Summarize yourself in a tweet.
I was born and raised in a rural farming town outside Pittsburgh then moved to Center City Philadelphia in 2001. I am both a country and city mouse, and thoroughly enjoy the best of both worlds!
What's your favorite client story?
About 10 years ago I was helping a couple find a home as a buyer agent. The couple was looking for a very specific place to call home. They needed to live in the Graduate Hospital Neighborhood, the home needed to have 4 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms and a designated office space. They were expecting their first born and they were going to want an au pair suite for their live in nanny. We must have looked at over 200 homes and they never found the one that was quite right. I did a little bit more digging and saw there was a few vacant lots in the area at the time and so I suggested that we look into a ground up new construction build so they could design it how they wanted it. We moved forward with that idea and started the construction process. I was new to the ground up process so I wanted to follow along with the builder to learn more about what he was doing. I would show up every other day and speak to the contractor and the subcontractors. I went so much that I became friendly with most of them, and they liked the fact that I was showing up and checking out the work so they asked me to help them find more land (they had asked their selling agent to do this but they hadn't heard from him or seen him in over 2 weeks). I didn't end up finding them a new project, but they introduced me to a few other developers and suggested that I work with them because I was so hands on and vital to their design and build process. Now, I specialize in new construction and work with a handful of the best builders in Philadelphia, and I owe it all to this one experience.
You have a day off in Philly. What do you do?
A day off in Philly is rare, but when I get time I enjoy eating at newer restaurants and checking out the changing scenes in the neighborhoods. I enjoy golfing in my free time and there are plenty of courses in the area to choose from. I also enjoy heading just outside of the city to places where I can kayak and fish.
What's the architectural detail your eye always gravitates towards?
On the exterior I like a modern, more contemporary designed home with brick and metal panels mixed with wood panels. On the inside, a beautifully designed bathroom will always catch my eye — and I most admire when there is enough space in a home to put together a really well thought out bathroom.
Favorite community organization.
I like going to zoning board community meetings so that I can learn what new construction projects are being presented and see what possible new developments are coming to the different neighborhoods.
What differentiates you within real estate?
I enjoy working with developers and the way that I can differentiate myself from other agents is that I consider myself part of their team. I will help find property, draft concepts or best uses of that land, go through the plans with the developer and architect to come up with the best design, attend the zoning board meetings with the neighborhood and city, visit the site throughout the building process, help pick out finishes and attend the closings for each seller so they can concentrate on finding more land and building.
One last thing...
I love animals and have 2 dogs and a cat that might as well be a 3rd dog. I personally jumpstarted a newer area of residential development between Port Richmond and Harrowgate in the 19134 zip code.