Paddling Towards Freedom

I had decided to give up life in NC, sell my condo and move. The original saleswoman who sold me this condo contacted me and I agreed to a six-month contract with her. We had three people come to look at my condo in six months. In my gut, I knew she had overpriced the condo, but real estate sales not being my “thing” I let her take the lead.

The six-month contract with the original realtor ended and I began getting phone calls and emails from other agents. I saw that it wasn’t going to sell and I resolved to living in this condo for longer than I wanted. Talking to people and hearing from agents they all agreed it was a down market. Nothing was moving. Ok, I could live here for another year until the market changed.

One day I got an “unknown” call. I was about to let it go to voicemail with all the other unknowns, but I picked up.
“Hi, this is Cori from Paddle Realtors”, she said.

Cori? My daughter’s name is Corey. There was a spark being lit. I stuttered, hesitated, unsure. The conversation began. A connection was being formed in those first few minutes. This realtor didn’t sound like all the others. Something was different. Non pressuring, relaxed, confident.

Her comment didn’t sound like a sales pitch, “We really don’t use anything different than other realtors, but we do the little extra things, we make small consistent efforts, use effortless ways that nudge the process forward.”

I signed the Paddle Realtor agreement.

True to her word the process began with “Magic Sponges.” She showed up with cleaning equipment. I helped her scrub the walls, cabinets and anything with a scuff on it. This, I would learn, was preparation for the photographs.

The previous realtor’s photographer did the job in 15 minutes. Snap, snap, snap…. done.

The photographer Paddle used took an hour or longer. He walked around the property, moved furniture to get a perfect shot, moved items from the counter. Did he wait for a softer natural light? Maybe. His results were amazing. Yes, the photos he took were cleaner, crisper and made my small 850 sq/ft condo come to life.

Then Paddle suggested pricing in line with what was happening with the real estate market. I agreed with this whole heartedly. This was not the time to make a killing on the sale. The important question was, “do you want to sell? Do you want to move on with your life and not feel stuck? Do I want to meet the market where it is or fight it? Is making a profit important or freeing myself from a situation that wasn’t working, that is holding me in place?”

We started with a price that was on the high end of what the market would allow and activity trickled in. People showed up, which was 100% better than 6 months ago.

However, Paddle asked me to consider dropping the price again. They didn’t wait months to ask this. They looked at the market, saw the response we were getting, and we adjusted to hit our target. Like a good archer minutely adjusting his bow to allow for wind, distance and environment.
And the target was hit. It sold.

I enjoyed working with Paddle because they seemed to enjoy their work. They enjoyed creating and hitting the moving real estate market. They were on top of every dip, curve, swirl and communicated with me every step of the way. I found working with Paddle fun, interesting and a learning experience. Did I make a bunch of money in the sale? Nope. Am I free and moving on with what’s left of life. Yes!

That is the target I was aiming at and Paddle helped me focus on it. Amazing folks, amazing work.