Ben Fornshell

Adm. & Mrs. R~,

This is an update on your condo for sale at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria VA. I’m giving you this status report publicly. Don’t worry, I’ll never share privileged information in a public forum such as this—that’s why I’m withholding your name above. But, my experience has shown that this publicly reporting this sort of information will increase your condo’s Internet profile and will raise awareness among potential buyers.

Let me start by saying Richard Blaine completed the updates in the kitchen and bathrooms. I went by to inspect as soon as he was finished. The new appliances are installed. The new floor in the kitchen looks especially good. He also completed all the painting. After my inspection, I found some spots in the master bedroom that needed a second coat, and Richard had no problem with heading back for a correction.

He claimed it was a little dark for him to see in that bedroom (more on that later) and I told him to buy some shop lamps. He purchased the lighting he needed so that won’t happen to him again and then finished up the work. If you’d like to take a look at the place, you can find a virtual tour online here.

After Richard was done, he cleaned the place, but it wasn’t quite to a military standard—if you know what I mean. So, I contacted Nidea Cortez, a cleaning lady who has and continues to do excellent work for us. I put her crew to work in the place removing dust, washing baseboards, cleaning and shining. They charged me a couple hundred bucks and I’m glad to pay it. The condo now sparkles. I took most of the pictures you see in the virtual tour and a few more pictures for good measure.

Then, as fortune would have it, I had a family member pass away and on the way to the funeral I caught a mild case of food poisoning. (Never again McDonald’s, no matter how much of a hurry I’m in.) It was a rough couple of days, but during that time, I put the listing in the MRIS. I contacted the Realtor who had heard rumors of our pending sale, and almost immediately her client and others started a flow of traffic. I feel that our marketing campaign and our price must be pretty close to right, because potential buyers are coming through the place.

But I received some feedback that the place “seemed dark”. (Maybe this was why Richard missed a few spots in the master bedroom.)

As you know, I like this unit at the Torpedo Factory because it’s so close to the Carlyle House and so close to King St. I like this condo because the patio will get a nice patch of shade in the oppressive summer months which will make that patio usable in Virginia’s summer heat.

This condominium had never seemed dark to me, but I went by to re-inspect just as sunset was approaching. While I was there I realized that the condo has almost no overhead lighting. Most of it is designed to work from switched-plugs and lamps. I knew that someone was coming by to see the place the next morning, so I ran out an purchased a couple of standing lamps to place in the unit.

It took me a bit to assemble the lamps last night but I’m happy I did
it then. While I was putting the second lamp together, a Realtor and
client entered the property. I got the second lamp up and hustled out. I must mention that I really think the design of the lamps suits the condo.

BTW, while I was there I snapped the picture below to show others just how pretty the courtyard is at the Torpedo Factory after dark.

As you know, one my specialized areas of expertise is marketing real estate on the Internet. This post is one more drop in our tidal wave of Torpedo Factory information resources. Torpedo Factory dot com and Torpedo Factory dot info both prominently feature your condo. If a consumer uses Bing, Google or Yahoo to search for “Torpedo Factory condos” or “Alexandria condos” or any other of a number of searches, they will probably find your condo. I’ve also posted this listing at Postlets.com which plugs the listing into another tier of real-estate related Internet searches. One of the things you might notice at Postlets is that this condo scored a perfect 100 on its Walk Score. (Read more about Walk Score here.)

After assembling the lamps, I stopped on the way out to snap this night photo of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. I think it helps illustrate this condo’s proximity to the waterfront.

In closing, I still can’t promise with absolute certainty that this condominium at the Torpedo Factory will sell quickly.  This is still a tough market for sellers. But I can say with complete confidence, that we’re going to get noticed by the types of people who will be interested in condos like the Torpedo Factory. I can guarantee we will have interested buyers touring our place online and in person. We know this is a great property in a great location. We feel the price reflects the discounts that have hit the entire market. And, at this time of this posting, we’re also the most affordable unit for sale at the Torpedo Factory.

Additionally, I expect that Ben Fornshell will host an open house next Sunday at the Torpedo Factory.

November and December are always slower sales months because of the holiday, but I think our outlook is bright. I will not be surprised if we end up with competing offers on this condo, and I’ll keep you apprised of all offers. Enjoy your trip overseas and I hope the family is all doing well.  We look forward to your safe return.

About the Author — Will Nesbitt is the principal broker of Condo Alexandria and Will Nesbitt Realty. Will specializes in condos, townhouses and single family residences in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, Crystal City, and Kingstowne. Will resides in Belle Haven Estates just outside Alexandria VA in Fairfax County.