What to consider before buyers walk through your home.
Timeline Before Listing Your Home
About the Author
I'm Mary Sunderman, a REALTOR® and owner of The Sunderman Group at Keller Williams Capital Partners in Central Ohio. Ask me how many homes I've sold since I got licensed in 1993 and I'll tell you the truth: I've lost count. My team and I are somewhere in the thousands.
What I do keep track of is the families — the ones I've now sold three houses for, and the ones whose kids are calling me about their first.
Do this long enough and you learn that a house is rarely just a house. I've helped people buy their first one, move into the home where they'll raise their family, relocate for a new opportunity, and sell a home they never imagined leaving. Divorces, estates, new babies, new jobs, downsizing after a loss — real estate often happens in the middle of life's biggest transitions. Some of my favorite clients came to me during one of the hardest weeks of their lives. That's the part of this business that keeps me in it.
I spent the first twenty years of my career in Upstate New York before moving to Central Ohio in 2013. In other words, I've done what many of my clients are doing: started over in a new community, figured out where I belonged, and made a new place feel like home.
Today, The Sunderman Group serves buyers and sellers throughout Central Ohio, including Dublin, Powell, Worthington, Upper Arlington, Columbus, New Albany and the surrounding communities. Much of my work is in the upper-tier and luxury market, where pricing, preparation, presentation and negotiation become increasingly important. But I've never believed the price of the house should determine the quality of the advice.
My approach is straightforward: understand the numbers, tell clients what I really think, anticipate problems before they become expensive, negotiate carefully, and surround every transaction with experienced professionals.
After more than three decades in real estate, many of my clients have become longtime friends. I'm now helping their children buy homes, helping their parents downsize, and sometimes helping the same family through three generations of real estate decisions.
That's probably the best description of my business.
It's not really about houses.
It's about helping people figure out what comes next — and making sure they have someone experienced beside them when they do.
What I do keep track of is the families — the ones I've now sold three houses for, and the ones whose kids are calling me about their first.
Do this long enough and you learn that a house is rarely just a house. I've helped people buy their first one, move into the home where they'll raise their family, relocate for a new opportunity, and sell a home they never imagined leaving. Divorces, estates, new babies, new jobs, downsizing after a loss — real estate often happens in the middle of life's biggest transitions. Some of my favorite clients came to me during one of the hardest weeks of their lives. That's the part of this business that keeps me in it.
I spent the first twenty years of my career in Upstate New York before moving to Central Ohio in 2013. In other words, I've done what many of my clients are doing: started over in a new community, figured out where I belonged, and made a new place feel like home.
Today, The Sunderman Group serves buyers and sellers throughout Central Ohio, including Dublin, Powell, Worthington, Upper Arlington, Columbus, New Albany and the surrounding communities. Much of my work is in the upper-tier and luxury market, where pricing, preparation, presentation and negotiation become increasingly important. But I've never believed the price of the house should determine the quality of the advice.
My approach is straightforward: understand the numbers, tell clients what I really think, anticipate problems before they become expensive, negotiate carefully, and surround every transaction with experienced professionals.
After more than three decades in real estate, many of my clients have become longtime friends. I'm now helping their children buy homes, helping their parents downsize, and sometimes helping the same family through three generations of real estate decisions.
That's probably the best description of my business.
It's not really about houses.
It's about helping people figure out what comes next — and making sure they have someone experienced beside them when they do.
