Every quarter we celebrate the realtors, developers, and flippers who are so often our home staging clients. They are the ones who understand the value of home staging to sell homes fast – and to the right buyers. So, in honor of Get to Know Your Customers Day (we prefer Get to Know Your Client Day), we asked Dan Alden of ACRES - Alden Country Real Estate Services a few questions about himself and real estate in the Berkshires.

Q and A with Dan Alden

Q. How long have you been a realtor? And why did you get into real estate in the Berkshires?

A. I have been a realtor for 17 years. I was born and raised in the Berkshires, and grew up working in the antiques business at Bradford Auction Gallery, where I learned to appreciate the history and the value of a wide range of antiques & collectibles and the “art of the sale” (anyone lucky enough to have experienced a Bill Bradford auction will know exactly what I mean). I attended college in Chicago then returned to the Berkshires where I worked as a sales manager for various local and national gift and manufacturing companies. After deciding the Berkshires weren’t such a bad place to live after all, I built a house in New Marlborough and the intersection of this process with my sales experience and local knowledge led me into the real estate business.

Q. Houses have been moving like hotcakes in the Berkshires. What are the challenges and benefits of this type of market?

A. The biggest challenge in this market is that expectations and anxieties are running high on all sides. While many sellers are expecting (and often getting) top dollar for the properties, for every property that sells there is only one lucky buyer but often many frustrated under-bidders, and as an agent it can be very stressful to be the bearer of bad news and manage that disappointment. The benefit of this market is that where it used to take 4 to 6 months to sell a property, it now may take only a matter of weeks or even days.

Q. What do you find most rewarding about real estate?

A. The things I find most rewarding about real estate is getting to know the histories of the properties I sell and playing the role of matchmaker between sellers and buyers of unique & interesting properties. It is a fascinating process and always full of surprises that keep me on my toes.

Q. How did 2021 into 2022 go for you?

A. The past two years have been quite a blur and I have to keep looking back at the calendar to keep perspective on how crazy it has been. There are houses I’ve sold and resold in the same period of time that would normally play out over many years so time really feels compressed.

Q. What are you looking forward to for the rest of 2022?

A. I’m really looking forward to enjoying a laid-back Berkshire summer and taking advantage of our local arts & cultural offerings. We have so many amazing creative and artistic venues around here, and if I’ve learned anything in the past couple of years it is to not take any of it for granted.