“Moving is a very emotional process, obviously. You love your home, but not getting too emotional about how to actually get on with selling it is important.”
Andrew and Sarah Dickinson sold their home in Chapel Hill and bought a new one in Smyrna with The Zachos Team. We sat down with them to find out more about the decision and how the process went.
“I got a new job, so we needed to move,” Andrew said.” My commute on average was about an hour and 20 to an hour and a half. You'd be there from 9:00 through 4:00. So yeah, three hours in the car is no fun. We just didn't want to do that long term, and so moving closer, moving inside the perimeter, was something that it was pretty clear we needed to do.”
Andrew has worked alongside us through the Douglas County PIE Board, and lended a helping hand for Faith in Action.
“The first time I met Paul was picking up a washing machine and dropping it off.”
That relationship smoothly transitioned into a deal.
“I've known Paul, and I've known that he cares about the community, that he gives back, and those are values that are important to me,” Andrew said. “And so he came to mind when we were starting to think about a realtor in Douglas County who had a lot of experience in the area. So I just reached out to Paul, and we went from there.”
First, we assisted in getting their home in top shape for selling. Being able to look over the property and inspect it ourselves gave us a leg up.
“Paul's knowledge of home building and all that came in handy when we were prioritizing what we needed to fix up in our old home, like making those decisions before we listed it, what was important, what wasn't important,” Sarah said.
“Also when we were looking at this house, to have his eye as a builder but also as an agent and then helping us decide what was reasonable and what was not reasonable to ask for and even just pricing,” she added. “He helped us price our home right to sell it in Chapel Hill, because there were a couple other houses in Chapel Hill that had been on the market in the same range for months and months and months, and we didn’t want to be in that position.”
Our expertise extends to the pricing of the home as well.
“I think Paul and Dee Dee have a very good sense of objectively what is your home worth,” Andrew said. “Someone's only going to pay for your home for what it's actually worth.”
“You always want to get the most for your home, but if you fall into the trap of overpricing, that can work really badly.”
Our commitment to fast, efficient communication between all parties is another strength they cited in getting the deal closed.
“I felt they were really good with communication,” Sarah said. “They kept us on top of what was happening, and it was nice having both Paul and Dee Dee available. On our little group text chat, if Paul was out doing something, Dee Dee was responding, so they were pretty quick with providing us with information.”
And while we can’t promise anything on the other side of the transaction, we know that patience and trust in the process goes a long way.
“I think a lot of people are in a time crunch, right? You want to buy and sell within a pretty close timeframe, and Paul and Dee Dee helped make that happen for us,” Andrew said.
So if you’re ready to make your move, contact The Zachos Team. We’ll be with you every step of the way.
“We just appreciated them and their, obviously their skills and abilities, but also just their kindness along the way. We're thankful to them for the great experience.”
Written by Paul Zachos III