I always enjoy the first few weeks of a new year, because not only does it give the opportunity to plan ahead, it's also a great time to reflect back on the past year. I've learned over time that you really need to celebrate the little successes & milestones along the way! It's easy to get caught up in the daily grind without taking a step back to appreciate how far you've come.

That said, I always enjoy reading other people's 'year in review' posts, so I thought I'd pull one together looking back at the highlights we experienced as a team in 2018. Hope you enjoy!

The launching of Hometown Heroes

We created a really cool program to give back to our community called Hometown Heroes. In a nutshell, this program gives exclusive savings to police officers, firefighters, EMS and teachers in our area when they buy or sell a home. We hosted our 1st annual Hometown Heroes cookout where we invited all of these hardworking guys & gals out to our office for a free lunch from Pop's Diner, plus a chance to win some pretty sweet giveaways including a Big Green Egg. This was a blast and we can't wait to host again this year!

We also created Hometown Hereos boxes. These are boxes filled with goodies like snacks, discount cards, free drink vouchers, etc. We keep a couple with us at all times, and when we cross paths with a police officer, firefighter, or EMT out in the community, we present them with a box. It's been a pretty cool experience so far and we are excited to continue this in 2019. You never know how something small will have a big impact on somebody's day.

Finished up the interior of our office

Ok, so this one's taken some time but we made big strides on our office this year. We completed the entire inside. Our goal from day one was to make this a space that didn't feel like an office when you walked in the door. Not only is it a great place for us to work day-in & day-out, we hope that it feels like a good atmosphere to our clients when they come in as well.

We mastered staging

Ok, so maybe we don't have it 100% mastered, but we've made excellent strides. Like a lot of things, preparation is key when you go to sell a home. Whether it's an empty new construction listing, or a lived-in resale, adding a few well thought out pieces can make or break the presentation of a home.

We stepped up our open house game

There's always going to be a time & place for a typical 2-4pm Sunday open house, but we also started to see an opportunity to bring something else to the table. Insert- the Sip & See. We picked a mid-week evening and opened the doors to one of our new construction listings, offering wine & apps for visitors. Even though we tried this for the first time on a freezing, dark, winter evening... the idea was well received. We definitely plan on incorporating these evening open houses into the mix throughout 2019.

We continued to grow as a team

There's a saying out there 'Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much'. That couldn't be more true. One of the best things that came out of 2018 was how much we grew as a team. We trust each other fully and respect what each other brings to the table. We're here to help out & cheer each other on, but we're also not afraid to hold each other accountable. Three heads are so much better than one.

All in all we had a wonderful 2018. We helped tons of clients accomplish their goals through buying and selling homes. We met lots of new great people who we now call friends. We can't wait to do it all over in 2019! If we had to narrow down one goal for the new year, it would be to continue to think outside the box.. more often than not, it leads to great things!