Saturday, July 28, 2007

Greenhaven Community Garage Sale and Open House Tour

First, I want to THANK the people who helped make this event SUCH a success through active planning and effective teamwork!




The morning started with a slight overcast, keeping it nice and cool as early-birds started poking around as the garage sales started getting set up. By 9 am there were streets lined with cars and handfuls of people at every open garage! It was hard for us, at times, to keep up with the amount of people interested in the stuff that we were trying to sell! But THAT was a good thing!






The maps were available at the park pavilion (manned by Jennifer!) as well as our house and one other garage sale. This detailed map showed where each garage sale and Open house was and would be, as well as a brief snapshot of what each garage and home for sale offered.



Soon the Eagle (103.9 FM – Classic Rock) showed up for an hour of LIVE RADIO! The park (at the entrance of the neighborhood) was filled with Classic Rock! At EVERY commercial break, they directed (turn by turn directions, in fact!!) folks to the Greenhaven Community for the Community Garage Sale and Open House Tour! At one point, they even mentioned LivingInGreenhaven.com! (So, if you are reading this because of the Eagle, HI!)


The morning shoppers cleaned out many Greenhaven Residents' garages. Man! What a turn out we had! And what a perfect example of "One man's trash is another man's treasure!" We also had cinnamon rolls and bottled water at the park pavilion, as well as opportunities to donate to the Phil Long Community Fund – and their efforts to build one of Colorado's largest skate parks, in Memorial Park near downtown Colorado Springs.



In addition to the Classic Rock Station in the park, several neighbors (including yours-truly) got a surprise live-radio visit from Tammy Oakland from the PEAK (92.9 FM)– A Mountain of Favorite Music! Two live radio stations : One Garage Sale! Whoo Hoo!

When 11am rolled around, and the radio stations had left, we got a mini rain shower. Cooled things down a bit. Hotdogs were now being grilled up in the park pavilion.

(Thank you, Darin, for being the official Grill Transporter!)

This was also the time that the Open Houses started! We had the participation of 13 Home Sellers and their agents throughout the whole neighborhood. At each home, visitors had the opportunity to enter to win one of 3 awesome prize baskets. The rain seemed to slow traffic temporarily, but by early afternoon, we sure saw a surge in visitors!


My friend and I made our way around the neighborhood to check on our "Garage Salers" and Open Houses. To say that the Garage Sales were a massive hit, would be an understatement. Many neighbors walked away with hundreds of dollars and MUCH cleaner garages!




One of my favorite stops was at Erika's place. She had a Specialty Open House where she showcased products from some direct-sale companies that are represented in our Greenhaven neighborhood. We got to check out: PartyLite - Silpada - Inspired Aromas - Mary Kay - AVON!


The Open Houses had a better turn out than many agents had seen in awhile. Yay! Hopefully, this event helped some of these homes for sale in Greenhaven sell!

By 2pm, people were packing up (buying packages of leftover hotdogs) and getting ready for the drawing for the 3 Prize Baskets!

This Greenhaven Event was SUCH fun and SUCH a success!

Many thanks to our Open House Agent Contributors: Kathleen Benzie (Kenney & Company), Cheryle Burgess (Remax Advantage), Pam Whitson (Keller Williams), Lori Thompson (Remax Properties), Kathleen Kershaw (Remax Properties), Heather Joy (Remax Advantage), Brian Maecker (Remax Advantage), Daniela Galvan (Coldwell Banker), Jeff Piggot (Platinum Group Realtors), Jim Goodwin (McGinnis GMAC), Michael Carnahan (McGinnis GMAC), Wayne Curtis (Remax Properties), Kaylene Helling (John Laing Homes), and Derek and Mariana Wagner (Keller Williams Realty).

And a HUGE Thank You to EVERYONE who participated helped make this such a big hit. Everyone's cooperation and willingness to work together really showed our Greenhaven Community Spirit! I love where I live and I love what I do!
… I can't wait until NEXT year!

4 comments:

Chris Tesch, RE/MAX Bryan-College Station said...

Great post Marianna! It looks like fun was had by all and it's excellent community service as well!

Greenhaven Community said...

Thank you Chris! It was SO FUN! And I was seriously impressed with how much cooperation there was with all the neighbors and other agents!

Anonymous said...

FANTASTIC post! Congratulations. This has inspired me to host one in my own community. Great job!

Greenhaven Community said...

Thank you Kim. Everyone had SUCH a great time. One Garage Saler made the comment, "Oh my Gosh! I've made a killing! Thank you."