Dawn and Albert Schick knew they owned a special house. The 7,500-square-foot, Victorian-style house, located in Richmond’s Fan District at 1853 West Grace Street, had been built in 1910, and it still had all of its original moldings, chandeliers and hardwood floors. It was a grand property with particularly striking woodwork, and the Schicks had successfully converted the property into a popular bed-and-breakfast called the Grace Manor Inn. So when they put it on the market, they expected it to sell fairly quickly, even with a high price tag. It didn’t. And at least a partial explanation lies in the history of the street itself. For much of the late 1800s and early 1900s, West Grace Street had been one of the city’s premier residential streets. As city residents moved to the suburbs in the 1960s and 1970s, though, the street’s reputation declined, and many of its grand houses were converted to apartments. In recent years, as interest in city living resurged, the trend reversed, with new homeowners converting several apartment buildings on West Grace Street back to single-family residences. Recognizing the street’s renaissance wasn’t universal, though. Several real estate agents the Schicks interviewed seemed unable to recognize the street’s resurgent value, Albert Schick said. After an extensive search, the Schicks found an agent they liked, and they asked him to list the house. “We enjoyed working with that agent very much,” Schick said. “He was extremely professional and thorough. Unfortunately, after 12 months, the house had not sold, and we needed to make a change.” So they hired a new listing agent. The Schicks weren’t satisfied with the new agent’s marketing efforts, though. Even worse, the house still lingered on the market. That’s when they approached Chris Small, a real estate broker with Small & Associates Real Estate. Small toured the property and offered a clear-eyed assessment of why it had lingered on the market. “He was very frank with us that we needed to make it look like a home and that it needed to be staged, repainted and modernized,” Schick said. “We were not selling it as a bed-and-breakfast, and that is what it was reflecting.” Small presented a plan that included coordinating with a local stager, as well as a timeline that accounted for each step of his plan. “He followed through on everything he said he would do and met his deadlines,” Schick said. “He kept us on task, and he got the job done. Those changes are what let a family see it as a home that they could live in.” The Schicks relisted the house with Small as their agent, and it sold for $1.1 million in 59 days. It was the highest price ever paid for a single-family residence on West Grace Street. “The price would have been even higher, if the house had been one block away on Monument Avenue,” Small said. So why did the house sell so quickly? It came down to finding the right agent. “Chris was absolutely the reason the house for sold for more than $1 million,” Schick said. “If the person selling the house does not believe it is worth more than $1 million, then it will never sell for that amount. He absolutely believed, 100 percent, that our house was worth more than that. He was able to frame the house in such a way that other people could see that, too. We give him huge kudos for that.”

Here we are in February of 2018, but if we didn’t say this already, Happy New Year! As per usual, the months are starting to fly by, and our pace here at Small & Associates is nothing short of fast and busy! After an eventful holiday season, the team was ready to get back to the grind. In January, our agents hit the ground running and we collectively had 17 properties go under contract. Our Broker, Chris Small, had three beautiful listings hit the market and all were pending within just a few days following, all of which sold for over asking price. While there is no question that the real estate market is absolutely booming right now (yes sellers… we’re looking at you!), it is also not pure coincidence that our listings are moving as quickly as they are. We are able to perform so well for our clients as a result of careful planning and execution. Discover the Market Value of your home. If you are looking to buy or sell in Richmond, contact us now and we will get the ball rolling! Have a question or comment? Write below! And see what our clients are saying about us! “We considered four real estate agents before asking Chris Small to help us sell our house this year. We chose him because he gave us a realistic assessment of the market, the price range we should expect and the work we should do to get the best price. Chris laid out a logical plan and a timeline we could live with. He recommended a listing timeline that was different than what we were planning and I’m glad he did! Chris brought in a fantastic team of experts to look at everything from light switches to paint to www. Once we agreed with Chris on which repairs were most valuable and important, my wife and I appreciated how he stayed connected with us and the workers. I turned it over to Chris and his staff, and I didn’t have people call me asking about color choices or specific light fixtures. The house looked great when the work was finished and the staging was in place. We both agreed we should raise the price beyond our original estimate, and within four days we had multiple offers well in excess of the asking price – the best offer was almost 10 percent over asking price and completely beyond our expectations! I can’t stress enough the importance of having a good plan and sticking to it – Chris was a master at that. I would highly recommend him to anybody looking to get the highest price for their house, with the fewest headaches.”

Chris had a real sense of the local market, and he came to the interview very well prepared. He’d also had previous success selling in my West End area. He was very good at that. His comps were very local and specific to my neighborhood, Colonial Place. He knew what houses had gone for in my area very recently, and he knew how to price per square footage, based on the condition of my house. He really pushed the price up from what I had thought we’d ask. It was great. The house went on the market Thursday afternoon, and it had more than 35 private showings by Saturday afternoon. Then Chris had an open house on Sunday, which was when the house was sold. And that’s how Chris said it was going to work. We went to Washington, D.C., for the weekend, and when we came back, the house was sold at full price in an all-cash deal. It couldn’t have gone better. He had a plan, and he worked the plan. That included having a schedule for photo and video sessions, as well as an extensive social media plan. He also had a schedule for rolling out the sale. I really appreciated that. He was very organized, and that was very helpful for me. Yes, because Chris is knowledgeable and very well organized, and he’s a pleasure to work with. I always felt I was kept up to date. I never had to wonder what was going on. He has made a good name for himself in the Richmond market, and other realtors respect him.

We considered four real estate agents before asking Chris Small to help us sell our house this year. We chose him because he gave us a realistic assessment of the market, the price range we should expect and the work we should do to get the best price. Chris laid out a logical plan and a timeline we could live with. He recommended a listing timeline that was different than what we were planning and I’m glad he did! Chris brought in a fantastic team of experts to look at everything from light switches to paint to www. Once we agreed with Chris on which repairs were most valuable and important, my wife and I appreciated how he stayed connected with us and the workers. I turned it over to Chris and his staff, and I didn’t have people call me asking about color choices or specific light fixtures. The house looked great when the work was finished and the staging was in place. We both agreed we should raise the price beyond our original estimate, and within four days we had multiple offers well in excess of the asking price – the best offer was almost 10 percent over asking price and completely beyond our expectations! I can’t stress enough the importance of having a good plan and sticking to it – Chris was a master at that. I would highly recommend him to anybody looking to get the highest price for their house, with the fewest headaches.

He was very frank with us that we needed to make it look like a home and that it needed to be staged, repainted and modernized. He followed through on everything he said he would do and met his deadlines. He kept us on task, and he got the job done. Those changes are what let a family see it as a home that they could live in. Chris was absolutely the reason the house for sold for more than $1 million, If the person selling the house does not believe it is worth more than $1 million, then it will never sell for that amount. He absolutely believed, 100 percent, that our house was worth more than that. He was able to frame the house in such a way that other people could see that, too. We give him huge kudos for that.

We interviewed three other real estate agents but chose Chris not only because of his proven track record getting top dollar for friends’ houses but, also because he was willing to devote his full attention to the sale of our home for the period we wished to sell. We felt the timing, the staging, and the pricing that Chris recommended were what got us such a phenomenal price – 20 percent above what we had hoped for. Chris and his team made the preparation effortless. His contractor was great at managing the inevitably long to-do list, and his wonderful stager and photographer made sure the house presented extremely well. Together, Chris’s team helped create a lot of hype and ultimately a bidding war. We have bought and sold more than 14 properties in the past 30 years, and this was by far the smoothest and easiest process – not to mention the one that brought the best result. We would highly recommend Chris Small and his team.