From a Hammer in an Attic to a Company Built on Trust

Josh here, Co-founder of 3 Step Home Sale.

I was four years old the first time I picked up a hammer. I remember standing in my parents’ unfinished attic, just imagining what I could build up there. I couldn’t have told you it at the time, but that feeling never really left me.

Years later, I was working a regular 9-to-5 when a radio ad about local house flipping caught my attention. It’s strange how a 30-second ad can do that, but it reignited the exact same spark from that attic, and I couldn’t shake it. That was the start of my real path into real estate.

In 2014, I partnered with my older sister, Elana, and together we started building affordable new construction homes across the Washington, DC region. I earned my Class A builder license along the way, and we built our name the hard way: doing quality work, keeping our numbers honest, and treating the business like it was family, because it was.

The more homes we built, the more I noticed something: people didn’t just need a skilled builder. They needed someone who could help them sell honestly, especially when life made it harder than it should be: a divorce, an inherited property, a home behind on repairs. That’s the gap I saw, and why I founded 3 Step Home Sale in 2020: to bring the trust our family built in the DC region over a decade to homeowners everywhere we could reach.

Today we’re a tight-knit team of 20+ people working across seven states, and we’re still driven by the same belief that started it all: every seller deserves a straight answer, a fair offer, and a closing that actually happens when we say it will.

— Josh

Our Promise To You

Anyone can say “we care about you.” Here’s what that means with us:

We won’t use a hard moment against you. Foreclosure, an inherited property, a home needing work, we see that as something to help with, not profit from.
We say the honest thing. If our offer isn’t right for you, we’ll tell you, and point you elsewhere.
The number we give you is the number you get. No surprise deductions, no last-minute renegotiating.
Asking costs you nothing. Get an offer, ask questions, walk away if it’s not a fit. We’re still glad you reached out.
You’ll always know who you’re talking to. No call centers or scripts, just our actual team.

If we ever fall short of this, tell us. It’s how we’ve run the company since day one.

The People Behind 3 Step Home Sale

Josh Cohen

Co-founder & Home Builder

Favorite Quote: “Do it right, or don’t do it at all.”
Favorite Place: On a trail somewhere, or backstage before a show.
Passions: Music, Hiking & Skiing, Building, Real Estate Investing.
Life Motto: Build it solid, keep it honest.

I started out in engineering, including a stretch in a leadership role at a top U.S. Navy research facility. It was solid work, but real estate had been pulling at me for a while, and in 2009 I finally let it. I’ve spent the years since building and renovating homes across the DC metro, and these days I lead 3 Step Home Sale with the same standard I held myself to as a builder: do it right, be straight with people, don’t cut corners. I also co-host DMV Deal Makers, one of the largest real estate investor meetups in the DC region, which is basically my favorite excuse to talk shop with people who love this business as much as I do.

Before any of that, I was actually a saxophonist, an award-winning one, if we’re keeping score, and I spent my high school and college years touring internationally with jazz bands. That chapter never fully closed. Most evenings you’ll still catch me unwinding to John Coltrane, and most weekends you’ll find me on a trail, out for a run, or somewhere on a ski slope trying to remember I’m not 22 anymore.

Learn more about Josh Cohen on LinkedIn

Elana Newman

CFO / Co-Founder

Favorite Quote: “Behind every strong outcome is someone who did the unglamorous work well.”
Favorite Place: The sidelines of whatever field or court my kids are on.
Passions: Family, Finance & Operations, Coaching, Sports season with the kids.
Life Motto: Show up, do the work, cheer loud.

I spent years cutting my teeth in business development, finance, and operations at Fortune 500 companies before I made the leap into real estate in 2014. It turned out to be exactly the right move. I’ve been the one keeping the numbers honest and the growth steady at 3 Step Home Sale ever since, which, if you know me, is basically my love language.

At home, I’m raising two teenagers, which means my calendar is a rotation of sports fields and debate tournaments, and I’m equal parts coach, cheerleader, and chauffeur. I bring that same energy to work: I show up, I pay attention, and I genuinely want to see people win, whether that’s my kids or a homeowner trying to figure out their next move.

