My story
I grew up in Springfield,
Missouri, the heart of the Ozarks. My love for
houses started when I was very young. My father
was an architect, and as a child, every Sunday
we would go to church, come home for lunch,
then take our Sunday drive. We would visit
every construction site of anything my Dad was
building at the time, and then we went for ice
cream.
When I got older my Dad would
take me with him if he wanted to re-survey
something or start surveying for a future
project. I would be his “rod man”. I just loved
the whole process, watching the transition from
vacant land to the finished project. I thought
it was magical and my Dad was the guy that made
it happen.
I attended Southwest Missouri
State University in Springfield and majored in
art and design. Afterwards I began working as a
buyer for a national art material distributor.
This was a small but growing company. My
responsibilities were not only a large portion
of the buying, but also participating in the
annual catalog design, advertising and
marketing, and traveling to trade shows.
It was through this industry that I met my
future husband, who just happened to live in
the Chicagoland area of Lake
County.
After marrying, buying a
house and moving, I remember thinking, now what
do I do? I looked into staying in the art
material industry. The only opportunities for
continuing in my field at that time were in the
City of Chicago. Commuting on a train
to Chicago and back every day seemed a
little daunting to this girl from the
Ozarks. What I really wanted to do was
get back to my first love, houses! So I took
the Real Estate course and got my
license.
It never dawned on me that I
didn’t know a soul or that I couldn’t drive 10
miles from my house without a map. My neighbor
told me she had heard Century 21 had a good
training program and there was a Century 21
office not too far from my house. Off I went.
They gave me a desk, a phone, and a gold
jacket. I was in business. It was a great time
to start!
Interest rates were 12% when
we bought our house in October. It was now
March of the following year and interest rates
were 9%! Wow! There were so many people wanting
to buy houses! They were afraid that interest
rates were not going to stay in the single
digits for very long.
I just knew I was in the
greatest business in the world… until the
fire. The first house I ever sold burned
down. Well not completely, just
halfway.
My clients were first time
home buyers and had to move out of their
apartment a month before we were closing. No
problem, my manager told me. The house was
vacant. They can get early possession and rent
from the seller for a month. We had an attorney
draw up an agreement and they moved in. The
buyer/renter started a fire in the garage and
the house went up in flames. The house was no
longer habitable and the buyers disappeared. So
did the seller’s agent, by the way. There was a
happy ending though. I felt so bad about
everything that I tried to help the seller with
anything that I could. Her agent wasn’t
returning phone calls as I guess she just
didn’t want to deal with it. Most of all, this
sweet widowed woman just wanted someone to talk
to and wanted to know someone cared. She called
me frequently. Six months later the house was
as good as new again. She listed the house with
me and I sold it. From that point on, she sent
me many referrals over the years.
That is only one story out of
thousands. I feel so privileged to be part of
the moving process for people and their
families. Everyone has their own unique story.
As Realtors, we are problem solvers. Your goal
is my goal. Tell me what you want to
accomplish, whether buying or selling,
and I will do whatever I can to make it
possible. I am also very grateful to be working
in the career that I feel I was destined to be
in. Many years later, I am still walking around
construction sites, through houses, condos, or
townhomes, listening to people’s dreams and
helping them come true. It’s all still very
magical to me!
Post Script: Real Estate is
an ever changing industry. Just to clarify a
few things, in 1986 when “the fire” happened,
we had sub agency laws. This meant that all
agents worked for the seller, even when we
worked with the buyer. This is why I was able
to consult with the seller of the house that
had the fire. Very different from today.
Today we have very defined agency laws for the
buyer and the seller and sub agency no longer
exists in the State of Illinois.
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