Thankful That I was Watching
Real estate is a business that requires knowledge, caring and the ability to respond quickly. It is not about just opening a door, waiting for a buyer to look through a house and then wondering if this is the one they want to buy. Or at least that is my belief.
When the market favors buyers, it becomes necessary to try and make sure that what they are seeing has the potential of offering the shelter and comforts they seek and not become a money pit, unless of course they are seeking a fixer upper.
As a youngster, we were often with our father when he was doing a side job to help someone he knew and also make a few extra dollars. He had only 2 years of high school in Portugal and as this was in the early 1930's, it was necessary for all to work the land to survive.
When he came back to the states in 1939, he was doing odd jobs before landing a permanent job as a welder for the American Brass Co in Waterbury, CT. He always had his eyes open watching what he was doing as well as those around him.
In 1942, he was drafted and went into the navy, where he was assigned as a machinist mate and worked in the engine room of a destroyer escort. For 3 years he worked and kept his eyes open, acting as a sponge learning.
Once discharged, he went back to his job, married and focused on their future.
With a 30-year mortgage of $8,000, he would talk of not sleeping at night thinking about how he was going to pay it off.
This forced him to seek out part time work as a handyman. He never said no to anyone and would never charge by the hour, explaining that he had to do these jobs while balancing everything else. My suspicion was he needed the time to consider how it was going to be done, and as he was still working in a factory, ask some of the maintenance staff for some help to do what he had to do.
When he would be doing these jobs, we would be with him as babysitters was not in the budget, and mom was also working and taking care of the house. So, we went along to clean up, stay out of trouble and watch.
Carpentry, electrical work, plumbing, siding, masonry we saw it all, and I watched.
A summer job I had was working for a company that made factory-built homes. While talking about abilities, and tools, I must have answered properly as I was given a job in the gables dept and not on the general floor as I had my own tools.
That job required precise measuring, reading blueprints, not make too much scrap and not get hurt. On occasion, we would go into the field to a job site and assist the crews erecting the homes. I still know where a few of these homes are here in Prospect, CT.
As a real estate agent, I can go into a house and glance while the buyers are looking and make a few notes. If they buy the house, I am ready for the inspections.
I am known as a straight talker and when meeting with an inspector before they start, I would mention what I had seen. It became routine for those inspectors that knew me to ask where I wanted them to look closer.
The lessons I learned while watching my father helped me to recognize what I needed to address in my own homes. It was the way I looked at houses when we were buying our current property that got me into real estate as our then agent commented that she had never seen agents look that closely.
Now I use what I had learned to help buyer clients to avoid large money problems as well as sellers when preparing to go into the system.
Thanks, dad, for the education in life as you tried to create ours.
This is a post for the November, ActiveRain Challenge of Thanksgiving.
Thankful That I was Watching
Comments(17)