How to Sell Your House During Covid-19

At Root, we want to help you sell your house during Covid-19 with your safety as our top priority. We want to assure you that you can still find a Realtor, sell your house, and #StayHome by following local and state guidelines. We’re confident in our Root process and have made innovative adaptations with the assistance of technology to give you a seamless transaction!

How To Sell A House During Quarantine

If you’re relocating for a job, want to downsize, or simply need more space for the kids now at home, the team at Root can help you sell your home. Here is how Root Realty will prioritize your health and your goals:

• Schedule a virtual Listing Appointment. Connect with one of the agents at Root to talk about selling your home! It’s important to find a REALTOR® who will sell your house and understand the ins and outs of the process. At Root Realty, our average is only 31 days on market, while the average Realtor in NE Florida averages over 70 days! You can connect with our team through a FaceTime call, Zoom meeting, Google Hangout, or phone call to discuss the best practice to sell your house. You will have the opportunity to ask questions, see the neighborhood comparisons, and more! Not only will you gain a new friend in the process, but you’ll better understand the steps you need to take to make your house market ready.

• Make any necessary adjustments. Your Root agent can help you understand what will add value to your house, before it hits the Multiple Listing Service. With extra time at home, your agent can give you advice as to the projects that will help sell your home quickly.

• Photo time! Our Preferred Partner, Residential Photography Solutions, is offering amazing packages for professional photos of your home. This will make our house stand out on MLS! He is also offering Virtual Home Tours, so you can provide buyers with an inside look at your home, while you both can shelter in place!

• Marketing begins! As your house hits the Multiple Listing Service, our team will focus on digital marketing to sell your house quickly. Your house will be posted on all of our social profiles to over 15,000 local followers! Additionally, our team will collaborate ways to market your home to buyers they are currently working with or anyone they know who may be interested within their network.

• Host Showings. Your health and safety are the top priorities of Root Realty and the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors. We are only encouraging in-person showings to those who are interested in making an offer on your home. As buyers become increasingly interested, your Root agent will coordinate with you to ensure you are comfortable with showings. You can go outside for your daily walk, while we ask agents to follow our #SafeForYourHome guidelines. If you’re interested in how we’re encouraging buyers to follow safety precautions, check out this post. We’ve created guidelines to help you reduce contact and exposure with anyone who enters your home. We are also allowing Virtual Open Houses, so people can call into a video chat for a tour and reduce contact in your home.

• Accept an offer. Your Root agent will help you handle your offer(s). She will present you with the offer(s) that have come in for your home, and you can discuss which option works best for you and/or your family. Then, everything from this point forward can be done digitally! You can connect via email, phone, text, or Zoom to discuss the process with your agent. Once you accept an offer, our incredible Transaction Coordinator, Beckie Hyatt from Transaction Medics, LLC, will make sure every element is in place for a stress-free closing!

• Allow inspections and appraisal. Each of our Preferred Partners, BW Home Inspections, Biltrite Home Inspections, and Southern Brothers Home Inspections, as well as appraisers we work with are certified with Covid-19 Safety Guidelines. They will wear masks, gloves, follow social distancing protocols, and are asking that no one attend inspections unless absolutely necessary. After completing the inspection, they will thoroughly sanitize your home.

• Complete a Final Walkthrough and Close Virtually! Our amazing Preferred Partners J. Riley Law, PLC. are offering Drive-Up Closings, so you can stay in your own vehicle but sign your documents! There are also options for mail away closings and digital notaries. Talk to your agent about the option that you’re most comfortable with!

How to Buy A House During Covid-19

Are you wondering how to buy a house during Covid-19? We know these can be scary times, but as always, Root Realty is here for you! We want to ensure you can still achieve your real estate goals while following the best practices for safety. We’re using technology and innovative practices to still bring you the incomparable Root experience.

How to Buy a Home During Quarantine

If you’re looking for a bigger home, relocated for a job, or simply want something new, we can help you buy a house during Quarantine! Here are some options on how to buy a home during Covid-19.

• Schedule a virtual buyer consult with one of our Root Agents. It’s important to find a real estate agent that best suits you, and as the Void #1 Best in Jax Boutique Brokerage, we know anyone on our team can help you find your home. We’re connecting with buyers through Zoom chats to get to know one another (foodies, favorite movies, etc.!), talk through your wish list, and to walk Once you through the Root Path to Home Buying. Feel free to ask our agents any questions about their experience and knowledge of the business. Once you’re confident in the Root process, you’ll sign a Buyer/Broker agreement and get to the fun parts!

• Search for Houses to Buy online. Once you’ve decided to work with Root, your agent will start putting together a list from MLS that will compile your wish list with what’s available in the current market. Take virtual tours through listing photos and even tour homes virtually with videos of select listings!

• Narrow your search. If you are loving a property, you and your agent will come up with a plan for you to see the home! First, your agent can give you a FaceTime tour of the home to get a better feel for the location, the closet space, the layout, and all of the fun details, so you can stay safe and #StayHome!

• Schedule a showing safely. Once you are ready to move forward on a property, we’ll schedule a showing of the home. It’s important for your safety and the safety of our team that only necessary personnel attend the showing. Your agent will wear masks, booties when available, and make sure that necessary doors are already open. We would encourage you to do the same! Throughout the showing, we’ll maintain a safe 6 foot distance from one another while still giving you the full experience of picturing yourself in this potential home. We’ve outlined our best practices for Root Buyers!

