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What I have learned from boating

Compare real estate to boating? There are amazing similarities. In my spare time, I love to be on the water. An afternoon with my husband in the sun on a boat is about as good as it gets for me. I learned a lot about being a Realtor from boating. Ocean tides are like the real estate market. When the tide is in, water is deep and forgiving and you are unlikely to run aground. But when the tides are out, water is shallow and hazards are everywhere. It is easy to run into serious trouble. Experienced boaters are always trying to help less experienced boaters navigate around the ...

Emergencies happen — keep your bags packed

A few years ago, while visiting my sister in California, I came across a small packed piece of luggage near her front door. Later, as we were getting something from the trunk of her car, I saw yet another. I asked, “What is with the luggage?” Her answer? Earthquake preparation. Being an Ohio flatlander, I was curious and was told it is very common for Californians who have been through an earthquake to keep an evacuation bag packed and ready to go. Smart. This past week, we are still seeing the ravages of Hurricane Florence and hearing about the California wildfires, but few of ...

Everyone has a role in real estate

After 40 years as a Realtor, I have been blessed with meeting thousands of buyers, sellers and agents. I have been involved with many hundreds of transactions with a myriad of different types of people. No two home sales are the same, and much of that is because there are so many different personalities and emotions involved. Choosing your Realtor to help you buy or sell might seem easy, but in the end choosing a Realtor is a highly personal choice based on how well you are going to work together. So, if the roles are clearly defined, your choice might be a lot easier. In a ...

Finding a Realtor and house take time

As younger generations take their place in the economy, I watch as the “instant gratification” economy has created unrealistic expectations on the part of many buyers and sellers. Watching reality TV shows where the stars find, fix and sell a home in 30 minutes is anything but real. The reality is that it takes time to find, price, buy and prepare a home to move into, and Realtors know this. Let’s look at this process in terms of time. Finding the right home to buy might seem easy after looking at the dozens of websites with homes for sale. However, until you take the time to ...

The wall helped heal a community

The healing made possible by the visit of The Wall That Heals to Warren was much greater and further-reaching than we ever could have imagined. From the initial idea through fruition, this project has had amazing support from our veterans and local community. The reverent feeling that one gets when visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington was thought to be exclusive to that national monument, or that the mobile replica would pale in comparison. From the first day we saw nearly 400 motorcyclists escort the wall to Warren, we knew this would be something bigger. As I walked ...

Honor liberty — at a baseball game

Over the last two years, we have seen the fabric of our society getting pulled at both ends. We are teetering on the brink of a point of no return in these polarizing times. Do we even remember Charlottesville? It seems like an eternity ago, with all the other noise of divisiveness of late. The racial strife in Charlottesville, Va., a year ago led to one death and scores injured. It could have been worse. Thank God it wasn’t. The PBS News Hour last Friday reported that the city is going through a remarkable healing process. The city had to look inward and realize its own racial ...