When Lannette and Scott Turicchi reached out to me in the summer, they were facing a unique challenge. Lannette loves real estate and keeps a close eye on the market. She knew it was still a strong time to sell, but didn’t want to miss her window. Scott hates real estate and just wanted it done quickly and painlessly. And in the middle of it all, they were preparing to host their daughter’s wedding with 200 guests in their backyard!

“We moved here in 2014 for certain schools and Pasadena’s proximity to Scott’s work,” Lannette began. “But now that all the kids have moved out, we have a large house with nobody home. So we decided to move back to the Santa Barbara area. We’ve kept our place up there all these years as our weekend house, and now it’s time to live there full time.

“I’m always looking at real estate, always checking numbers. I just had this gut instinct to sell. Others said it was a bad time, we wouldn’t get the price we expected, there were no cash buyers… But I had a different read on the situation.

“I thought I’d made a mistake…”

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“Not that I wasn’t concerned. Especially about timing. Most people list in spring, so buyers are settled by summer’s end. We were listing the house late in the selling season. Plus my daughter was getting married and we were hosting 200 people in our backyard. You can’t show your house when you’re in wedding prep. So we planned to take it off the market for the event.

“When we met with Eva, she asked us what we wanted from the experience, and what would make it successful for us. She asked how we wanted to communicate, what our timeline looked like, and what mattered most to us. We talked through pricing, her approach to marketing, and her team. We felt heard.

“Scott gave Eva a very specific charge: quick escrow, all-cash offer, and communication only by text. He didn’t want to deal with the minutiae. He hates it. Scott finds the whole process stressful, so he needed someone who could handle everything while still keeping him in the loop.

“The house was on the market for nearly 3 weeks with no offers. I thought I’d made a mistake and told Eva, maybe it’s the wrong time. She said, ‘It’s okay, Lannette,’ and reassured me that our strategy was solid. So I trusted her.

“I can’t move out in twenty days!”

“We took it off the market, as planned, for the wedding… which was fabulous. The yard lent itself to this beautiful evening with the sun setting, flowers blooming, a dance floor, 200 guests, and a sit-down dinner. It was the best way to say goodbye. The best memory we’ll have in this house. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect evening.

“And to our surprise, while the house was off the market, two buyers got into a small bidding war. We received not one but two cash offers, both with 21-day closes. It was exactly what Scott wanted: all cash, quick close, and over asking!

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“Maybe too quick a close,” she laughed. “I thought, I can’t move out in 20 days! I still have wedding stuff everywhere. But Eva negotiated for us to stay as long as we needed.

“I’ve sold many houses and none went as easy as this one. Everything was handled so smoothly. Eva’s team would even check if there were leaves in the yard before showings, making sure everything looked perfect. The whole process just worked.

“I understand that a family with three kids is moving in. This backyard is almost an acre, and there’s so much room. My girls played laser tag here and there were so many places to run and hide. It’s hard to leave, but so nice to learn that a new family is going to make their own memories here.

“I like to look at life in seasons. Moving to Pasadena was a season. And now selling this house opens a new one. We’re moving back to our Montecito home full time, and we’d love to convince Eva to sell that one for us too someday, if she’s willing to make the drive. I just wish everyone could have a real estate transaction as smooth as this.

Lannette and Scott’s story exemplifies why I love what I do. They made a bold decision, navigated a complicated timeline with a major family celebration in the middle, and came out the other side not just with a successful sale, but with one of their happiest family memories. Now they’re heading to their next chapter, and I’m grateful my team and I could help make that transition a smooth and meaningful one.