When Natalie and Tony reached out, they weren’t moving because they had to. They were moving on their own terms, toward the next project, with a vision for what they wanted to do.
And they needed the right partner to help them do it.

“We listed aggressively…”

.

“The challenge was there were no recent comparable sales. Nothing in that pocket of San Gabriel with access to the San Marino School District had sold recently. That’s actually why we bought it in the first place; San Marino schools without the San Marino price tag. It became clear we needed professional help, so we reached out to Eva and scheduled a meeting at our house.

“She immediately understood our plan,” Tony said. “That part of town doesn’t see many newly renovated homes with a good floor plan. Eva told us, ‘You guys have done a really good job here. Even with no comps, odds are it’ll sell for more than you’re expecting.’ Any agent can pull MLS comps, but Eva was pulling from her own experience. That’s what made us say yes.

.

.

“We listed aggressively,” Natalie continued. “It was priced higher per square foot than anything that had sold in that zip code. Early on, Eva mentioned that it did not have as strong an initial showing as she’d like. It was nerve wracking, honestly. But our position was firm. No negotiating down, no credits. We knew what went into every inch of this house, and if it didn’t sell, we would stay. We loved it either way. Eva understood that and stood with us.

“A few offers came in at asking,” Tony added. “Eva’s advice was consistent: be patient, the right offer is out there. Eventually we got one that came in $100,000 above our already aggressive asking price. For a listing with no comps, in a niche market, that felt like validation of everything we’d worked toward.

“The escrow moved fast, 25 days, and suddenly we needed to figure out what came next,” Natalie said. “We’d been browsing the MLS the whole time, and that’s when we started working closely with Angel, Eva’s buyer’s agent. The group chat was literally Angel, Eva, and the two of us. Angel was out there showing us homes, pulling comps, and getting intel from listing agents on what it would take to win.

.

“We found a home we really wanted and asked Eva what we needed to offer to get it. She said, ‘Knowing what you two want to do with the house, you’re going to put in a lot of money on the renovation and you won’t get that value back out.’ That is the agent I was looking for. She wasn’t just trying to close a deal. She truly cared about our plans.

“After searching a little more, we found our next home in Alhambra,” Tony said. “Natalie saw the home first and I trusted her read on it completely. Eva looked at it and saw exactly what we saw, a property with real room to grow in value. That sealed it for us.

“We’re taking it down to the studs now,” Natalie said. “Adding a bathroom, building an office, really making the space work. We move in once it’s done, hopefully in a few months. Honestly, we love doing this. Finding a home with great bones, imagining what it could be, building it into something. Tony jokes that I want to make it a living someday. Maybe I do.

“In the meantime, we needed somewhere to land while the renovations are finished. Eva found us a rental through her network. It’s a 3,000 square foot home in Arcadia with a tennis court. Now we’re wondering if our next home should be around here too. And while we wait, at the very least, we’re working on our tennis game.”

Natalie and Tony came to me with a plan and the passion to see it through.
Getting to help them sell, buy, and land somewhere beautiful in the
meantime has been a true joy. I’m grateful for their trust and can’t wait to
see what they build next.