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Member Perspective: What has been your most unique REALTOR® experience? Was it meeting an interesting person? Having an issue at an open house? Selling a one-of-a-kind property? Making a discovery about a client? Discovering something about yourself through a client? Share one of your most interesting memories in real estate. Shawn Parker New Perspective Realty and Property Management A few years back, I had an evening showing of a rental property in Bexley and arrived shortly after a heavy lightning storm. The electrical power was out in the entire neighborhood. The prospect arrived with a very tall friend and they stepped inside the open door and left it ajar to let in more light. I came up from the basement where I was checking the fuse box and asked if they would like to reschedule. The person said they would be heading back out of town so they would try to see what they could. We went through the unit for about ten minutes in almost pitch dark. When we finished, we stepped outside where a glimmer of dusk still lit the sky and I instantly recognized the tall friend as Ohio State and Dallas Maverick star Jimmy Jackson! He was on his way out of town so I missed my opportunity to talk basketball with him. It just goes to show that you never know what interesting experiences await you in the pursuit of our business! Tara Bebinger Keller Williams Consultants Realty and TNT Real Estate Group, LLC My most unique experience as a REALTOR® was when I showed up at a listing for a seller I’d never met before. The seller greeted me and we walked to the kitchen table where I proceeded to set up my presentation folder. He then asked me to wait just a moment. I noticed he was gone for a while and soon heard water running from the bathroom. He came out 20 minutes later in only a towel wrapped around his waist. At that point, I realized he had taken a shower and just before he was getting ready to sit down and ask me to proceed with my presentation, I told him I needed to leave. It was the most awkward I’ve ever felt with a potential client. I quickly realized how vulnerable we are as REALTORS® when we are invited into someone’s home. Sharon L. “Sue” Andreas Coldwell Banker King Thompson I was finishing up at an open house and as I was crossing the street, I fell. I managed to break my elbow and knock myself unconscious. When I woke up, there was a little boy standing over me yelling, “Daddy, Daddy, come quick! Some old lady fell down in the road and she can’t get up!” As much pain as I was in, I think that comment hurt the worst! Sheila M. Straub Coldwell Banker King Thompson My most unique and interesting experience happened in the mid 1980s. I was working with a buyer who wanted to live on Drexel Avenue in Bexley. His claim to fame was that he was Les Wexner’s head of personal security. He was engaged to a beautiful woman and about to begin his fairy tale life with his princess. I showed him many fine homes and he finally chose a very handsome one with beautiful architectural features. The excitement began to build once we were in contract. I met the decorator, the china and crystal expert, the furniture designer, the landscape architect and many others. His offer was in cash so things seemed to be moving along smoothly and in perfect harmony. Then, boom! We found out privately that Les Wexner did not have a head of personal security. This man was simply lonely and loved to make appointments with me so he would have someone to talk to while he dreamed about his new home, bride and life. I was very green then and believed everything anyone would tell me. I am a bit wiser now and a lot more careful. We still chuckle about that experience. Terri Webb Street Sotheby’s International Realty I love the movie Funny Farm starring Chevy Chase. I now have a new respect for, “Cue the deer,” a saying used in the movie to help sell a property. During a showing of a property on the river, we discovered an incredible deer outside a window snuggled up next to the house in the snow. I was thinking, “This is great! ‘Cue the deer!’” It was just like in the movie… Until we discovered that the animal had a broken leg. The prospective buyers left rather quickly after that. I called Animal Control for help and instead, they sent a police officer. He proceeded to get out of his car with a large rifle and walk to the back of the house where the deer was lying. At the same time, another REALTOR® who was showing the property next arrived and asked, “Where is Rambo going?” The deer’s leg was so terribly broken that it needed to be put down. I had never met this REALTOR® before but even so, I quickly buried my head in his chest so that I would not hear the gun go off. It was pretty awkward! The officer left and I was in charge of hauling the carcass away since the homeowners were snowbirds. So much for “Cue the deer”! Teresa M. Beckley Exit Trinity Realtor® Looking back over my 20- plus years of selling homes, I must say that my most unique experience was when I had the pleasure of being referred to an incredible couple who were both physically impaired. At our first meeting, they asked if I could video the inside of the properties for them and bring it back so they could choose their new home. They thought it would be too much trouble trying to get in and out with their walkers and traveling, they explained, would be as difficult. Although the husband did drive, the wife couldn’t walk without assis- 12 • May/June 2010 • In Contract Magazine • www.ColumbusRealtors.com
tance. That said, my greatest joy was helping the husband carry his wife in and out of the properties. We did, after about three tours, locate that perfect home. The rest is history. I keep in touch with them often to make sure all is well. What an amazing couple! Stephanie Scheu Coss Keller Williams Classic Properties My most memorable experience of last year occurred when I was showing some of the old mansions in downtown Columbus. There, all alone in the basement of one of these buildings, was an antique Lionel train set! It was down in the cellar, just waiting for someone to turn it on. The sign read “Welcome to Magic Mountain.” It was unbelievable! I thought how much my children would love to see this and the joy this train set had brought to the children who lived in this mansion many years ago. It was truly a “wow” experience for me and my clients. Shari D. Carroll, CRS Keller Williams Capital Partners When I have my first buyer or seller consultation, I work at finding commonality with them. I ask a lot of questions and in those answers, usually find something