Learn more about Elana Newman on LinkedIn

Meet the Key Players

Gladys Garcia

Office Manager

Favorite Quote: “Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.” — Rumi.
Favorite Place: Alone at the top of a mountain, where the world is quiet, the air is clear, and I can simply be.
Passions: Traveling, discovering places that inspire me, and getting lost in music.
Life Motto: Work smarter, not harder. Life is simple, we are the ones who make it complicated.

I’ve worked nearly every side of this business, transaction coordination, acquisitions, sales, customer support, so by the time I landed as Office Manager, I already knew where all the pinch points tend to hide. That’s the job now: keeping the wheels turning and making sure nobody, homeowner or teammate, ever feels lost in the process.

Outside of work, I’m the person planning the next trip before the current one’s even over. Give me a new city, a good live show, and a great meal, and I’m genuinely happy. I think that curiosity is exactly why I’m good at this job, I like people, I ask questions, and I actually want to know how you’re doing.

Sue Prestan

AI Specialist

Favorite Quote: “If you see the wonder of a fairy tale you can take the future even if you fail.”
Favorite Place: Anywhere peaceful and quiet.
Passions: Musicals, Books, Sci-Fi, Resting and Exploring the World.
Life Motto: Action comes before motivation.

My path here started in research and Library and Information Science, which sounds unrelated to real estate until you realize both jobs are really about the same thing: taking something overwhelming and turning it into something clear. As AI Specialist, that’s exactly what I do, I build the systems that help our team move faster and respond smarter, so the homeowner on the other end of the phone actually feels that.

Off the clock, I’m usually buried in a book, playing guitar, or at a musical theatre show singing along a little too loudly. I approach a stubborn algorithm the same way I approach a great novel, as a puzzle that’s worth taking the time to solve properly.

Mari Banhaon

Senior SEO Specialist

Favorite Quote: “You’ll never know if you never try.” — My mom.
Favorite Place: Home.
Passions: Reading, Cooking, Charity Work, Art.
Life Motto: Accept what is, trust what’s ahead, and have faith in the journey.

I’ve built my career where digital strategy meets storytelling, and the thing I never lose sight of is that there’s a real person behind every search bar. My job is making sure that when someone in DC, Maryland, or Virginia is searching for answers about selling their home, they actually find us, and find something worth reading when they do.

When I’m not at work, I’m probably a few chapters into a new book, out chasing a trail I haven’t hiked yet, or planning a trip I’ve already started daydreaming about. I’ve learned that the best results, in SEO and in life, come from knowing when to push and when to be patient.

Alvaro Gonzalez

Portfolio Analyst

Favorite Quote: “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.”
Favorite Place: Somewhere surrounded by nature, where I can disconnect, think, and recharge.
Passions: Traveling, Soccer & Basketball, Learning New Things, Family Time.
Life Motto: Festina Lente.

I’ve always had a bit of a knack for finding the story hidden inside a spreadsheet. As Portfolio Analyst, that’s my job: tracking how our properties are performing and making sure the team has the financial insight to make confident, well-informed decisions at every stage of a deal.

Outside of work, you’ll find me watching football or, more likely, spending time with my daughter. She’s the reason I show up and do this well, and honestly, she’s the best part of my day, every day.

What We Believe In

We believe selling a house shouldn’t feel like a fight. That belief comes from the decade Josh spent building homes across the DC region, always the same way: honest work, honest numbers, no shortcuts, and that’s still what guides us:

Family first, always. This is a family-owned business, run by people who actually answer the phone, not a franchise or a call center.
Honesty over closing a deal. If selling to us isn’t the right move for you, we’ll say so, even if it costs us the sale.
Community over transactions. Most of our team has roots in the areas we serve. These aren’t markets to us, they’re neighborhoods we live in.
Doing right by people in hard moments. Foreclosure, inherited property, a home that’s fallen into disrepair, these situations deserve patience and respect, not pressure.

Giving Back To The Community

We’re a business, and we’re proud of it, but the numbers aren’t the only thing we measure ourselves by.

We’ve been recognized with a Community Impact Award as an ethical real estate investor, and we’ve supported Habitat for Humanity’s work building homes for families who need them.

This part of the job doesn’t show up in a closing statement, but it’s just as much a part of who we are.