“If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want”.

Zig Ziglar – Motivational speaker, writer and author of:  Secrets of Closing the Sale.

About Leslie 

A Florida native, I was born and raised in West Palm Beach.  When it came time for college I decided on Florida State University and graduated in 1987 with a Bachelors Degree in Interior Design.  I did not know at the time that this would be a great paring with my later career in real estate.

I moved to Tampa in 1994 and bought a bungalow in South Tampa in Palma Ceia.  I loved it!  I’ve always appreciated the older homes with lots of character and hence I jumped right in and started renovating my old beauty.  Of course I was surprised to eventually learn that renovating these gorgeous wood frame houses was indeed a challenge.  However being very determined by nature, I completed the renovation and was delighted with the results. 

I later met and married my wonderful husband, David, and we bought and renovated an old bungalow in the Tampa Heights area (just south of Seminole Heights). We have since renovated numerous old homes and now keep them as good rental income properties.  The knowledge I gained in renovating older homes has been very helpful to buyers in pointing out potential condition problems on homes we are viewing. 

I am your specialist for selling and buying urban vintage homes in the charming old neighborhoods of South Tampa, Carrollwood and the neighborhoods just north of downtown called The Heights (Seminole Heights, Riverside Heights and Tampa Heights). Whether it’s a simple Seminole Heights bungalow, gracious Hyde Park craftsman bungalow, or a classic 1970/80’s ‘Brady Bunch’ Carrollwood home; they all make my eyes light up! 

For Sellers: 

• I will go over the most recent sold comparables in your neighborhood to ensure you price it right… without leaving any money behind.
• I offer professional wide angle lens photography (yes, a picture really is worth a 1,000 words)
• Write an artful, creative and detailed description of your home and make certain that your home really stands out among the crowd.
• Place in your home a ‘home book’ with flyers and comment cards.
• Market your home with aggressive internet exposure to over 350 websites such as Zillow, Trulia, Homes.com, Military.com and many more.
• Use social media to market your home such as Facebook.
• Market your home on Craigslist.
• Send out a new listing announcement email to all of my fellow Keller Williams Agents.
• Debut your home in the local Realtor home tour.
• Suggest staging ideas so your home is welcoming to buyers from the curb to the backyard and everything in between.  Inform you of inexpensive ‘to do’ things that will have you selling quickly and for top dollar.
• Consistently network with other Realtors and potential buyers about your beautiful home! 

Just as important however is to have an experienced Realtor who knows how to ‘think outside of the box’,  help you navigate through the maze of contracts, disclosures, addendums, inspections, appraisals, repair issues, buyer financing approvals and so on.  If your home is priced right, getting a contract on your home is relatively easy; the challenge comes with the next two big hurdles of inspection and appraisal. 

This is where I make sure the appraiser is familiar with your neighborhood and knows what he’s doing.  I attend the appraisal so that I can give him a flyer sheet that lists all of the improvements and any other pertinent information that would help him to determine the accurate value of your home. Once an appraisal is done it is written in stone.  If it comes in lower than the contract price, the buyer can come up to the contract price if they have the cash to cover the difference, or you can come down to the appraised price. However it is an extremely rare buyer who will pay more than the appraised price of a home, so in the end the buyer usually walks away. 

Your second hurdle is the home inspection.  This is where I can I advise you on making any needed repairs before the inspection.  I attend the summary portion of all inspections to ensure I am your eyes and ears for you.  I ask the inspector to walk me around the house and point out to me the deficiencies he’s found so that I know how to explain them to you. 

I believe that selling a home is a strategically planned and creative process where every detail in the transaction is important and cannot be overlooked.  I don’t want to take selling your home for granted and how it’s going to happen, do you?

For Buyers: 

• The first step in the home buying process is to make sure you are pre-approved to purchase a home. If you do not have a preferred lender, I will assist in getting you quickly pre-approved through one of my preferred lenders. This process takes about 5 minutes over the phone.  Why get pre-approved first?  Without it, we won’t know what price home you can comfortably afford and a seller will not look at your offer unless this vital document accompanies the offer.
• I will listen intently to the home you are dreaming about and then scour the MLS system for good matches.  Then we’ll set up a day and time that’s convenient for you to go see them!
• When you are ready to place an offer on a home I will help you determine the best price by researching the most recent sold comparables in the neighborhood and other pricing valuations such as condition, upgrades and location.
• Once you have a contract on a home I can recommend competent inspectors to determine the condition of the home.
• I will help you every step of the way from negotiations to contract, through inspections, appraisal – all the way to a smooth and stress free closing.
• With my degree in design and experience in renovating, I can help you visualize furniture placement or simple space planning ideas. 

I love what I do and I’m enthusiastic about doing it.  Whether you are a buyer or a seller, call me to schedule a confidential appointment so I can listen to your real estate plans and dreams and set a path to help you achieve them. 

Sincerely,

Leslie