Listing Homes with Love

Julie Welter, Realtor®

If you are considering buying or selling your Upper St. Clair home, you need to get to know Julie Welter. While only a licensed real estate agent for four years, in that short period of time, she has skyrocketed to become the number one agent in Upper St. Clair Township. In 2020, Julie sold $14.7 million in USC Township real estate alone. By comparison, the number two agent, along with her team, sold just over half that amount, or $7.6 million, in Upper St. Clair.

If you ask Julie the reasons behind her success, she will share that she knows the market, understands the psychology behind selling, and uses strategic marketing to net her sellers more money. During her undergraduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh she studied psychology, and after college, Julie worked as a marketing director for a small, independently owned chain of bookstores.

Julie grew up overseas, moving with her family every few years. She has lived in Brazil, the U.S., Germany, and Singapore. Her father was a project manager for Bombardier, based out of Pittsburgh, so even though she didn’t attend K-12 school here, Pittsburgh is the closest thing to home that she knows.

Julie, with her children, Sofia, Andrew, and Olivia

When it came time for Julie to decide where to raise her own family, Upper St. Clair was a no-brainer. The International Baccalaureate program was a huge draw. Julie earned her IB diploma when she graduated from high school in Singapore. She likes to joke that Bombardier paid $50,000 a year for her education, but that her kids get the same level of education for the cost of her property taxes. Julie is the proud mom of Andrew (12), Olivia (11), and Sofia (6). She is very happily divorced and has the world’s sweetest dog that is constantly destroying her house in fun, new ways.

In her real estate business, Julie offers her clients an occupied home staging consultation through Porchlight Home Staging, an Upper St. Clair mom-owned business. Betsy Boughner walks room by room and closet by closet to offer invaluable advice to every seller on how to make each home and its rooms shine for showings and photos. Most houses typically benefit from leasing her accessories for staging—like throw pillows and artwork—which Julie pays for as part of her home selling services.

After staging is completed, Julie brings in her photographer and videographer, Greg Sproul with Captured Listings, to take photos, drone shots, a video walkthrough, and twilight photos for each listing. Sellers have been known to joke that they’ve changed their minds about selling after seeing how amazing their own house looks in the photos and video. Once the photos and videos are edited, Julie posts a sneak peek of the home on social media. The posts garner a huge audience, anywhere from 50,000 to 120,000 views per house. These views lead to requests for showings, often before the home even hits the market. The house will almost always receive multiple offers within a day and sell to the highest and best offer on a Sunday evening, before the new workweek begins.

Julie says she lists homes with love and says that love is a powerful emotion that can be the catalyst for amazing results. She also likes to say that she wants buyers to “fall in love” with her listings because when people are newly in love they act with emotion, which can cause multiple offers significantly over asking. Her homes sell anywhere from 101% to 109% of list price, often without any inspection or appraisal contingencies.

Julie’s main focus in life is providing concierge level service to her clients while still being a present, involved mom to her three children. To stay focused on her passion, which is marketing homes, she’s recently decided to delegate more. While still working with buyers who are also selling their home or with a direct referral, she has added two buyer agent specialists to her team. Sean Polosky grew up in Upper St. Clair and is a high school soccer coach. Shannon Kensky is a Bethel Park native and loves working realtor open houses. Julie has full confidence in their abilities to service clients, and she will continue to be involved with every step of the home buying process, even if she isn't the one showing the house.

During the rare hours when Julie isn’t working or mommy-ing, you’ll likely find her at a fun, new restaurant in and around Pittsburgh. Her favorites include the Bloody Mary bar at Meat & Potatoes and Poulet Bleu. Since Julie is a huge advocate for self-care, visits to the Upper St. Clair mom-owned Julia James Salon are a personal monthly requirement. You’ll also find her taking advantage of the aesthetics side of Lamb Medical & Aesthetics, another USC mom’s business. Julie’s desire to support Upper St. Clair businesses has helped with her own networking Sean Polosky, new team member and referral business that extends to her clients’ listings.

Today’s market boasts an extreme shortage in residential real estate inventory due to historically low interest rates and families wanting to upsize due to the pandemic’s persistent outcome of working and learning from home. Potential sellers might want to take advantage of where the market is right now.

If you are considering selling your home, Julie urges you to contact her. She meets with sellers who are interested in putting their homes on the market next week or ten years into the future. She works with sellers to suggest small updates to their home that can bring significant returns.

If you are curious how much equity you have in your home, you owe it to yourself to give Julie a call today!