Luxury is tricky to define but in the real-estate business, it’s a simple numbers game. Long and Foster, for instance, defines a luxury home as one priced at $1 million or above. So, when in mid-January, realtor Jennifer Chow listed a Potomac home for $6.3 million, there was no question about its luxury status.
As team leader for the top-producing group at Long & Foster Christie’s Potomac Village Office, Jennifer is an experienced representative of luxury buyers and sellers and, together with her team, she also regularly handles investment property, new construction, rentals, senior living, and townhomes for first-time as well as seasoned buyers and sellers.
Jennifer treats all clients the same. “If you’re selling a condo for $100,000 or a $6.3 million home, I make the same presentation,” she says. Regardless, she talks to clients about getting their home ready to sell, whether that means painting the interior a neutral color, staging it with items already in the home or bringing in an outside company to get the job done. “I have a licensed interior designer on my team,” Jennifer explains. “She goes in to pick colors and decides the best way to stage.”
Initial conversations about staging can be difficult. “Everybody is resistant to change,” Jennifer says, explaining how she coaches clients on the best way to present their home during a sale. “I always say ‘You are not buying the house, so the house is not gonna look like you when I’m done with it.’ You have to trust and believe in the process.”
Jennifer is often her client's second agent. “The first one didn’t have the client stage their home and it didn’t sell,” she says. “Then I come, and it sells.”
The $6.3 million home, which sits on Iron Gate Road in Potomac, is 17,000 square feet of perfectly staged grandeur. Featuring seven bedrooms, eight full and two half baths, the space also includes a wine cellar and additional wine room, a spacious gym, a massage room, a main-level entertainment and game room with its own TV and full bar, a 1,300-square-foot closet/boutique, and a beautifully landscaped two-acre lot anchored by an in-ground pool and hot tub with a pool house and built-in BBQ area.
Built by the acclaimed Bethesda-based Gibson Homes in 2002, this breathtaking property is filled with custom features such as an exposed-beam ceiling in the expansive kitchen, wood coffered ceilings in additional spaces, several balconies, exquisite chandeliers, an elevator, and four-car garage. The entryway evokes Hollywood glamour with its gleaming marble floor and magnificent curved staircase with custom railings fashioned from delicate iron scrollwork.
Jennifer says the market remains robust with many homeowners opting to sell for today’s top-dollar even if they haven’t found their next home to purchase. Jennifer tells potential sellers, “You can rent for a time and when the market cools down, we can find you a home to buy.”
For help during each phase of these transitions, Jennifer offers what she calls the white glove approach. “We help if they need a painter or a floor guy or to sell furniture. We assist with their move into a rental and with putting items in storage,” she says.
Jennifer holds client-appreciation events twice a year and says, “We treat everyone like family. I stay in touch with my clients and become friends with them.” Jennifer specializes in Potomac real estate, but has clients throughout the DMV, where she was born and raised.
Jennifer began her career in software sales. “Then I was a stay-at-home mom for 15 years,” she says, referring to raising her three sons who are now aged 14, 18 and 23. “When my youngest son was in first grade, I decided to do real estate.”
That was only eight years ago but, in that short time, Jennifer has earned too many honors to list, including dozens of “top agent” designations. She is also a member of five professional realtor organizations.
Jennifer’s team includes Cesar Canedo-Arguelles, Adam Benaim, Angeli Georgallas, Coreta Osborne, Laura Patallo-Sanchez, Madison Savanuck, and Joanne Schoengold.
“Mine is very different than a normal team,” Jennifer laughs. “Everyone does their own thing. I want them to learn from the ground up, including how to put a listing in the computer and how to do the paperwork. Most teams don’t work that way, but I feel it makes them better agents. They all do listings, and they all work with buyers.”
Jennifer serves on several boards and committees in professional and volunteer capacities. Her current and former involvement includes the Potomac Elementary PTA Vice President, the Avenel Potomac Swim & Tennis Club President, Winston Churchill Boosters Club board member, and Survivors of Domestic Abuse board member.
She asks her team to donate to charities and together, they volunteer for various local groups including the Capital Area Food Bank. “Last year,” she says, “We donated our full commissions to help one of our vendors purchase their first home.”
And no matter the price, buying your first home is one of life’s best luxuries.