After months of care and preparation, Sarah and Marty celebrate closing day with Jason Veenstra and the relief of a successful sale.

Since December, Sarah and Marty had been spending nights and weekends working on her mom’s house in Paw Paw. They cleaned it from top to bottom and made sure every detail was taken care of. By closing day, they were exhausted from the work and happy to have the sale behind them.

Their story on Birmingham Court was a family effort. After months of preparation, they wanted the home ready for someone new. Together with the Veenstra Team, they put a plan in place before it reached the market, worked through multiple offers, and stayed with the process through the final questions and a change in the closing schedule. On October 26, they reached closing thankful for the help along the way and relieved that everything they had worked toward was finished.

By Jason Veenstra | October 28, 2026

So much care went into getting the home ready

After a referral from one of our trusted lender partners, we began working with Sarah and Marty on the sale. By our September conversation, they had already spent months fitting work on the house around their other responsibilities. Nights and weekends had gone into cleaning the home from top to bottom and taking care of the details. Sarah was gathering records and manuals for the home’s systems, including the solar equipment and Generac setup. She also coordinated lawn care and worked on the details that would help the property show well.

They wanted to make the home just right for its next owner, and Sarah took care to understand each step along the way, from gathering information about systems she hadn’t personally used to reviewing the listing documents. She asked thoughtful questions, and we worked through them together, adjusting the paperwork to fit the circumstances of the sale and explaining the changes so she felt comfortable moving forward.

With so much work already behind them, having those questions answered gave Sarah and Marty a way to keep moving forward.

Seeing their work come together

Their preparation gave us a home ready to present. Before showings began, we coordinated professional photography and video, gathered the property information, and prepared the marketing. A property website and a feature story helped introduce the home, and we promoted a short video and the open house while following up with interested buyers and agents.

Sarah was enthusiastic when she saw the presentation. The home she and Marty had worked so hard to prepare was ready for prospective buyers to see.

We also had a plan for the first week. Showings would begin September 17, giving buyers the weekend to visit before a noon offer deadline on Tuesday, September 22. We would then review the offers together, giving Sarah time to understand the details before making her decision.

Within that first week of showings, multiple offers were in. We talked through the details of the offer Sarah ultimately chose, and she accepted it on September 22, just five days after showings began.

The plan had done what we put it in place to do: present the home well, give buyers time to see it, and bring the offers back to Sarah for a thoughtful conversation. Her decision came after that conversation, with the work she and Marty had put into the house behind it. There were still inspections and documents to work through before closing, but they had reached an important point in the sale together.

A few minor items came up during inspections, but after a brief conversation with Sarah and Marty, we were able to reach an agreement with the buyers and keep the sale moving forward.

One more change before closing

Near the finish, the anticipated Friday closing moved to Monday while the buyer’s lender finished its process. We stayed in communication about the revised timing and worked to accommodate Sarah’s work schedule.

Cindi talked through the practical handoff details with Sarah, including utilities and what to bring to closing. Emails, calls, and quick video updates helped keep the family informed as the sale progressed.

The schedule had changed, but on October 26, the sale of the Paw Paw home closed.

Happy, thankful, and ready to be done

Outside closing, we stopped for a photo together. Sarah and Marty were very happy and ready to be done. They had put a great deal of themselves into preparing her mom’s home for someone new, and that demanding work was finally behind them.

They expressed how thankful they were for all the work our team had put into helping them through the process. We were grateful for their trust and glad to share that happy moment with them.

If you’re helping a parent sell a home in Paw Paw or elsewhere in Southwest Michigan, we’d be glad to hear your story. Reach out to the Veenstra Team, brokered by eXp Realty, whenever you’re ready to talk.