home selling

They Are So Cute!

Terri Pontzious 2 Comments

Shoes 1I love shoes, always have. I am embarrassed to say how many shoes I have owned over the years. I mean, you need high heels, mid-heels and flats in all the basic colors. Sandals, Espadrilles, tennis shoes, shoes for those dressy occasions. Shoes for working in the garden and boots to ride horses. And then there are those shoes that you just have to have because they are so cute!

I have reluctantly donated many shoes over the years, and worn out even more. I am a real estate agent, so I am hard on shoes. When showing property, I sometimes walk two to three miles in an afternoon. I walk in dirt, over rocks and wet grass to find lockboxes when other agents don’t put them in convenient places and when taking photos. I am constantly scuffing and dinging my shoes on my office chair.

Yesterday, my eyes were drawn to a pair of cute little high heels on the shelf. I hadn’t worn those shoes in a while, at least over a year. I couldn’t remember why, and they were so cute and went perfectly with my outfit. Why not? They were my shoe choice of the day!

I spent the morning in my office and met clients at a home inspection in the afternoon. You might think a home inspection is boring and that the Realtors spend most of our time sitting around. But I usually take the opportunity to do my Agent’s Visual Inspection if I am representing the buyer. Of course, my clients and I follow the home inspector around while he explains what he has found. Because I love gardening, I usually spend time walking around the yard planning what I would do to it if I were the new owner. When the inspection is over, my clients usually like to walk around the home again, measuring rooms, space for refrigerator and washer/dryer, visualizing where they will put their furniture. It is such fun to see their excitement and anticipation, so I tag along!

On my way home, I stopped at the grocery store and walked every aisle. Then went by the dry cleaners to pick up laundry. And stopped at a client’s home to drop some paperwork off. And, my feet were killing me!

I have to admit, I am just not 30 years old anymore and what my feet could take then and what they can take now just aren’t the same! I hate that. But it is my reality!

Reluctantly, these cute shoes are going in the donation box today. I hope someone will enjoy them as much as I have. THEY ARE SO CUTE!

Selling A Home For Seniors – One Of My Joys!

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oldercouplewebDid you know that as many as 1 in 14 home sales involve sellers over the age of 75? According to the National Association of Realtors, it’s true. Many of them have lived in their home for 40 years or more.  Not only have they accumulated a life time of possessions, but a life time of memories. Selling their home is an emotionally charged time in their lives and it’s hard for many to let go.

While many seniors have computers and use email, most are not as technically savvy as people in younger age groups, and they move at a slower pace. They are from an era before the old answering machines, much less cell phones. They would just “call back later” if someone’s phone line was busy.

Many real estate professionals love a fast sale and a 30 day escrow, but senior home sellers usually do not. It may take few months to plan and execute a move. They are not just packing up their belongings and moving to the next home. Most likely, they will be liquidating many, if not most, of their possessions. It can be a daunting task. Hopefully, they have family members who will help them with this process. It involves sorting through everything they own and often ending in an estate sale where things they spent a lifetime collecting are sold. Then they have to let go emotionally.

They may be moving in with family, to an Independent Living facility, or even Assisted Care. Their future may not one they planned for or really want.

For a Realtor, the process is different from most others. When I work with my senior clients, I spend a lot of time in their home; they usually do not come to my office. We often do not communicate via email; we talk on the phone or face-to-face. I am prepared to spend extra time with them to discuss their concerns, answer their questions, and even talk about their fears.  I let them know I understand how emotional this time is. I take documents to them for their review and signature. I try to anticipate potential challenges and mitigate them so there is no added stress. When appropriate, I communicate frequently with their family members to keep them informed about the process also.

My senior clients usually want to know something about the people who are buying their home. Knowing about them helps with the transition. Is it a family with young children or none? Are they a young family planning on starting a family?  Is it a single person or another retiree? They like to know that new memories will be made in the home they loved so much.

Working with seniors may take a little longer, but I love it!

The More Things Stay The Same…

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coupleatvanwebYou have probably heard the old saying “the more things change, the more they stay the same”. Well, it is often true in the real estate industry.

For instance, when I started helping clients buy and sell homes in the 1990’s, most people who wanted to “move up” to a more expensive home had to sell their current home first. That was considered normal.

In the early 2000’s, when lenders “loosened” their guidelines, most people could obtain a loan to purchase the new home and keep their current home, either to sell it later or turn it into an income property by renting it.

We are back to the “way things used to be done” when it comes to “moving up”. Most people these days will need to sell their current home before buying the new one. Homeowners have a couple of choices when they are in this situation.

  • They can sell their current home and move to temporary housing (with family, rent a place, I have even had people live in their RV’s).
  • They can sell their current home contingent upon finding a replacement home. Then we try to close both transactions within a day of each other.

I successfully closed a few transactions this way last year for the first time in many years; and I have another transaction closing this week where this was done. But we had three “legs”…my seller’s buyer had to sell her home and her buyers had to sell their home. We are closing all three transactions this week and have four happy families.

How do we do this? It requires cooperation, creativity, and tenacity!

Would you like more information about how it works? Just let me know!  I would love to help you, too!