Teri Lussier

Under all is the land. A simple statement that begins the Realtor’s Code of Ethics, but a larger idea that is beginning to drive my thoughts, this idea that real estate creates freedom. I’m not talking about financial freedom, although that is certainly a possibility. I’m thinking of the specific, unique, and completely human independence that land ownership creates. We are a nation of land owners- a remarkable thing, would you agree? Property ownership in America removes dependence on a landlord, or a government, something that many of us take for granted, however, the right to own property, and a government created to protect its citizen’s right to own property, is extraordinary.

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Leah Werner from the East End Community Development Center and she told me about the changes that home ownership was bringing to the Twin Towers neighborhood in East Dayton. You know that neighborhood, don’t you? History has not been kind to this community as property values have plummeted, and development and reinvestment has been minimal. A high percentage of renters can create a large community of people who are dependent on someone else for the very basic human need of shelter. The East End CDC is working within the neighborhood to recreate a community of home owners. By tearing down the worst of the blight, by rebuilding property that is secure, safe, healthy, the Twin Towers Community is creating a neighborhood that once again celebrates a citizen’s right to own property. As Leah told me, “Housing plays an integral part in the success of families.”

Leah told me about a young mother and her sons who are moving back to Twin Towers from the suburb of Kettering. This mother wants to live next to her father, a long term renter who lives in rehabbed bungalow. Her sons will take advantage of Ruskin Elementary and the sense of ownership that Ruskin has created among the parents in that area. The mother will live in one of the homes that the East End CDC helped to build- infill housing that will plant roots for a family, and seeds of development for a community.

This work of transforming neighborhoods is hard work. It’s knuckle-busting, red tape slicing, cultural divide leaping work that in older neighborhoods throughout Dayton, can only happen family by family, house by house. In other parts of the country entire neighborhoods are built, one neighborhood right after another. Tidy rows of stucco and red tile roofs, for miles and miles- *Poof* a neighborhood is created. *Poof* a community of like minded people, all with similar experiences moves in and it’s rather comfy that way, isn’t it? The story of Twin Towers, however, is a personal journey taken by each resident, one family at a time: This home is 100 years old, this home is brand new: This family is from Appalachia, that gentleman is from Rwanda: This path to freedom is messier, taken in small steps and private victories.

I’m thinking of what land ownership must have meant to the immigrants in my own family. How did the hills of Kentucky hold the key to freedom for the Irish patriarch who went into the mines every day? What did the home on the banks of the Ohio River mean to the Austrians who left everything they knew, just for the opportunity to create a life from their own hard work?

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. …

The Twin Towers of St Mary stand as Dayton’s New Colossus- a melting pot of Latino, Eastern European, African, Middle Eastern refugees and immigrants who are transforming this neighborhood one family at a time, creating new generations who are beginning to understand that the right to own property is the key to independence and freedom.

… Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
-Emma Lazarus

Today is the Ultimate Open House event in Dayton. What does that mean? Basically it means that the Dayton Area Board of REALTOR®s is participating in the NAR Nationwide Open House Day, in which REALTOR®s are encouraged to hold their listings open. As a guest, if you go to an open house, you have the opportunity to sign up for a drawing for gift certificates from Lowe’s. As a buyer, there are a few things to keep in mind when looking at open houses- dual agency, for example- and you can read about those issues, here, but mostly open houses are an opportunity for buyers to take a leisurely stroll through a property that they’ve always wanted to look through. Not a bad way to spend a few hours on a Sunday, if you love to look at homes. You can search the MLS for Open Houses in Dayton, today and on any given Sunday, right here. But this real estate column is about stories, so I thought I’d share a few quick and funny open house stories.

Realtors are taught about open houses and how to woo buyers, and what to say, and there are many philosophies about working or not working open houses. I really enjoy open houses, they are fun for me as I really enjoy talking houses, but they don’t all go as planned. One of my first opens was in a small brick ranch home. I did everything I was told to do- invitations to the neighbors, mailed fliers to potential buyer markets, did a little staging, brought cookies… Yes, we are encouraged to bring refreshments to feed our guests. I brought those iced soft cookies you can buy at Kroger- you know the kind? They are so festive, aren’t they? I set them out on a decorative plate in the kitchen and they looked nice. The house looked great, but I was nervous. The first two guests politely declined the cookies, although they liked the house well enough. Then a family came through. Mom, Dad, and two kids about 8 and 5. The children keyed in on the cookies right away and whispered to their parents. Mom and Dad were busy, distracted, looking at the floor plan, but they asked me and of course, the kids could have cookies! That’s what they are there for.

