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For CJ and Jennalee Lewin of Halifax, Nova Scotia, the idea of upsizing to a new home became a discussion point nearly six years ago. Taking into consideration Jennalee’s growing home-based esthetician business meant a unique set of criteria, and that limited their options. As with many people on their home buying journey, the Lewins’ search had been more exploratory rather than urgent. That is, until two years ago when they discovered they’d be welcoming a baby boy into their family.
Their small but central space no longer felt practical for juggling new parenthood and a home-based business, so their house hunt was reignited with vigour.
Image via Jennalee Lewin
Where home and work converge
“We knew where we were, that eventually we were going to grow out of it,” shared CJ. “But we had a lot of boxes we had to check for our new spot. And with Jennalee’s business, we pretty well had to have a seamless transition between the sale of our house and the closing dates on the new one.”
A unique set of parameters and specific date requirements had CJ and Jennalee reaching for the phone to call their long-time REALTOR®, Sarah Schlender of Parachute Realty in Halifax.
“Sarah has worked with me on two homes already, and she’s known that [this move] has been on our radar pretty well since our boy was born,” CJ explained.
Starting by independently reviewing listings online, CJ and Jennalee were able to get a rough idea of their price range and neighbourhood interests, but when it came to the specifics of sealing a deal with a home-based business in mind, Sarah was there to guide them.
Image via Jennalee Lewin
Special considerations for a home-based business
“I think for them, the neighbourhood was really important, because Jennalee already had a client base that was used to coming to her at her old home location,” Sarah explained. “She had to consider travel time and having a location that worked well for them. The other big thing was they wanted a walk-out basement because the clients would access the business by that separate entrance.”
Keeping these client-facing, home-based parameters in mind, Sarah counselled her clients on other important regulatory aspects of running a business in a non-commercial space.
“[The homes we looked at] didn’t have to have an established business in them, but we needed to do our homework to understand whether there were other home-based businesses nearby,” Sarah shared, highlighting an important aspect REALTORS® can help with as part of the home buying journey—assessing prospective neighbourhoods. “This would help us decide whether we’d want to add a business in a location where no others existed—and where it might upset the neighbours. With each home we considered, we looked to see if there was any precedent set in that neighbourhood.”
Image via Sarah Schlender
Striking gold and taking action
Early spaces viewed showed promise, but ultimately resulted in a pass from CJ and Jennalee as they considered the required renovations, pricing, affordability, and lifestyle factors. CJ admitted that trepidation was among the emotions felt during this phase of their search.
“I was like, ‘You know what, we’re good where we are. Let’s just wait a few years; we’ll be in a better spot financially to move to that next stage without compromises,’” he recalled.
A listing link shared by Jennalee a few months later proved to be the ticket to changing CJ’s mind.
“I’m the type of person where Jennalee can plant a seed, and she knows that at first, I’ll say ‘no chance,’ but if she lets it grow, I may change my mind,” he says. “I was on the horn with Sarah by that afternoon saying, ‘We want to see this house. Can you set it up?’ The next day, we went and viewed it.”
After actively looking for more than a year, CJ and Jennalee found their dream house this past spring. And as it goes with striking gold, they knew they’d have to move fast.
“I feel like my secret sauce is that I have good relationships in the business, and can pick up the phone and feel confident to talk, make connections and ask the right questions no matter the REALTOR®, whether we’ve done a deal in the past or not.” – Sarah Schlender
“Sarah advised us that she felt it was going to go quickly, and we needed to make a move on it,” CJ told us. “So we did, and Sarah was great throughout the whole process. She told us that the home would probably go over asking or have multiple offers, and to prepare three different tiers of numbers that we were comfortable with if we needed to revise our offer.”
Sarah shared her insights into the transaction.
“In general, it’s good to know if you’re in a multiple offer situation,” she said. “Sometimes, the listing agent will tell you how many offers there are or simply say you are now in multiples. When we structured the offer, we needed to know what would make it the most attractive to the sellers. Price is No. 1, but there are also pieces related to timelines and conditions.”
And how can a buying agent determine these details?
“For me, the biggest part is establishing a relationship with the listing REALTOR®,” she explains. “I feel like my secret sauce is that I have good relationships in the business, and can pick up the phone and feel confident to talk, make connections and ask the right questions no matter the REALTOR®, whether we’ve done a deal in the past or not.”
“We submitted our offer, and they accepted it the next morning. That was a wicked day,” CJ shared.
Image via Jennalee Lewin
A new chapter in a new space
CJ and Jennalee took over their new home in August, and they don’t believe it would have happened without Sarah’s help.
“Without a REALTOR®, I’d be shocked if we were in the position we are now,” Jennalee told us. “I don’t think we’d have gotten the house. She did such a good job staying engaged with the seller’s agent and making them understand how much we wanted it and that we had some room to wiggle. She did her job flawlessly, so I would say that without a REALTOR®, we’d probably be still snooping around online listings.”
But a new home isn’t the only big news in the life of the Lewins.
“It was crazy, actually—we found out our offer was accepted, and a week later, we found out that Jennalee is pregnant with our second baby!” CJ told us.
So now the Lewins have a new home, a growing family, and the knowledge that if they ever want to move again, their REALTOR® is simply a phone call away.
