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Chris “rescued” my wife and I from a very unresponsive broker who was not getting the job done! Even though there was an oversupply of Fan homes in our selling price range, Chris took over the listing on a Wednesday at the end of June, staged an open house the very next Sunday, kept traffic flowing until we had a contract and CLOSED on September 1st!!!! Incidentally, after the contract was signed, Chris continued to really earn his commission. He worked with the cooperating broker to increase the Buyer’s initial offer enough to cover much of the renovation costs we incurred getting the house ready for market. He lives and owns property in The Fan, loves the neighborhood and is an indefatigable worker on his clients’ behalf. The lucky Sellers will call Chris first!

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 knowledgable 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.

“I read a statistic recently that 40% of people ranked the home buying process as the most stressful event of their life and that many of those people were brought to tears at some point over it. It’s hard to imagine that being the case when you have a realtor like Matt Lewis. Matt approached our home search as if he was looking for his own- pointing out things we should be aware of, fighting for our best interests and making sure we were completely satisfied. We especially appreciated how flexible he was with his time. My husband and I were out of the area during our search and Matt made himself available at all hours of the day/night to check out places on our behalf and get us detailed and transparent answers to all of our questions. Matt never got frustrated with our requests and we never felt rushed or pressured to make a decision. He is extremely knowledgeable about all things real estate, but also about the Richmond area. His passion for his clients shows in everything that he does and I can’t think of a more honest or reliable person to entrust with one of the most important decisions of your life.” 11617 Candle Ct, Henrico, VA 23238

We came to Richmond from out of state and didn’t know much about how the housing market works here, so we were fortunate to have met Tawana Gatling. She really listened to our description of what we were looking for, and took us to a select group of townhouses—one of which turned out to be exactly what we wanted. After we made our decision, Tawana was great at guiding us through the contract process via e-signing. In addition, she referred us to several home inspection companies and helped us find legal representation. Not only that, she also coordinated the home inspection while we were out of town. She was extremely attentive and always kept the process moving smoothly. We always felt like she was on our side. We highly recommend Tawana. She is extremely professional and a pleasure to work with.

Chris provided me with a detailed marketing plan for selling my home as well as a checklist of items to take care of to ensure that my home showed well. He also provided referrals as needed to help me take care of small projects. His advertising was well done and all operational items (such as scheduling appointments) went well. The home sold quickly and for the price I wanted. Chris ensured a smooth closing. I was very pleased with his professional demeanor and knowledge.

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 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.

My wife and I were fortunate enough to be represented by will throughout the majority of our home buying process. We worked with a few other agents at first who we did not feel had our best interests at heart. This was not the case with Will Freshwater. Will made sure he understood what it was that we needed and wanted in a home. He worked tirelessly for us and we never felt like he was trying to “make the sale.” Will was constantly available for showings, timely in responding to emails and always willing to answer the phone for any questions we had along the way. He was extremely knowledgeable and seemed just as passionate about finding a home for us as we were. My wife and I both mentioned throughout the process that we will certainly be using Will again in the future. We could not be happier with the service and attention we received from Will Freshwater and the rest of the Small & Associates team. Jacob Maupin

James was very knowledgeable and helpful as a buyer’s agent for someone who is completely new to the Richmond area. He was calm and professional when some of the process took a little longer than desired. He was a tremendous help with finding a home, knowledge of the inspectors, and knowing what  to ask for. In all, the home-buying process was made easier and the stress kept to a minimum, for as much as home buying can be viewed as not stressful.

Last year, while we were having no luck selling our house in the Museum District for $508,000, Chris Small sold a similar house on our block for more in the first week it was on the market. So we asked him to list our house. He had very good advice about what it would take to sell it, and he made sure the work got done efficiently. When we brought the house back on the market, it sold the first weekend for $590,000 – $30,000 over his suggested list price. I was amazed. We had a great experience with Chris, and I’d highly recommend him to others.