Agent Helps Newcomers Settle in Stamford

Margie Benefico has a number of tricks up her sleeve when it comes to helping the owners and landlords she represents sell or rent their properties.

“The biggest bang for your buck is fresh paint,” says Margie. “It will make a place look clean and fresh.” In addition to being a real estate agent, Margie is an accredited staging professional, which means she’s a dab hand when it comes to transforming a house or condo into a show house. “I go into a home and use what I find around the house,” she says. And if anything needs fixing, Margie’s long list of reliable tradespeople comes in handy.

Margie works a niche market in downtown Stamford. “Most of my clients are young professionals moving into Stamford for a new job,” she says. “They want to be near the stores, restaurants and the train.” After two years renting a luxury condo, the clients often turn to Margie for help buying their first home.

Margie used to spend endless days on the road in her previous career as a corporate trainer. “I used to train staff in sales and customer service,” she says. But after Sept. 11, 2001, she just didn’t want to travel as much. "That experience changed a lot of peoples' lives,” she adds. And she wanted a more flexible schedule to spend time with her two young children.

Margie has made “customer service” the mantra of her real estate business. She emphasizes that a good agent will treat a buyer purchasing a million dollar home or a renter of a $2,000 apartment in exactly the same way. “And I try very hard to stay in touch with my past customers,” she adds.

As Margie’s business grew so did her kids, both now in college. “I read a lot these days,” she says, quickly adding that she likes real books instead of a Kindle. “I like the feel of a book. I’m a friend of the Ferguson Library.”

Which do you prefer – a real book or an ebook reader? Just curious…fpearson@mainstreetconnect.us.

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