From the slow, cold winter to 80 degrees and the clients come out of the woodwork!  It’s all good though…great to get some wonderful properties on the market and help those buyers find a home.   I am currently working with a first time buyer couple.   It’s so much fun to help a young couple achieve this huge milestone.  They are so appreciative and value my services because they are new to the process and I can fill in where a parent often cannot.   It can be a dicey loan underwriting process to so having someone they can talk to (or vent to) about the “anal exam” called lending is helpful.   Older more experienced buyers having been through the process don’t need so much hand holding and while they appreciate my services are just more confident and knowledgable.

First time buyers are often surprised by the way their financial behaviors in the past affect their credit scores and eligibility to get a home loan.   Often an unpaid bill or late payment can cause glitches in underwriting.   Also children born out of wedlock or even within a marriage and the subsequent support that a party might pay can be an issue. It helps immensely to have a good lender and by good I always mean “LOCAL” .   The big banks and financial outfits are often terrible lenders.   Great for the convenience of daily banking, checking/savings etc. but because their underwriting departments are out of town/state – they are very cumbersome to work with on home loans.   Local banks or mortgage brokers are the way to go when searching for a home loan.   And there are several good ones in St. Louis.   I can refer several to you if you are in need even for a refi.

Helping clients can often be bittersweet too.   Selling a home for a family who are leaving the area for school….or lisitng a home for some folks to want to relocate out of state means losing touch with some sweet clients.   Selling my own home was one of these sales.   We wanted to downsize but leaving the home we raised our kids in was hard.   I was happy that a new family came in that really needed our ranch home.   So I tried to focus on the good I was doing instead of the memories that were made in that house.  Having the smaller villa now is a blessing too…no major yard work…no snow shoveling….less to keep up.   Bottom line selling and buying homes is an emotional business and I have experienced that first hand recently!

I look forward to all the people I will get to know this year through this process and hopefully make new friends or reaffirm old relationships!  As the ad says:  “Home is where your life happens.”