in common with them. I ask the city they are from, what side of Columbus they grew up on and what high school or college they attended. The most fun question for married couples is, “How did the both of you meet?” That usually gets the best response and conversation. So I was working with this really nice, very quiet couple many years ago as a rookie agent. Neither one of them said much or offered many details when I tried the question thing with them. With that, I decide to just move on and start working with them. Weeks of looking at properties pass and still there is not much conversation about even the homes we are viewing. One day, we walked into a home that had an accordion case sitting in the living room. I commented that my mother played the accordion in high school with a group of students who would go around Ohio to various veterans’ organizations and hospitals during World War II to entertain soldiers and their families. She always spoke of it proudly and continued to play the accordion when we were kids at home. The buyer spoke up and said his mother also played the accordion in high school and did the very same thing. I asked her name and, you guessed it, his mother and my mother played the accordion side by side in the 1940s. My mother even had a photo of the both of them that I shared with my buyers. Good golly, our moms were friends in high school! From that point on, communication flourished and looking at properties became much easier because now they felt they knew me. Their trust in our relationship finally developed. The moral of the story for me: Be real with people. Share yourself and your interests with them. You will find common ground if you look for it and once they know you, the trust and friendship begin. At that point, you will have earned the privilege of being their REALTOR® for life. Terri L. Jones Signature Real Estate In sharing stories with new agents I always reflect on the time I listed a mobile home for $30,000. I had recently sold one for $9,500 and had gotten the title of “the Trailer Queen” among a few agents. Upon completing the sale of the mobile home, the daughter of the seller referred me to her employer, who in turn bought a $515,000 new build property. Needless to say, you never know where your next lead will come from when you treat everyone equally! Sherri Fowler Dickey-Beckley Team Realtors® The most memorable event in my real estate career so far has been during an inspection with my buyer on a single family home on which he and his wife had made an offer. During the inspection, the property inspector found a patch of carpeting in the master bedroom that was replaced. He checked the seam of the carpeting and found the carpeting hadn’t been pieced in. It was just laid to look that way. Once he pulled up the pieced carpeting, he found wood that we surmised was laid over a concrete slab foundation. The wood was loose, so the inspector pulled it up to make sure there weren’t any potential problems for my buyer. Underneath the wood flooring was an open concrete pit about six feet by eight feet. I immediately looked at the Sellers Property Disclosure and nothing was mentioned about this concrete pit in the middle of the master bedroom floor. I contacted the listing agent and was told that the sellers had a pedestal bed in the master bedroom and didn’t think a buyer would mind if it wasn’t filled in. My buyers immediately requested remedy for the sellers to fill in the pit so that there wouldn’t be any potential weight-bearing issues later for them. The sellers agreed to remedy the situation and we did end up closing on time. It was an unexpected find for the property inspector, my buyer and me as well. That was the first and hopefully last time I come across something like that. I now listen to the sound of the flooring as I walk across it. Sherry Looney Keller Williams Greater Ohio One time many years ago, I showed a home to a gentleman and his mother. This was a phone call appointment and for some reason, I had an uneasy feeling about it. I asked my husband to take me to this showing, something I’d never done before. When we arrived, the buyer, his mother and I looked through the home together. In the master bedroom, we walked out onto the balcony to take a look at the view. As the buyer’s mom went back inside, I turned around to very quickly (but not quick enough) ask her not to shut the door just as it went “click.” I knew the door was locked. I tried the handle and, sure enough, it was locked shut. I started to laugh. What else could I have done? I tried to see if my husband was still waiting out in the road but I couldn’t see his car so instead, I looked at the buyer and said, “Well, how do you like the view?” I was in a skirt, high heels and hose so I suggested that he was more appropriately dressed to shimmy down the wood posts. He did not find that humorous. My husband came driving down the road so I leaned over the balcony as far as I could and waived my hands and yelled for him. I was making quite a scene. He finally looked up through the windshield and noticed me. Then, with a very puzzled look on his face, he got out of the car so he could hear our dilemma. Thank Heaven the front door was open. Needless to say, he came in and released us from the balcony. I learned there are many people in this world with absolutely no sense of humor. I never spoke to that buyer again. The funny thing was, it was his mother that shut the door and had us locked out on the balcony! Oh well. That is what makes this business interesting! www.ColumbusRealtors.com • In Contract Magazine • May/June 2010 • 13
Page 1 and 2: IN may/june 2010 • volume 37 •
Page 3 and 4: Features 6 No tax credit? No proble
Page 5 and 6: www.ColumbusRealtors.com • In Con
Page 7 and 8: married, they were still having kid
Page 11: CCIIR - Outside clean up at the Hei
Page 17 and 18: Committee Report Are you aware of w
Page 21 and 22: Committee Report ALL HANDS ON DECK!
Page 23 and 24: What is NAR’s RPR (REALTORS® Pro
Page 25 and 26: can reach her toll free at (877) 62
Page 27 and 28: MEMBER Discounts / Services 1-800-G
Page 29 and 30: May-June 2010 Classes at at a a gla
Page 31 and 32: Education Classes Education Classes
Page 33 and 34: Events May 10-15, 2010 NAR MidYear
Page 35 and 36: June 27, 2010 Super Sunday Affordab
Page 37 and 38: Area Association Golf Outings Thurs
Page 39 and 40: RS Broker Members Matthew D. Cochre
Page 41 and 42: Survey: How do you feel about the e
Page 49 and 50: Recipients of the NAR REALTOR® Eme
Page 51 and 52: 2010 REALTOR® Salesperson of the Y

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