The family wondered off through the home, the kids picked out their bedrooms, as all kids do, we said polite things to each other and they left. A few more lookers came through and I hit a lull in the activity. I wandered back through the home, checking to see that everything was still in order and that’s when I noticed the floor. A little Hansel and Gretel trail of cookie crumbs and crushed icing bits was evidence that someone was enjoying my refreshments. I followed that trail back to the kitchen for paper towels to clean up the mess, and that’s when I saw the true recipients of my carefully planned hospitality. Ants. A small army of ants had descended on the kitchen floor. Irregardless of my plans for the house that day, the ants were determined to feast. I spent the rest of my free time at that open house on my hands and knees cleaning the most minuscule cookie crumbs out of carpet, and wiping the kitchen floor between guests. That was the first and last time I served crumbly cookies at an open house.

At another open house, the family prepared the home beautifully- freshly mowed lawn, lovely colorful flowers in pots by the front door. They even watered the grass to make it glisten, then they left. I arrived, opened the lock box and tried the key. It didn’t work. This in not so unusual really. Many keys have to be jiggled and wiggled and finessed to coax the lock to release, but no amount of working and reworking could open that front door. Let’s try the back door? Nope. Now it was close to the start time, and I needed to get into that home. It was a lovely fall day, so the owners had left the kitchen window opened. I don’t want to put this image in your head, but yes, I was a middle-age woman in a skirt and heels, using a lawn chair to climb up, pop the screen and clamber through the kitchen window. A childhood spent as a tomboy saves the day!

Next time you are at an open house, be nice to the agent. Who knows what lengths they’ve gone through to get there?

Photo credit: Teri Lussier, used by permission.

They were the Cutest Couple In The World. That’s the name I gave them (I give my clients names, it’s true. It’s part of the confidentiality I owe. There are plenty of reasons someone might want to transact property, and Dayton is a small town. I can’t assume that anyone I work with wants anyone else to know their financial transactions. If I give my clients aliases, when my husband asks me, “What’s going on today?” I can say “The Cutest Couple In The World, or The Doctor, or The Farm, is closing”. It’s a way of sharing basic information with my family, without sharing confidential information).

The Cutest Couple In The World had all the energy and excitement that youth on the threshold of new life brings. It’s infectious and I love working with 1st time home buyers because of that. This couple was relocating to Dayton Ohio- he was a newly graduated Air Force pilot. She was graduating in a month, they were buying a home, then they were getting married, then they were moving her to Dayton. That’s a lot of change in a short time, but for this couple, it was an exciting new chapter of their lives about to be written. I was honored to be part of that.

They were in town for 2 weeks to find a home. Yikes! And they wanted to look in Beavercreek and Bellbrook, because “That’s where my Air Force buddies tell me to look.” That’s not unusual. The military creates surrogate families and they rely on each other to get local information. So off we went to look in Beavercreek and Bellbrook, in their price range, with their list of wants and needs… And we came up short.

This was 2005. The real estate market was different then and they found themselves priced out of Beavercreek and Bellbrook for a home they might like, so we went back to the Dayton Area Board of Realtors MLS and took another look. “I have a friend who lives in Huber Heights”. Ah-ha! Huber Heights, home of the ubiquitous and humble brick ranch.

Daytonians often turn their noses up at Huber homes, and that’s a shame. Everyone’s gotta live somewhere and not everyone wants to paint their home every five years or run up and down steps. A nice Mid-Century Modern home is an easily maintained use of space. In Huber, it’s a space that is close to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, but won’t break your budget, and there’s no shame in any of it. We started looking in Huber Heights. We saw plenty of homes, but they were drawn to the area commonly known as “North of 70”, and it fit them- new life, new city, newer home.

We looked at a few different models- big, small, ranch, split-level: A great room appealed, formal spaces did not. Space for guests was a priority, a gourmet kitchen, not so much. Easy to care for landscaping and a place for a grill? Nice. We found a home, put in an offer, the bride-to-be went back to Virginia.

The offer was not accepted. The Pilot was concerned. The Bride had loved that home and now he had to find a replacement without her. The beauty part of buying a home in Huber Heights is that there are others out there, so off we went.

