My Realtor

So, I should have done this a long time ago.  I have no excuse; I'm lazy and not good with words.

My realtor, Kathy Sullivan, is awesome.

I met Kathy in June of 2008 when Midge and I happened to walk into an open house near our houses (I actually dragged Midge).  The house was awful.  It was way overpriced, full of new, cheap material, and the people who were flipping it installed all carpeting upstairs.

Side note to all my followers who have carpeting in their homes: carpeting isn't necessarily bad.  It just doesn't fit in city houses.  Also, this house is in the Capitol Hill Historic District.  New, polyester carpet isn't that historic.

After making snide comments under our breaths about the house, we talked to the agent, Kathy.  She was this bright, bubbly lady who was very welcoming.  She asked what we thought of the place and I told her it wasn't my style.  She agreed with the assessment and casually mentioned that it actually wasn't her listing but she was filling in for a friend.

We talked about what I was looking for, how serious I was (not that serious at the time), and what my timeline was (indefinite).  After chatting about the neighborhood and the market, I found that she was extremely knowledgeable and quite personable.  We exchanged information.

I later emailed my criteria: location, price range, # of bedrooms, # of baths, etc.  She set me up on a daily email update of houses that matched that criteria.  Every few months one or two would catch my eye and I would email her to go see them.  She was always available and never pushy about a house.

There were some houses that we both saw huge potential and some houses where we would walk in and give each other a look and a chuckle, knowing that it was absolutely not right for me.  She was always on top of the necessary info and would offer her opinions without being at all forceful.

There were times that I wouldn't contact her in 4 months, but she would pick right up from where we left off as if only a few days had passed.  She never asked me to sign a contract, at least until we put in the initial offer on the Ives Pl house, over two years after we had first started working together.

Not skipping a beat, she walked me through the entire process of submitting a bid, counter offering, getting in touch with the right people at the bank, following up and giving hell when the 203k loan took longer than expected, and finally closing.  She was always diligent with following up with the right people and would always have an answer, even if that answer was "I'm as much in the dark as you."  There was absolutely no making things up or faking it as we went along.

I would highly recommend her if you are looking to buy or sell in the DC Metro Area.  Her knowledge of the system and personability make her a huge asset to buyers, especially first timers like myself.  I wish I had a better vocabulary to express how wonderful she made the process.  I'm extremely excited to show her the fruits of her (and my) labor once this house is done.

If you are looking for an agent, please contact her.

Kathy Sullivan
Re/Max Distinctive
kathysells@gmail.com
301.221.7888

Tell her I sent you.