• Make an offer digitally. Your Root agent will handle all things offer related! She will work directly with the Listing Agent and ensure your offer will be presented properly. Everything from this point forward can be done digitally! You can connect via email, phone, text, or Zoom to discuss the process. Once an offer is accepted, our incredible Transaction Coordinator, Beckie Hyatt, will make sure every element is in place for a stress-free closing!

• Close on your new home! Our amazing Preferred Partners J. Riley Law, PLC. are offering Drive-Up Closings, so you can stay in your own vehicle but sign your documents! There are also options for mail away closings and digital notaries. Talk to your agent about the option that you’re most comfortable with!

Murrary Hill Gem

Murray Hill has recently taken off as one of the hottest neighborhoods in Jacksonville! Over the past couple of years, amazing restaurants, successful small businesses, and newly renovated homes have brought historic Murray Hill into the spotlight. One family-owned business, Faith Jewelers, has called Murray Hill home for over a decade, and paved the way for local entrepreneurs in this unique area.

I met with John Strickland, manager of Faith Jewelers, to learn more about the jewelry store and his family!

How did you decide to get into that business?
I’m not sure that there was a conscious decision on my part to become a jeweler. I’ve been around the jewelry business for most of my life! When I was a kid, my mom worked at her best friend’s jewelry store in downtown Jacksonville. I would go there after school and clean and polish jewelry for customers.  Years ago, just after her friend passed away, Mom decided to open her own jewelry store in Murray Hill. So I’ve been here in some capacity since the beginning, except for the time that I was a student at Florida State.

When did your business first open?
Mom opened Faith Jewelers on November 2, 2004. It’s easy for me to remember because November 2nd is election day. We’ve been here for almost 13 years now.

Is there a story behind the name of your business?
8 out of 10 small businesses fail within their first year, so opening any business can be a risky endeavor. That’s especially true when opening a fine jewelry store, because it costs so much money to stock the merchandise that people expect—gold chains, diamond engagement rings, birthstone jewelry, etc. My grandfather put the idea in my mother’s head about starting the business, but she was scared to death about finding the capital to open. My family isn’t rich, and at the time my dad (who was a K9 officer for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office) was the only source of income for our family. She put a lot of thought and prayer into the decision, and in the end, she decided to “step out on faith” and open the store. They mortgaged the house, and trusted the Lord, and that’s why she named it Faith Jewelers.

Gwen and JR Strickland- Owners of Faith Jewelers

What is a fun fact about your business?
We are masters of affordable customization. Speaking as a millennial, millennials LOVE having custom jewelry made, because we are all very special snowflakes, and each of us is unique among other snowflakes. So when it comes to a jewelry item that you wear every day—like an engagement ring—you really want it to speak to your own personal style.

The problem with custom design is that it’s typically very expensive, because you’re paying a person to design the jewelry item, then carve a wax model of it, then use the wax model to cast the jewelry item in gold or silver, and then they have to set all of the stones into it by hand—diamonds or whatever gemstones you choose.

We can do that the old-fashioned way, but my favorite thing is customization rather than custom. One of my favorite lines that we carry—Ever & Ever—allows us to take a ring that you like, and change the design online in real time (set different shapes, sizes or colors of stones, add or takeaway design components like halos and filigree, change the finish, you name it…) to make an end product that you absolutely love. The difference in cost is pretty remarkable, too. About $600-$1000 to the customer for a setting that would otherwise cost thousands.

A handful of the incredible custom diamond rings Faith Jewelers has made

What is the most rewarding aspect of your business?
Jewelry is special. If you think about many of the important moments in your life, jewelry is often involved. An engagement ring is probably the most ubiquitous example, but there are others: a mother’s ring or pendant for your wife after the birth of a child, a strand of pearls or a watch for someone who is about to graduate from school, or handing down a special heirloom when a loved one passes away. I think what is most rewarding is that I’m always getting to meet new customers, and they often wind up being friends because I catch them right before or right after some of their more meaningful milestones. It’s a special bond. I’m reminded of a customer that I had at the beginning of the year. It was a 94 year old woman who brought in an inexpensive Star of David pendant in sterling silver, that was set with marcasite stones. Her grandmother wore it when she came to America from Austria to flee the Holocaust. It had already been passed through three generations of women in the family, and she wound up giving it to her granddaughter that weekend when she turned 18.

John showing me the process of buffing, polishing, and rhodium-plating my rings!

What is your favorite local Jax restaurant?
Oh that’s a tough one. Can I pick two? I love the pork chop at Orsay, but the chicken and waffles at Moxie is pretty life changing, too. Okay, three. M Shack.

What is your favorite thing to do on a sunny Saturday?
Well, the jewelry store is open on Saturdays, so my weekend starts on Sunday. I usually roll out of bed, go to church, go eat somewhere, take a nap, wake up got to the Y (maybe), then head to the Dreamette for a birthday cake-dipped ice cream cone. And then it’s Netflix. Right now I’m watching Stranger Things.

What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy Saturday?
I’m kind of a nerd, so I usually like sitting on the front porch with a good book. 

How long have you lived in Jax?
Pretty much my whole life. I went to FSU, so except for the few years that I lived in Tallahassee, and my first job after college in Charlotte, NC, Jacksonville has always been home.

What part of town do you live in?
Not quite Riverside, not quite Ortega. I think the official name is “Fairfax Manor?”

I am treated like family every time I walk into Faith Jewelers! The warm smiles, customization, and attention to detail make this gem of a store stand out. Be sure to stop by and say hi next time you’re in Murray Hill!

EVERYDAY I’M SPARKLIN’

Faith Jewelers – 1165 S. Edgewood Ave. Jacksonville, FL 32205 – (904) 388-3340