Staging a home is important. You often hear that you should remove personal items from a listed property- don’t doubt the power personal items have on potential buyers. I’ve had too many clients make decisions about the owner of a home, and the care and feeding of that home by proxy, based off of what they can find out about you from the belongings you leave out. Clients always look over your bookshelves, your cd and video collections. They bend down to see your grandkid’s photos on the side table. They stand and wonder about the giant Last Supper print hanging over the dining room table- (even more so if it’s in black velvet). They refuse to step foot in the house that does (oh yes it does!) smell like cats the minute you open the door.

The Pilot and I were charged with finding a home the Bride would love. In 2005, finding a home for someone who is out of town was much more difficult than it is today. Today I use software to share tons of photos and lots of information, but back then we emailed MLS sheets and talked on the phone, and hoped for the best.

It was a small three bedroom, two bath, split floor plan with an eat-in kitchen, and a great room. Nothing fancy, but clean, and full of love. A young family lived there but mom had an “eye” and the property was nicely staged by her. I’m sure the birthday cake scented candle that was always burning when we visited, helped create that sense of home as well. There is a home for everyone and Realtors understand that what each client needs and wants is unique, but also that each client is allowed to have their own goals- my job is to honor and respect that, not to pass judgment. The Pilot put an offer, it was accepted.

Once they were married and settled, I went back to visit the Cutest Couple in the World. They had made that little Huber home an adorable honeymoon suite- so charming and cool. She loved it, they both loved it. They thoroughly enjoyed living in Huber Heights where they could be here or there within minutes of home, entertain friends and spend time alone together. Like all well loved homes, that plain Jane cookie cutter house now had another special layer of ownership to it’s history, turning a brick ranch into the place one couple will fondly remember as their first home.

Photo: Teri Lussier, TheBrickRanch.com

“Jim gave me your name. I need to talk to a Realtor who will be absolutely honest with me. I’m in a situation…”

If a Realtor is doing her job properly- that is, helping people with real estate transactions, creating educated, informed, knowledgeable clients, developing happy and satisfied clients- our clients often refer us to their friends and relatives and acquaintances. This is a big deal, not something to take for granted, nor is it something to be expected. I don’t know about you, but I have to be very satisfied with the work someone does for me and I have to trust that the quality of work is consistent in order to refer people here or there, regardless of business. I don’t expect my clients to be any different. I want them to be comfortable referring their loved ones to me, but I understand that I have to have earned that right.

The caller said our mutual friend, Jim, thinks of me as a brutally honest Realtor. I suppose that’s true. I’m more proud of the honesty than the brutal, but either way Jim trusts me to tell his friend the truth. The caller, let’s call him Frank, was in a situation – the economy has created changes in many people’s lives, and even if you are not alone in your struggles it can be a difficult time. I know that he and Jim had discussed the possible outcomes because they both told me in separate phone conversations that Jim knew some details of Frank’s financial situation.

I visited Frank. Toured his property, sat down at the kitchen table and listened to Frank’s story. He had done the right things for years, helping out his family, working hard…unfortunately the economy had taken it’s toll. He shared intimate details of his finances. It’s a delicate situation to be sure, listening to private details of another person’s life. It means I’ve been trusted. Trusted to keep these details to myself, trusted to use these details to help this person above my own needs. I take that seriously, after all – it’s my duty.

After meeting Frank, I called Jim to thank him for the referral.

“Did he tell you about his situation?” Jim asked.

“Yes.”

“What do you think? Can you help him?”

“Jim, Frank is a client,” I told him. “I have a fiduciary duty to him, that means I can’t discuss our conversation with you.”

“But I’m on my way to see him right now! He’ll tell me all about it anyway!”

That’s fine. See here’s the thing (which I explained to Jim) – it’s one thing if Frank wants to discuss his business with Jim- it is HIS business after all, but as a Realtor I can’t.  Part of my fiduciary duty to my clients is confidentiality.  I was trusted and entrusted with information.  I’m going to honor that and I suspect that is a big part of why Jim felt no hesitation in referring me in the first place. Jim knows it’s my business to keep confidential information confidential.

Did Frank ever tell Jim about our conversation? I don’t know, I didn’t ask.  After all, that is really none of my business.

Photo credit: Teri Lussier, TheBrickRanch.com

Image by: theodoranian; used with permission, Wikimedia Commons

“I don’t want to get beat up because I have a rainbow sticker on my car.”

My client was sharing some concerns when looking for a neighborhood in Dayton, and this was an issue for him, to be sure. We all want to feel safe being who we are, in our own homes. He was relying on my knowledge of Dayton to help meet his needs, that’s one reason Realtors get paid, right?

