Adventures in House Hunting: Finding “The One”

When you’re house hunting, it’s important to find “The One.” Not the house—we’ll get to that later—but the right realtor to help you in the process.

About a year ago, Steve and I found out that we would have to move out of our rental. We weren’t quite ready to buy a house at that time, so we started looking at other places in our neighborhood that we could rent. I reached out to a few realtors in the area, knowing that they occasionally have rental listings.

One night, we went to see a house about a block from our place. The realtor met us at the door and she was the cutest little spunky blonde woman. She was friendly and outgoing and immediately likable. We had met a few other realtors during this process, but something stuck out about Stacey.

As we toured the house, she was very vocal about the pros and cons of it. It was listed as a two bedroom, but when we went upstairs, it was just a big open loft. It was very obvious that Stacy didn’t like misleading listings like that. She also showed us our current rental, which is just to the west of Riverside Park. We were unsure about the area, but Stacey helped us feel more secure in the decision to rent there. Because she lives in Federal Hill, she knew street-by-street which ones were better to live on. She also knew that while some of the pockets of South Baltimore are less than desirable, the neighborhood is thriving.

When we decided that it was time to actually buy a house, we immediately reached out to Stacey. She was excited for us and has helped walk us step-by-step through the process. She is incredibly responsive, which is a big pro for me. She has answered me via text several times and even corresponded with us until midnight the night that we got our house. I could tell in her voice when she called us that she was genuinely excited for us.

As we looked at each house, Stacey was very straightforward about the pricing and what she thought the offer should be, and if she thought there was any leeway with the buyer. She knew the agent on the house that we ended up buying, and knew a few days in advance that the price was going to drop. The morning that happened, she had us in the house by lunch, a contract written by dinner, and we had bought a house by 11 PM.

I would highly recommend working with Stacey regardless of where you plan to buy, but especially if you are buying in Federal Hill, Riverside, or Locust Point. Tell her I sent you!