"Virginia only works with high-quality people"

After living quite a few happy years in Sun City, Cheryl and Richard Wills moved to a new cottage at Wesleyan Independent Living at the end of 2019. With the guidance of Virginia Lazenby, they’re very glad they made the change. Virginia was their connection to everything that they needed to accomplish for a "flawless move. I don’t know how we would’ve done it without her.“ The Wills would know because this was their 10th move including relocations throughout the US and internationally.

The first instrumental part of the move was recommended by Virginia — a service called Life’s Next Step which provided move management assistance. In other past moves, we would’ve had to do everything but this time, Linda Carter and her employees took the job in hand and freed them from us. They packed everything in special cartons and on the morning of the move, they were loaded onto the truck (two trucks actually) and delivered to the opened the cartons and followed our detailed written directions where everything was to be placed — right down to specific shelves in kitchen cabinets! By end of day everything was set up and that night we slept in our own beds happily at home. The pictures were on the wall the kitchen was completely set up — it could not have gone better.

But of course, that wasn't the end — there was still stuff left at the house that had to be disposed of and the house had to be made ready for sale.

An estate sale overseen by Holly Brun's Relic Road Estate Sales and her family was held at our Sun City property. "It was very well organized, and we made way more than we ever expected. After the estate sale, Virginia recommended Patrick McKay of Five Star Traderz who purchased the remainder of our goods and disposed of everything. While preparing their Sun City home to sell, Virginia recommended that the Wills' should engage Roger and Debbie Brockway, a married team that specialized in getting the house prepared for sale. The Brockways assessed the home and identified areas of potential concern to prospective buyers or that could be noted in the home inspection. We agreed on work to be completed — it was important to us to put a good product out there.

The house was on the market at the end of September and three months later we closed. Virginia took care of everything before the closing date and the buyers signed by email with no glitches or problems.

Looking back, we would work with everyone involved in the sale and move again because Virginia only works with high-quality people.

 

"Virginia helped us buy twice in Sun City and sell once — all with great outcomes."

 

 

 

 

Mike and Darlene Swaney became aware of Sun City during Mike's service in the Air Force in Texas — in fact he and his family were posted to the Lone Star State twice during his career. Later, after Mike retired from the service and found employment in the aerospace industry in Alabama, he and Darlene returned to Texas to visit their children and grandchildren. As they planned for their retirement, the Swaneys renewed their interest in Sun City because as Mike said, "prices were always strong there." They became aware of Virginia Lazenby's expertise and knowledge of Sun City and Georgetown and engaged her to help them find a home in Sun City. Virginia showed then a variety of properties and took them to their current home. She negotiated favorable terms while they remained in the home where they were living in Alabama.

Later, Virginia helped Darlene‘s parents find a home in Sun City after they decided to move from their home in Ohio to be closer to everyone on Texas. Virginia helped negotiate the purchase quickly and also secured some valuable concessions from the sellers. After moving from Ohio, Darlene's mother required increased care that required her to leave their home and necessitated her dad to move in with the Swaneys.

Virginia was enlisted one more time, helping to sell the parents' home. Mike reports that the property actually sold in record time despite Virginia's recommendation of an asking price that surprised Mike because it was much more aggressive than he was expecting. It sold at almost full list with very few concessions. The sale closed in 30 day.

During the process of buying and selling, Mike and Darlene have come to rely on Virginia as a good source of information and resources. "Most important, she’s very compassionate and has a deep sense of regard for seniors."

"Our house was on the market for two weeks then Virginia called with a very acceptable offer."

 

Bill and Beverly Holland had lived in Sun City for 15 years. After moving from Corpus Christi, they had lived in three different residences in the community. Now they were beginning to feel the need to trade the trials and tribulations of home ownership for the freedom of moving to an independent living community.

Beverly said, 'We had been looking at eventual solutions — I was an avid attendee at Virginia‘s Seniors Living Smarter seminars. I had been in the mood to move every time I came home from one of those events, but Bill felt we were too young and wanted to wait." As Bill explained, "We had recently spent a lot of money to improve the house and I wanted to enjoy them before we moved."

"We also went on a couple of field trips Virginia organized to local independent living communities and we found much more than we hoped for in terms of amenities and the lives seniors were enjoying with their new-found freedom. Our heads were completely turned around.

After Bill had a medical event that took us to the emergency room, when we returned home, he’d changed his mind. They made an appointment at the Provident Crossings Retirement Resort and selected a residence that lived up to their requirements.

"We went to Virginia right away and told her we wanted her to list our house. In less than 12 hours she presented us with all the market statistics and comparable listings. She took the bull by the horns, putting us in contact with people who could help us get through the whole experience. Our house was on the market for just two weeks when Virginia called us with a very acceptable offer. "

"She treated us like we were her only client."

Virginia Is Responsive!

What was crucial for us in choosing Virginia to be our Realtor® was that she promptly responded to our online request for information.  We liked Virginia’s bio and we related to her. She listens and didn’t bombard us with “things”. She made good suggestions through our negotiations, bringing it all together for a successful closing. In everything she does, Virginia demonstrates that she likes people and likes the contact. She stays in touch and considers her clients as friends.

Virginia Really Came Through For Us!

