Kelly & Laura are locals who have been successfully selling real estate here in the South Bay for 24 years now. They are sisters, both of whom attended South High School back in the day and whose children also attended the local South Torrance schools for many years. Kelly & Laura’s mother even worked for the local Re/Max broker back in her hey dey, so as you can see, selling South Bay real estate was an obvious path for them to take.
HOW DO KELLY & LAURA MEET THEIR CLIENTS’ NEEDS?
Every client requires a tailored approach and we take the time to understand what is important to them and remain in that gear for the entire transaction. We want our clients to know we are working for them! Our approach is easy – how we would want this deal handled if it was our property. We adjust our working style to embrace each client’s communication preference and help them feel comfortable and informed throughout the transaction.
WHAT DIFFERENTIATES US IN REAL ESTATE?
Kelly & Laura have been selling real estate for 24 years now and have many systems in place, yet completely understand that being adaptable and ready to customize a plan for each client is so important. Every transaction is different and every day is different. Believe us, we know how much real estate has changed over the last 24 years and it continually changes. As members of our local board of realtors, the Palos Verdes Board of Realtors as well as the larger Calfornia Association of Realtors and even members of the National Assocation of Realtors, we remain comitted to keeping ourselves abreast of the latest forms and laws that come down the pike, so we can do one of our most important jobs inside of a transaction and that is to keep our clients safe and away from any litigation. We remain vigilant in providing solution based service. Sometimes that includes hand holding while going over disclosures. Sometimes that means helping our clients re-design their entire home to get it ready for sale or sometimes it’s just paint and carpet (as they say!) Sometimes it’s helping sweep the front porch while we prepare for open houses! We are happy to help our clients in each of their real estate journeys!
WHAT SPECIAL SKILLS HELP YOU IN YOUR WORK?
The nice thing about working with us is that you get two for one! We both offer many special skills. We used to own our own retail store for a few years which really emphasized our strong marketing skills. We also each have a very strong work ethic, which is evident when you realize that we are there for you when you need us. We answer our phones ourselves or get back to you quickly! We both have a very strong sense of design and can lend a hand when it comes time to get your home prepared for sale or help you understand a floor plan when shopping for your next home.
HOW DO WE BALANCE CAREER, PERSONAL LIFE AND PASSIONS?
Work-life balance is very important to Kelly & Laura. We both have families who know we are in real estate and they understand that while we may work long hours, we still are very flexible with our time, which helps us be able to enjoy playing tennis, pickleball, going for a walk with our dogs or just hanging out with friends & family. We truly sort of embrace our realtor persona throughout all that we do. We love to fundraise within our community which helps us entwine our social lives with our work lives. We were born to be realtors is what we truly believe! We really love what we do, so work is not really a bad word for us!!
WHAT DO WE EXPECT TO SEE IN THE SOUTH BAY REAL ESTATE FOR 2024?
2024 brings a lot of promise with it. After the last couple of dry years in South Bay real estate inventory, we are now seeing a slight uptick in 2024 inventory, which will be great for buyers. Mortgage interest rates, which have been predicted to go down this year have not gone down. As a matter of fact, they are up some again. As of today, we are at about 7%, which is double what the last couple of years offered. While it is exasperating for some, those of us who have been selling real estate a long time understand that this is a normal interest rate. However, we still expect and hope for that matter, for it to come down into the 6% range this year. The real estate affordability index is so low in our area right now. It’s in the 16% range, which means that only 16% of households can afford to purchase an entry-level home in California. Prices have gone up quite a bit over the last few years due to a lack of inventory. It’s the old economics 101 ‘supply and demand’ addage in play. The theory for 2024 is that sellers who have not moved in a long time will decide it is time now to downsize, upsize, move closer to family (or further 😉 ), get job transfers/go back to working in the office, have kids, or other life cycle situations that will cause them to put their house on the market and then get the cycle started again. We are here for any of your life changing needs, so please keep us in mind and we promise to answer our phone when you do call us!! We would love to show you in person how easy and fun we can make your next real estate transaction!