The Liz Moore Insider

Building a Custom Home – From Contract to Closing

lynnettetully — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:27:29 +0000

Wednesday, June 5th ~ come learn how to help your “building clients” first hand. We have Rob Carter of Southern Traditions Custom Home Builders to take us through the process, plus Brad Freeman & J Fulton from C&F Mortgage to talk about construction financing. Take some time to tour a few Brickshire homes, then enjoy a Wine Tasting and tour at Viniterra. What a great afternoon! Hope to see you there!

For more information, and to RSVP, contact Judy Schwartz at judyschwartz@lizmoore.com.

The Liz Moore Insider is the corporate blog for Liz Moore & Associates. Designed by Liz and her marketing team to serve as a library of resources, tools, and ideas for our agents and staff, the Liz Moore Insider offers a “sneak peak” into our company and culture. To schedule a confidential interview or to request information about a real estate career with Liz Moore & Associates, you can reach Liz at liz@lizmoore.com, or Lynnette Tully, our Chief Online Strategist, at lynnettetully@lizmoore.com. Or, call us any time at 757.873.2707 in Newport News, or 757.645.4106 in Williamsburg.

Join Us at the New Town Summer Fest

lynnettetully — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:19:14 +0000

The New Town Summer Fest is almost here! What could be better than a day of tasting local craft beers, playing corn hole, listening to live music…and more!

Join us on June 15th from 1-5pm in New Town, home to the Liz Moore and Associates Williamsburg office. $12 gets you a logo pint glass and tasting tickets.

Check out their Facebook page for more information.

Continuing Education and a Social!

lynnettetully — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:42:13 +0000

Don’t miss Brian’s Lessons in Law Roundtable on Thursday, May 23^rd in Williamsburg from 1-4. This class will be followed by a social (compliments of Lytle Title) on the patio at Buon Amici. Great current topics – lots to learn…and a little red wine….what could be better than that?! You will also receive 3 hours of legal continuing education credit.

Check Out the Latest Home in the “Guess the Price” Contest

lynnettetully — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:33:05 +0000

Check out the latest home on the Liz Moore and Associates’ online contest, Guess the Price, and you could win a free lunch at Opus 9. Playing is easy! Go to www.lizmoore.com/guess , check out the featured home and submit your guess for what you think the list price will be. Can you price it like a pro?

Carol Davanay Receives Paul Harris Fellow Recognition

lynnettetully — Wed, 01 May 2013 19:41:23 +0000

Carol Davanay, agent with Liz Moore and Associates and charter member of the City Center Club (NN) of Rotary International, received the Paul Harris Fellowship pin and certificate on April 17, 2013.

The Paul Harris Fellow recognition was created in memory of Rotary International’s founder. This designation identifies the Paul Harris Fellow as an advocate of the Foundation’s goals of world peace and international understanding.

Do you know someone who likes to golf?

lynnettetully — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:41:03 +0000

Several New Town businesses are sponsoring an opportunity to win 2 FREE single day passes to the Kingsmill LPGA!! All someone needs to do is bring in a receipt from shopping or dining at any business in New Town, complete the raffle ticket, and keep their fingers crossed! The winner will be chosen weekly, and announced on the New Town business Face Book Page.

Help us spread the word! The raffle tickets and raffle box are at the front desk in our Williamsburg office. Good luck!!

Congratulations to our Sell and Sail Winners…The Melz Team!!

lynnettetully — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:44:30 +0000

Verle and Debbie Melz, who are currently sailing around the Caribbean, were the lucky winners of our Sell and Sail contest! The Liz Moore Sell and Sail contest ran for the entire year of 2012. For each Liz Moore listing that was sold, the selling agent’s name went in the hat, and the grand drawing for a luxury cruise took place at the Annual Liz Moore Oscar Awards. Congratulations, Verle and Debbie! Check out the video of the exciting announcement:

Vintage Social Networking

lynnettetully — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:54:39 +0000

Social networking has enhanced our lives personally and professionally for a few years now. It is funny to think about that fact that these principals have always been in place, we just used different tools!

Enjoy,
Lynnette

Monday Morning Mojo

lizmoore — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:58:55 +0000

I had the opportunity this past week to accompany an agent and Trez Robinson on a staging appointment for a new listing. Wow. It was a very powerful hour and a half. I am convinced that next to positioning, staging is the most important step you can take to maximize results for your seller clients.

This particular listing had been on the market for 2 and a half years with another firm. I expected a disaster. It was actually quite nice. And yet, post-Trez, the difference was remarkable. That was an “aha” to me; every listing needs staging…it’s just a question of how much. Obviously, neutralizing paint colors and taking out extra “stuff” is a given. But, I learned some other very valuable and unexpected insights during her consultation.

First, the “purpose” of a room. This home had an awkward “extra” room – small and a pass through, which ended up – no surprise here! – as a “catch all” room. How we live is very different than how we sell. Very difficult for the buyer to imagine living in that particular space. But, by “re-purposing” it and staging it as a mini-library…with a cozy chair, lamp and magazine rack…all of a sudden it could be transformed into a special space that will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the coolest features (and unique) of this house. Not a dollar spent to accomplish that.

Next, I learned how critical scale is. The owners of this home are a retired couple, and have a small café table with 2 small chairs in the dining area. For the typical buyer, they would want considerably more dining space – a bigger table and at least 4 chairs. But, confronted with the small table, it was very difficult to imagine a larger table fitting in that space. Lo and behold, Trez proposed swapping out a larger table with 4 chairs, taking out the oriental rug beneath, and the room would miraculously double in size. Wow! It was like visual magic.

Third, I learned how to change the color of a room, without changing the color of a room. This home had several bathrooms with pink accents in the tile. A costly overhaul. But, by changing towels and accents from pink to white with a touch of green, you barely noticed the pink. Fluffy towels, rolled carefully, present a spa-like feeling in a bathroom. Quick trip to Target and voila!

My gut tells me that all of these things (and of course pink paint everywhere and entirely too much stuff and furniture) were the real reason that this home did not sell during almost 300 days on the market. Sadly, the last agent never raised these issues with the seller…who, although at first reluctant, quickly realized the value of Trez’s talent. I imagine there were multiple prospective buyers that toured this home and passed…either because they couldn’t imagine themselves living there, or because they assumed the work to get it move in ready was too much…or, just because they couldn’t put their finger on what was not quite right. A great listing agent would have listened as carefully to what buyer and agent feedback didn’t say as what they did say. That bears repeating: sometimes what buyers don’t tell you is more important than what they do. I always shake my head at agents who insist that listings are properly positioned after 10 showings with no offers, because the agents have told them it’s “priced fine.” Clearly not.

The two weeks “prepping” a listing to go on the market…staging, professional photography, thoughtful marketing materials, pre-listing appraisals and inspections…taking the time to do it right – is invaluable. It’s important that you are able to overcome anxious sellers who want to “hurry up and get it on for the weekend” at the expense of doing it right. I am very excited about adding the staging consultation to our menu of pre-listing services, and I encourage you to give it a try.

~Liz

Ford’s Colony Spring Open House Tour

lynnettetully — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:24:03 +0000

The Ford’s Colony Spring Open House Tour is being held on Sunday, April 21st from 1-4pm. Come by and visit the many Liz Moore listings in Ford’s Colony and be entered in a drawing to win a gift card to Opus 9! Begin the tour at 110 Ford’s Colony Dr. and pick up a directional guide for all of the participating homes.