Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom von Zabern.
Tom, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
After 33 years of work in corporate and franchised real estate offices, the desire to work independently and be free had become irresistible, and during the holiday season of 2014 I said good bye to my boss and set up my own office in my Cambridge home. I had worked for some good companies over the years, but have no regrets about being independent! There’s that marvelous ability to be creative, to be free from the obligation to use corporate logos and graphics. If a property is fun to live in and has great period architecture, there’s nothing to stop me from highlighting that during a presentation, and I am free to use anything from fabulous antique cars to period furniture to highlight the era the property represents. Call it a boutique approach to real estate, rather than a corporate one.
My work encompasses traditional real estate brokerage as well as home design and assisting clients buy, renovate and re-sell property for architectural preservation and profit.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It was a remarkably easy start. The systems required to operate with the same sophistication as the big companies were readily available and the people running them were uniformly helpful. Within the first ten days, one of my business contacts referred a listing to me which quickly sold with seventeen offers, so it was a good start. The business runs extremely efficiently with a low carbon footprint and nearly all paperwork being done electronically. There’s no big overhead, no large staff to be paid, no maintenance staff required to keep up the office. Items such as brochures are outsourced. All attention is directed to my clients, not towards maintaining a corporate infrastructure.
Challenges? Obviously there have been some. For instance, when you exit a corporate setting you leave behind the coffee-room communication in which information is traded informally about upcoming listings, client needs and so on. So you have to stay on your toes and keep feelers out in the broader real estate community to remain current and up to date on the market. In the broad scheme, it is no more difficult to operate independently than it is to work in a large office.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Historical Homes story. Tell us more about the business.
I help people upgrade and improve their home situation. It’s that simple. Whether is it a matter of helping a first-time home buyer find and purchase a home that is both functional and beautiful, or helping elderly clients downsize after their children have grown up and moved out, the task is to smoothly orchestrate a change that enhances the client’s quality of life. That philosophy has been retained and carried over from the corporate days, and is centered on the commitment to stick it out with the client until the task is done. If you have unusually specific needs in your home search, I’ll stand by you until the right property is yours. It doesn’t matter to me if that process takes a week, a year or longer.
Then there’s the design and renovation part of the business. Our area is marked by chronic shortages of available inventory and quite frequently, there simply is no such thing as the “right” property for a specific client. It just does not exist in the marketplace. In that case it is necessary to adapt a property that is reasonably close to what the client wants, and to make the changes to perfect the fit. Now it becomes a partnership with the client, and together we have done these multiple times. Add a bath here, open a wall here, fine-tune the kitchen, reconfigure this particular room dynamic, and voila! — The house is perfect for the client.
Many years ago, I discovered quite by accident, that I have the ability to stand in a property and to close my eyes and literally “see” what that property would look like if specific architectural changes were made. This has enabled me to accurately describe the resulting effect to my clients over the years, and to date the architectural changes we’ve made have met or surpassed their expectations. A decade ago, I earned a construction supervisor license (builder license) to anchor this aspect of my business.
A further aspect is a small but loyal group of clients who purchase one property per year to renovate and re-sell. I provide the design work for them and in some instances the necessary contracting team to make it happen, and within eight or nine months the client’s ugly duckling property has been transformed into a swan, ready for re-sale. The property has been rescued and the client earns a good income.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I have been fortunate to have had clients who have sent multiple friends and family members who in turn have sent their friends who in turn have sent theirs………………
My business has grown by word of mouth. It’s been a privilege to be able to earn a living in this manner.
Contact Info:
- Address: Historical Homes
230 Chestnut Street,
Cambridge, MA, 02139 - Website: https://historicalhomes.org
- Phone: 617-354-1143, office. 617-817-4098, cell
- Email: tomvonz1@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Historic-Homes-133729603388389/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HomeInCambridge
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