever the problem – is what I do. I showed Virginia and Matt lots of different properties over a six-month period, and while they checked all the boxes, nothing stood out. So, they decided to stop looking and start renovating — until the very next week, when I found something special. It turned out to be a wonderful property full of promise, and from the moment we walked through it together and talked about the possibilities, we knew it was the one. Found: A Unique Home Filled with Love The home sits on two and a half lots and consists of two shotguns that were joined in the middle years ago, forming a single U-shaped home. Featuring loads of green space, a pool, and enough bedrooms to include a guest room, the home had the potential for an open floor plan and was priced so that they could renovate it. Also key to the deal was that Virginia, an artist, would now have dedicated space for her studio. What made the situation special was that Virginia and Matt felt incredibly fortunate for this home to become theirs. It was an emotional decision for the owner to sell because she had raised her own children there, and Virginia felt a connection to her. There was much mutual admiration, and the seller was excited to see their eventual reconfiguration and renovation of the space. A 9-Month Renovation and a Timely Sale Virginia and Matt were also lucky to be able to stay in their State Street house while renovating the new home. The renovation took about nine months, and when their move-in date was within sight, I listed their house on State Street and sold it in about a month. Says Virginia, “It was all just super lucky stars to have it work out time-wise.” What Virginia Says About Working with Me I love helping my clients’ dreams come to fruition and am so pleased that Virginia had this to say about working with me: “In our first meeting with Tracey, she helped us think through renovating our current home –which wouldn’t have benefitted her at all. She was just so generous with her time and expertise, listening to what we wanted. Our search didn’t feel like a wild goose chase because everything she showed us made sense. But when it came to finding this house, she had great vision for what it could be and how it could work for us. And all three of us could see the potential and feel that this home was filled with love. Tracey never gave up on us; she was patient and logistically, made everything easy. She has so much knowledge of the city and the market, and at the same time, she let us make our own decisions and judgments. Since working with her, I’ve realized that about half the people I know in New Orleans have worked with her as well, and I’ve already recommended her to at least five other people!” Photography Credit: Zack Smith Photography
Buying a House Sight Unseen and Loving It
Strangely enough, Matt and Adrienne bought their current house Uptown sight unseen. They were living in Colorado when Adrienne was offered a position at Tulane as the Director of the Language Learning Center and needed to find a home here quickly. After spending three hours per day commuting in the car, Adrienne wanted to be within walking distance of her new job and have space for their dogs to play outside. Matt, an engineer, had previously lived in New Orleans, and I had sold a house for him back in 2016. He was happy with how that had gone, so they reached out to me for help. Moving to New Orleans Adrienne sums things up this way: “The job was right up my alley at a great institution, in a cool city that Matt already had connections in. So we said, pandemic or not, the time is now — let’s do it.” Thankfully, the company Matt worked for in Colorado was happy to keep him on board — working remotely from New Orleans. What It’s Like to House-Hunt Remotely Needing to sell a house in Colorado Springs and a condo in Denver, Matt and Adrienne couldn’t be in New Orleans to house hunt. Explains Matt, “We basically did everything sight unseen, unless you count FaceTime 😉 We closed without ever stepping foot in the house and had a friend sign for us. That’s why we went with Tracey.” They looked at properties online, I went to see them in person, and they trusted me to make good choices based on their preferences and my experience buying and selling homes remotely. 3 Real Estate Transactions, 1 New Job, and a Hurricane Fortunately for Matt and Adrienne, the real estate market in Colorado was hot at the time, and they were able to sell those homes quickly for above asking price. That allowed them to go to a slightly higher price point on a home here in New Orleans. Between dealing with three real estate transactions, one new job, and a hurricane that hit one week before the closing date on the new house, things got tricky. But I appreciate that Adrienne had this to say about working with me: “Tracey really helped us roll with the punches in a laid back but serious way. She was like, we’re going to take this crazy situation and figure it out along the way!” Loving Their Home and Their Neighborhood More importantly, Matt and Adrienne are happy in their new home and love their Uptown neighborhood. Notes Adrienne, “The walkability is great, it’s so close to Audubon Park, and I almost never have to put gas in the car!” Need to buy, sell or invest remotely (without all the stress)? Take a deep breath, and get in touch today. I’m here to help. Photo credits: Zack Smith Photography
Looking for a Family-Friendly Atmosphere + Flex Space in Algiers Point
Patti and Paige each met me years ago through mutual friends, and before they were married, both had worked with me individually to buy and sell other homes. We’re good friends, and they know I’ve always been personally committed to finding them what they were looking for. At the time, Patti and Paige were living in a double they own in the Lower Garden District, but they knew that they wanted to move to Algiers Point. They have a young son and friends in Algiers Point with children. Says Patti, “We saw so many kids playing and happy over here, and we wanted that kind of atmosphere.” Patti and Paige thought they wanted a raised basement with flex space for Patti’s small company Tchoup Industries, a sewing studio that makes high quality bags from local materials, as well as extra space for playing music (Paige loves to practice her drumming when she’s not working in film production). They looked at every raised basement home as soon as it came on the market, but nothing had worked out. How It Took a Few Times to Found the Right One Patti notes that throughout their 1½ year long house-hunting journey, she and Paige appreciated my patience, honesty, and the fact that I didn’t sugarcoat anything. In fact, they had been under contract on two other houses, and were willing to put money into those properties, but in the end, I had advised them not to. I’m grateful that Patti had this to say about me: “Tracey’s so knowledgeable about the city and the community, what’s available, what’s a good value, and what’s not. We could really trust her to guide us.” What happened next wasn’t what any of us had expected: I was the selling agent on the house they ultimately bought. But I didn’t automatically think of it as an option for them, because the home isn’t a raised basement. However, it had been beautifully renovated and had a half-finished, two-story back house – which is what intrigued them. Paige immediately saw the listing, called me, and they were the first buyers to see it. Patti & Paige were really excited about the home, but because I was the selling agent, they knew I was trying to be even-handed and manage expectations. I appreciate that Patti describes the situation this way: “Tracey was great throughout inspections. She balanced everything really well between the seller and us. We countered after inspections and asked for money to fix a few things, and there was back and forth — but Tracey was really fair and gracious about all of it.” What I love is that they trusted me to do my best for them, as well as for the seller, and understood the value I brought to the experience. Everything They Wanted and More Closing on December 29, 2020, Patti & Paige were excited to ring in the new year in their new space. And New Orleans being the one-degree-of-separation place that it is, they ended up having personal and professional connections to their neighbors on both sides. That only solidified their belief that moving to Algiers Point was the right thing. On top of that, they kept their double on the Lower Garden District and now earn rental income. Now, they’re excited to be finishing out the back house. The downstairs will be Patti’s sewing studio, and the upstairs will be a guest space for in-laws when they visit. “It has turned out to be such a good fit for what we needed,” says Paige. Photo credit: Zack Smith Photography
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