Marina Bullock
Lake Ridge/Woodbridge, VA
"During the selling/buying process, Elena was my advocate every step of the way, and my voice when I needed her to be. With almost 20 years of experience, she navigated each hurdle without batting an eye. From HOA issues to the many things I didn’t catch as a first-time homeowner, Elena walked me through each obstacle, and she made me feel empowered with every decision.
This woman literally works seven days a week and too often puts her clients before her own personal needs, despite my lectures about priorities. Although selling my townhouse was anything but stress-free, especially in the current market, and on top of everything else I was already managing, I would absolutely work with her again. She not only gets results, but she’ll get you the results you want. Just know it will not be a stroll in the park, because she believes hard work results in high payoffs.
She was honest and realistic about her expectations. Like when I was eyeing a cheaper fixer-upper, but she pointed out the additional stress that renovations would put on mom at this stage in our lives. Or when she talked me down from a beautiful $715k+ 4200+ sq.ft home overlooking the river, and she reminded me that I wouldn’t want to be working my life away just to pay my daily living expenses.
Whenever I was perfectly content with accepting an offer or addendum, Elena explained why she thought we could do better, and proceeded to use her negotiating skills to obtain results far beyond my expectations. And whenever I was insulted by a lowball offer, she was insulted alongside with me and would then proceed to demonstrate exactly why you would want someone like Elena on your team. 😳
When I met Elena, I told her one of my goals was to get my mom into a single family home that would be easier on her, versus the 3-story townhouse we were currently in. Mom wanted her own private in-law suite with a storage area where she could organize all of her balikbayan boxes. I also told her I wanted it to happen by the end of the year. Elena said we could make it happen with a little hard work.
Elena got us there but Mom was only a few days shy of seeing closing day. It just wasn’t in the cards. But she was so excited about getting there, showing all of her friends and family pictures of our next home, planning furniture placement, scoping out the neighborhood online for her favorite stores, and planning the house blessing and housewarming party. I know if mom were still around, she would be so happy here. Initially, mom had her doubts about Elena’s way of doing things. Sometimes mom would protest and say this expense was unnecessary or that process wasn’t needed. But as the weeks progressed, I would hear fewer protests from mom and a lot more of “listen to Elena, she knows what she’s doing”. If that isn’t an endorsement, then I don’t know what is. 😊"