The Best of Years, The   Worst of Years

Wow, has it been one heck of a ride since a year ago April.

Last spring I was less than six months back into my real estate career after a 3 year maternity leave. I had been managing a company for over a decade and would now be "back in the trenches" as an agent. Things were going well, business was building and commissions were slated to come in.

Just then, my husband announced he wanted a divorce and left immediately. To make matters worse, when I went to pay mortgages, I discovered that both my primary home and rental property were in pre-foreclosure. Thus began the struggle. All commissions went to saving the properties. All available hours went towards earning commissions. The houses went on the market and I started packing.

 Here I am a year later: both houses SOLD. My best year in real estate was last year (in a down market, too!) and I have been consistently increasing my market share. Just had a one on one meeting with my broker and manager and I shared this years growth plans and prospecting plans and I am feeling poised for a great year.

As I stand at the end of this section of my life, the view looks pretty optimistic and I am excited to spend the balance of the year working hard for my clients and customers with a new appreciation of the hardships that can arise in the course of normal life. Done with the Worst of the Year and on with the BEST!

Any of you with young children (mine are 7 and 3) know that line from the Wonderpets program.  It is a wonderful message for young and old alike and one that I like to bring into my business plan. 

I worked for over a decade as a manager of a family owned real estate company in Westfield, Massachusetts.  As such, I got really good at training and delegating.   Now, working as an agent at Park Square Realty in Westfield, I still find that managerial personality comes to the front.  Because of this penchant, I have found teaming up with other agents on certain projects to be a wonderful way to get things done.

I have a business partner who I started out as a mentor and we segued into partnership.  We paired up with another team of realtors to create a support group.  Together we implement larger mailings and prospecting plans that would be cumbersome (not to mention boring) to do alone.  In this way we are able to cover a larger area of Western Massachusetts and reach out to more potential clients.

This week we will be meeting over pizza and beer to roll out a huge mailing for one of our ideas and we have plans to gather up again every couple of weeks until we have the prospecting done.

We all still do independent sales, as well, but have found strength in this family atmosphere that we have created within Park Square Realty.  It helps us to enjoy work and get more done…we have all moved up the sales ranks since working together.

Now go out there and start singing: "What's Gonna Work?  TEAMWORK!"

So, I finally got my own home in Westfield, MA sold, the cooperating agent is totally terrific, the buyers love the house and can't wait to get in…now the only thing left is for me to get OUT!

PODS to the rescue!  After researching the moving options in Western Massachusetts I order up the largest storage unit PODS offers and start loading it up.  How excellent to not have to hustle everything out the door at once.  Things are looking good until I find out that I cannot move to my new residence across Westfield until two weeks after the closing on my home….ahhh the joys of moving! 

So, now what?  Well…my children and I can go stay with my mother and thank goodness I have a pod and not a truck because I can get the pod moved to my mother's driveway.  Off my POD goes and whoever invented this system is totally brilliant, watch them move one if you havent.

I told the cooperating broker that we would be out at 11am the day of the closing…somehow she told the buyers 10am.  So, the buyers show up with:  four cars, a box truck, a trailer truck AND a POD.  All of this while we still have two cars and two trucks and the last minute things to get out and clean.  Now this is getting fun!

The road that the house is on is narrow and twisty and is now littered with vehicles large and small with two family's worldly possessions in them.  If it wasn't so stressful it would have been really funny.

Well, of course, it was sorted out in the end and thankfully everyone was pleasant through the process.  The POD is now sitting in my mom's driveway awaiting yet another move to my new residence.  If nothing else, it makes for a great referral for the PODS company!

After sharing this story with co-workers of mine at Park Square Realty, Westfield, MA, many of us will be happy to send referrals to PODS, they sure helped me out! 

 

  WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS…

get ready to see those spring flowers!  The snow is gone, the trees are budding, the bulbs are emerging and it is time to get your gardens ready for the show.

We had a late leaf fall last year, so if you are anything like me, your gardens still have a lot of leaf covering.  Time to get those up and let the perennials and bulbs feel the sun shining.  My gardens in Westfield will need a good couple of hours of raking to get all those leaves out!

 It is also a perfect time to plant some pansies…these friendly flowers put a smile on everyone's face.  If you are selling your home, it has been shown that bright yellow flowers can help bring more curb appeal and get the house sold faster.

Do you have rose bushes?  Depending on the variant, NOW is the time to prune them.  You are going to have the best show ever if you get in there early and prune aggressively.  As you shape the shrub, remove dead or sick looking wood and open up the airflow.  Take the healthy stalks down to only a few inches off the ground and cut at outward facing buds.

The peony is my all-time favorite flower.  Put up staking guides now before they get too large and the supports will keep your beautiful blooms out of the mud.

Dress up the whole thing with a fresh top dressing of compost and mulch.  I have always used composted chicken manure to great result.

HAPPY GARDENING!