Dave Swartzbaugh - REALTOR® & Associate Broker

About Dave

YOUR AGENT FROM START TO FINISH

I have been a NoVa resident since 1985, licensed Realtor since 2001 and Associate Broker since 2006. As a top producer in my office I consistently sell 9-17M in dollar volume per year. This equates to about 20-25 sales a year so I stay busy while also having time to take great care of my clients w/out hiring a transaction coordinator or buyer's agent.  I do not work w/ a team. I am your agent from start to finish and I find my clients appreciate this very much. 

BUYER'S AGENT / SHOWING HOMES

I was nicknamed “AgentDave” by past clients early on in my career b/c of my tenacious style of showing homes to my Buyers. Rather than simply walking around and pointing out the floorplan I instead try to bring a critical eye to the experience and highlight various things that might go unnoticed. I am NOT a home inspector but I have picked up a few things attending 20+ years of home inspections so I try to share some of this experience w/ my clients. I try my best to locate the age of various mechanicals like the water heater or appliances, type of siding, how well the yard is graded, condition of wood trim, etc., If I see cracks in the walls or ceiling I point it out. The same goes for stains in the carpet or loose floorboards out on the deck. The home buying process is a very emotional experience and buyers are often being influenced by less objective factors while touring like “where does my TV go?”. So I find my role focusing on these other items brings more value to the showing experience for my clients. “This is the living room” (other agent) vs “Notice the water stain on the ceiling” (me) -If you’re looking for a tour guide I may not be the right Realtor for you.

SELLER'S AGENT / LISTING HOMES

I highly recommend performing multiple walk throughs of the home with my seller early in the process. I take a look at the property as a potential Buyer would in an effort to point out any potential issues or updates that might be needed as we prepare the home for sale. I provide feedback on the exterior curb appeal, the level of personalization w/ family photos or paint colors, & if any valuables or meds need to be stowed away for safe keeping, etc.

I offer professional photography, floorplans, and 3D virtual tours for all of my listings. Professional photography is an absolute must in any market especially the current one as competition between sellers grows more fierce. I comb through all of the pictures and select only the best and most helpful for the listing. I recommend not using all of them as our prospective buyer’s attention span will probably not tolerate 80-100 pictures for a townhouse or modest single family. The professional floorplans are very helpful for a multitude of reasons. They help buyers quickly understand the flow and layout of the property. They clearly show a rooms dimensions and calculate the overall finished and unfinished square footage of the home. Floorplans are also easily displayed online taking up only 1-4 slots w/in the photos. 3D Virtual Tours– These property tours have come a long way in the past few years.  Now they are much easier to navigate on your phone & tablet providing a realistic perspective on the way a home flows from room to room.  When activated online in the Multiple Listing Service (Bright MLS) your listing will disseminate to all of the various 3rd party websites (Zillow, Realtor, Weichert, etc).  The photography and floorplans will automatically transfer regardless of the websites.  The 3D tours will be dependent upon the website.  Some make these tours more accessible than others.

ABOUT DAVE

My family moved to NoVa in 1985 & I grew up in Loudoun County attending Broad Run HS in Ashburn.  After graduating from The College of William & Mary in 2000 I lived and worked across Fairfax, Alexandria and Arlington providing a broad range of expertise throughout the Northern VA area.  I now live in Reston with my wife and five daughters.  I enjoy watching my girls swim competitively, play soccer, ballet, & of course spending time with family and friends.