It has always seemed to surprise my clients when they find out that I live in a 90 year old home. I really do kow houses, inside & out, new & old.  Having spent most of my Real Estate career with new construction, move up buyers, resale sellers, and working for residential construction companies I guess the assumption is that I would have the newest, latest, & greatest housing.  Nope, my heart belongs in the quality and uniqueness of the past, unfortunately.  I say unfortunately because, as my neighbor as aptly put it, when we said that we would finish the restoration in a year and then move in, "they are never done".  When my husband and I walked through our soon to be new "old" home for the first time we saw plaster walls, tall ceilings, beautiful mouldings, french doors, wavy pressed glass windows, mother of pearl inlay push button light switches, original everything down to the kitchen sink and enormous steam engine sized boiler in the basement.  We would be the 3rd owner and best of all no one had remodeled or tried to improve this house in unrepairable ways.  I saw the dream, Rick saw the work.  Rick was right. I wasn't blind, one of the real, working, close-able, shutters, was hanging by it's broken hinge, I was afraid to walk out on the rear balcony, the walls were covered with years of cigarette smoke, but it had picture molding. I knew there was work to do but I wanted to hang my pictures from gold cords attached to 90 year old picture molding. After a year of stripping the exterior down to the original wood, restoring the deep, long, front porch,(of course my perfectionist husband had to strip the original bead board ceiling, reinstall each carefully numbered board & lacquer it to a stunning mirror finish), rebuilding the unique and oh so special balcony, making the plumbing on the second floor work again, beating that old steam engine boiler into small enough pieces to get it out of the basement so that a new energy efficient boiler could be installed (oh, don't forget that all radiators had to be removed, sandblasted in the driveway, brought back to their original glory, and reinstalled with the control knobs back in working order), fixing cracked plaster, updating the electrical system while keeping the original lighting fixtures and those pearl inlay push button switches in tact, painting inside & out after agonizing over colors, cleaning & polishing top to bottom, removing that old red carpet that revealed almost pristine hardwood floors with the original wax finish, we moved in.  I did have to sacrifice the laundry chute to AC duct work so that we did not have to force a bulkhead or strange bump out in any room.  The day before the move Rick was installing a shower head, controls, and special shower rod around our original tub (I had to have a shower!). Running down to the basement to turn on the water we noticed water on the floor.  After working on this house for a year we knew that the basement did not leak so where did the water come from especially since it was turned off?  There is was, where the pipe entered the house, a steady trickle through the opening.  A call to the water company brought us the news that there was a leak and of course it was on our side of the meter.  Having a backhoe in your front yard is not a good look.  Dig, dig ,dig till the line was revealed along with the leak.  Every bad thing does have a silver lining, the pipe from the main into the house was LEAD! So new copper was installed, dirt was replaced, the bank account was empty & we moved in.  7.5 years later so much has changed, all with restoration rather than remodeling in mind but it's not done yet. We go round and round about the 6 ft. long original kitchen sink with it's endless drain/work side, a sink long enough to hold almost anything and back splash 2 ft. tall.  Heavy, enameled, cast iron but you cannot get a dishwasher under it!  I have a love/hate relationship with that sink . An original kitchen that has been drawn & redrawn countless times with & with out the sink.  We're stuck and I'm getting tied of the laundry in the basement & bedrooms all the way up stairs.  A nice sprawling ranch is starting to sound appealing.  New everything with warranties.  Windows that don't have wind chill factor in the winter.  Walk in closets and bubbling tubs.  I know builders, I've worked for builders, I can get the very most for my money from the most reputable builder hummmmm.....but first we have to finish the kitchen.  Full circle, back to that darn kitchen sink.

I went shopping yesterday to find note cards.  My plan was to write to past clients and let them know that I am now an independent Broker.  The note cards had to be just right.  Nothing too flowery, nor plain. Nothing political or controversial.  Not too big & not too small.  No problem right? Wrong!   There I was faced with everything from Japanese prints to Georgia O'Keefe and neither one of those would work. Graphic designs, humm, too impersonal.  Frank Loyd Wright, now those were some beautiful not cards but the price was too high.

I began to think about producing my own.  I have files and files of pictures from all over maybe I could get the note-card stock & print my own. I was off to the office supply store.  The paper stock was readily available but the cost of ink jet cartridges, well, you can buy a new printer for what it cost to buy replacement cartridges.  Back to the note card department and why was this so hard anyway?  What was supposed to be a short errand was taking all morning.  Pick one! The voice in my head said.  I'll go with Vincent. Everyone knows & loves his work and the box they come in will make a nice little storage container.  I paid the lady and was back at my desk 3 hours later with only time to write one note before the mail man came. 

This afternoon I get a call, "I'm so glad to hear from you" the voice at the other end of the line said.  I expressed my surprise and delight that at least one branch of our government was working very efficiently since I had just posed the note late the afternoon before.  We chatted and my ego was boosted to hear that she had been singing my praises to all of her friends since the closing of her new home.  It was so disappointing to hear that my former office, when she had contacted them, had claimed no knowledge of how to contact me.  (is that rude or typical?  I think I'll send them a note next reminding them of my contact information although they have had no problem finding me when needing anything. I've never left an office before, what is the proper etiquette?)

Anyway, one card & one call back.  I'm at 100% right now and I like that a lot!  Thanks Vincent.

For quite some time Indianapolis IN had the dubious honor of the city with the highest foreclosure rate in the country.  Fortunately we are no longer at the top of the list but we are still up there.  I drive through community after community of production built "big box homes" that are empty with a sad story to tell.  I wonder how many of these buyers had an Agent representing them?  So many "production" builders are the preditors when it comes to selling a dream by promising an affordable payment without truly disclosing the costs of taxes and insurance as well as that "creative financing" that made the deal look possible.  Rather than keeping an eye on that commission is it not our duty as Agents to protect our clients?  It is my intention to try and educate the Buyers of New Homes that their best interests are served by having an Agent assist them in not only selecting the right builder for their budgets and needs but also educate the unassuming Buyer of the hidden cost of home ownership so that their dream does not become a disaster. 

This is also true of the higher end "Custom Home Buyer".  While working with a Custom Builder a personal relationship is formed and hopefully a degree of trust. As with any transaction "Buyer beware". If Builders do not make a profit they do not stay in business.  The Buyer is investing in the most detailed and complicated purchase that they may ever make and yet they are relying on a businessman that may or may not have their best interests as the #1 priority.  Representation by an experienced Agent is the protection that Buyers need but Builders want to avoid.

There are great Production and Custom Builders out there, with intergery. I want to reach out to every potential Buyer of New Construction and let them know that I, as their Agent, am here to watch their back. Buyers, do not walk into a Model Home without consulting a Real Estate Agent, that knows the building community, first.  Do your homework, it will be worth it.