We recently connected with Lindy Sherer and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Lindy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
My husband, Joseph, entered into the real estate game while attending UT-Knoxville by buying a house and renting out the rooms to his friends. He got hooked and soon after bought another house down the street to rent to other college students. We got married while he was in medical school and ended up purchasing another one in foreclosure for a wapping 24,000 (to be clear- we offered 20k, lost it, came back on the market and we paid full asking at 24K). We took it down to the studs, renovated it, and lived in it for a few years. This trend has continued throughout the years, giving us an early taste of both the hardships and rewards of being in the real estate market.
Personally, as a medical student and then resident’s wife, I made adjustments to move throughout my time practicing counseling. As soon as I joined a new practice and developed relationships with my clients it was time to transition elsewhere leaving me feeling as if I couldn’t give my clients the consistency they so desperately needed. On our move to Miami I paused counseling for this reason-cue having a baby- and naturally my whole work perspective shifted. While living in Miami, expenses were high and medical resident income was low. We started short term renting our back garage that we renovated into a “living space” and it finally made Miami a little more affordable for us. I could manage the property while staying at home with my daughter and it was such a gift.
Fast forward to our family moving to our forever home in Nashville I had a decision to make: Return to practicing counseling where my hours would be long and emotionally taxing or bring our renovating game to the Nashville market, one that my husband and I could create a team and I could pick my kids up from school each day. Living in East Nashville, we saw a wonderful opportunity to bring new growth into an area already full of character and charm. During the pandemic families had been moving from all over the country into the area, demand was extremely high and inventory low. We saw developers building carelessly and a final product that didn’t fit in with this beautiful area. We knew we could build a quality product. One that would bring value to the community and provide a functional and appealing space for the new owners. It was a no brainer for us to move together in this direction and we haven’t looked back.
Lindy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m a listener and helper by trade with a strong desire to make things functional and beautiful. It’s a combination that assists in renovating properties with the new owners in mind, constantly asking myself how they will be using the spaces we are creating. This also helps when working with buyers and sellers, listening first and placing their desires and needs as the first priority in the process. For me, it’s not about how much I’m producing but the quality of the product I’m creating. If it’s not going to provide value for the client and for our community we will wait on another property that will.
Specifically as a real estate professional with a renovating background I can help my buyers find their ideal location first and then create the home they’ve always wanted by connecting them to general contractors, subcontractors. I’m also glad to assist in project management. Additionally, for clients wanting to sell their home that might need some love before it hits the market I can help in staging which often includes the furniture and decor seen in the featured homes.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
On our first large scale renovation in Nashville it was time to choose an exterior paint color. I painted multiple samples on the front of the house. I knew we wanted dark gray but the sunlight was so strong on different parts of the house they all seemed to change throughout the day. After a week of indecisiveness and asking every neighbor and friend for their opinion we finally chose “cracked pepper”. As I was walking our kids home from school one day, I was so excited to see the painters had knocked out the entire exterior. I walked closer then stepped back to hope it improved. The color didn’t look like the sample and I kept trying to tell myself it was the afternoon sun. The next day I ran back over to reassess in the morning light and a neighbor stopped me in the yard to tell me how much she liked the shade of purple we’d found. After weeks of attempting to blend our purple house with trim paint and every other trick in the book, we surrendered to repainting the entire house. A costly mistake but on the upside, the new color “Iron Ore” was the perfect modern dark gray and is now our go to exterior paint!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.zeitlin.com/agent/620-a-df210526110810840511/lindy-sherer
- Instagram: @lindysherer
Image Credits
@jamiehuntphotography @justinlfrickerephoto