We were former Texans who were living in Pennsylvania before deciding to move to Sun City. We had relatives who lived in other areas of Texas, and we thought Sun City in Georgetown would be a great place to retire. In February 2006, we decided to take a look at some Sun City homes online. We inquired about one of Virginia’s listings. From that point on, it was nothing but good timing for us! We decided to take a little vacation and visit Sun City. Over a two day period, Virginia took us all around Sun City and other nearby areas, as well. We chose Sun City to be part of an active-adult, planned community.

We went back to Pennsylvania to sell our home which happened within two days of putting it on the market. we closed on that home in early May. Arranging for our household goods to be put in storage for 30 days,  we returned to Georgetown – homeless -- on Sunday May 14 th.   We met with Virginia on Monday, 15th and Tuesday, May 16th and made an offer on a home. The offer was accepted on Wednesday, May 17th, with no glitches in negotiating! On June 14th we closed on our new home. All the while, we enjoyed good communication with Virginia, who paved the way for the things we’d need, like a home inspector.

Virginia is enthusiastic about what she does… and we have become good friends. She continues to contact us with mailings and invites us to her Annual Client Appreciation Event, an evening of baseball at the Round Rock Expres.

I Valued Virginia's Thinking and Expertise

I came to Georgetown from Tucson---kinda’ kickin’ and screamin’--- because of twin grandchildren who lived here. This town has really grown on me, and I've grown to love it.  It's such a friendly area and I've found a great church home. I love the small town feel, the square, the unique shops and the convenience to many cultural events, both locally and in the Austin area. I like the diverse makeup of people. It’s like a melting pot.

I liked Virginia from the start. I valued her thinking and expertise. She listened to my wants and needs and arranged for me to see houses meeting my criteria – not ones she wanted to sell. She was especially helpful in refocusing my attention on what I had said was important when I get sidetracked.  She followed through on every detail and explained things to me that I didn't understand about Texas real estate law and taxes.  She helped me find local movers, utilities and other things I needed to know.

Virginia’s  Knows Her Job Inside and Out

Virginia treats people like friends. She makes you feel welcomed. She’s genuine and she is now actually my neighbor, living right down the street! Virginia’s knowledge of all aspects of buying, selling and moving are complete. She is very energetic and handled our transaction like clockwork! And, she also gifts us with a can of black-eyed peas every New Year’s Eve. In the South, it means good luck!

We like Sun City because it isn’t too big; we like the weather; all of the amenities in the community and the closeness of Austin, Dallas and Houston. We’re hoping our friends will move here!

Maybe It Was Time For A Change…A Brand New Experience… A New Life!

We were on vacation when we stopped in Sun City to visit friends. We had no intention of buying a house. Our friend asked Virginia, who had been their Realtor® when they bought their Sun City home, if she would show us homes.  Our friend considered Virginia a dear friend and was eager for us to meet her and for her to show us some homes which she did. We continued our vacation through the Texas Hill Country and then knew that we wanted to get back to Sun City. The people were friendly and helpful. The small town atmosphere appealed to us as a retirement community; in fact, it was a big plus. And there were three golf courses here, opposed to one in Tulsa…and we are both avid golfers. Hmmmm.

We had lived in Tulsa for 20 years Maybe it was time for a change…and a brand new experience… a new life! We had taken care of elderly family in Tulsa; our children were grown and very supportive, yet my husband thought, “She’ll never downsize enough…and never move”! We returned to Sun City and found a floor plan we fell in love with. We returned to Tulsa and put our house on the market---at the very beginning of the economy crash, but we were fortunate to sell our home.

In Sun City, Virginia was instrumental in negotiating our offer and monitoring the transaction until it was perfect. Everything came into place so nicely. When we stopped by the house for our “walk-through” before going to the closing of the sale, neighbors, who were out walking their dogs, stopped by to introduce themselves. We knew we had found the right place.  In our neighborhood there are activities throughout the year ---ladies lunch and men go out to dinner, together, once a month. Everybody is in the same boat: around the same age, mostly retired with the same lifestyles and enjoying it!

Virginia is such a dear person. She treats you like family. One by one, clients become part of Virginia’s “extended” family! She remains in contact and keeps our interests on the front burner throughout the year with mailings, stopping by with small gifts including pecan pies and her traditional black-eyed peas on New Year’s Eve, and inviting us to baseball games.

Virginia Is A “Concierge” for the Community and the Neighborhood

We were “part – time” when we fell in love with Sun City.  It is such a unique community offering the feel of a smaller town, where everyone knows everyone. Everyone is so friendly.

At the time of my retirement in 2003, we were living in Katy, TX, where Deanna worked for the school district and I was an engineer. I love to golf. We decided to buy a smaller second home for “golf- getaways” and try out Sun City while keeping our home in Katy. We tried out the area and loved it so much that in less than one year, we decided to sell our home in Katy and buy a larger home here in Sun City. Virginia was our Realtor to purchase both homes, lease one of the houses and then to sell our first Sun City house. We appreciated her work and pleased with the results.

Virginia continues to stay in touch with cards and letters. This is her personality. She often stops by, sometimes with new Sun City residents or potential residents. On New Year’s Eve she makes her signature delivery of black-eyed peas. In addition, Virginia knows everyone and every service, from hairdressers to doctors. She’s like your “concierge” for the community.