One of the first DMM posts I ever commented on was regarding steering, or the perception of steering at any rate, and it’s a very delicate issue. My client wanted to feel safe- that’s pretty cut and dry, isn’t it? But what if a client said to me “I don’t want to live around any of those people”. Does that change the picture? I know, it’s complicated. So how do you and your Realtor find a neighborhood to love, that will love you back?

On the one hand, we want to be happy, safe, and comfortable in our own neighborhood. On the other hand, steering is illegal. Lawyers.com describes steering as:

… a practice used by real estate brokers and agents to preserve and encourage patterns of racial segregation by ”steering” or directing members of racial or ethnic groups to buildings or areas occupied primarily by members of their own racial or ethnic group and away from buildings and neighborhoods inhabited by members of other races or groups. Though not specifically prohibited under the FHA, the means through which steering is most commonly accomplished, such as unlawful refusals to sell or rent and discrimination in terms or conditions, are prohibited.

Sometimes people mask other concerns by looking for “good schools”. Fair question? Maybe, but the problem with me directing you to this or that school district, aside from the legal aspects, is that I have no idea what you really want from a school district. The question is way too vague.

This year, due to a serious health issue, one of my kids unexpectedly needed Special Services in our school district. We live in a district that tends to score average as a district on standardized testing although some specific schools score in the Excellent range. It’s a very large high school, and I feared she would fall through the cracks. We were put in touch with the Special Services Director who set up home tutoring for her. This particular tutor is an independent contractor who works throughout the Greater Dayton area, with multiple school districts, and was a godsend for us. At our first meeting, she told us how lucky we were to be in this district, because in another district- one that is generally held in high regard due to test scores- home tutoring isn’t really an option. In her words, “They won’t work with a student’s individual needs.”

Standardized tests measure some things, but I encourage clients to look deeper: Do you have children who have special needs? Do you have children who play sports? Are they into the arts? Are they academically inclined? All these issues are going to have to factor into what makes a school “good” to one family and not a good fit for another, and wouldn’t you want to be the one to make that decision?

So how can we legally help clients? By providing a ton of information from a variety of sources. If you have specific- and legal- needs, we can help you discover sources of information to meet those needs, but we can’t be the source of the information itself. It’s not wise and in some cases it’s not legal for the Realtor to be the decision-maker, as tempting as it might be to transfer this responsibility to them. The best way to find a neighborhood you like is the simplest way- spend time time there. Almost always, spending time in a neighborhood is the only way you will know if you are going to feel comfortable.

There is really no substitute for looking around a neighborhood when people are moving about- at rush hour, after school lets out, on the weekends. Check out the neighbors. Talk to the neighbors- yes, you can do that, why not? You can chat up the person washing their car, or planting the bulbs, or if it’s today, shoveling their walks. If they don’t want to talk, that says something about the neighborhood too, and it’s okay to either feel comfortable or uncomfortable with neighbors who like their privacy. It’s a matter of finding your own comfort zone and in the end, you really truly don’t want a Realtor deciding that for you, do you?

Realtors are bound to their clients as fiduciaries. We have a duty to follow your legal instructions. In the same way “I don’t want to live around those people” is an illegal instruction with which we can’t help you, if you ask to see properties in a specific area, and your Realtor refuses or disuades you, ask why. If you feel you are being steered, please, take action. You can find out more about steering, and how to protect yourself, at the Miami Valley Fair Housing site, here.

In the case of my client, he spent time researching websites and at local restaurants, driving streets in different areas, and talking to neighbors about what they love about their neighborhood. He’s loving his house, in the middle of a Dayton neighborhood that doesn’t care what kind of flag flies from the front porch. He found a place he’s happy to call “home”.

Do you have a dream home? You know, that one home that exists in your mind against which you measure all other homes? Is yours a cool loft condo, or an ornate historic home? Maybe it’s a new, custom built 3500 square foot home on 5 acres? Is it a quiet 30 acre gentleman’s farm in that place between large working farms and suburbia?

One very cool thing about the Dayton area is that you can start at Third and Main, and drive in nearly any direction and see all sorts of homes- everything from lofts, past historic homes, into post-war inner ring mid-century modern homes, newer subdivisions, small farms, and within 20 minutes you can be cruising past row after and tidy row of corn and soybeans. Dayton, like most of the Rust Belt, is wonderfully diverse in many ways, and that diversity is visible in all the different real estate options available to us. We could say there’s a dream home in Dayton for everyone.

She called one late-winter afternoon.
“I got your name from Miami Valley Fair Housing. Can you help me with a short sale?”
A short sale occurs when a bank agrees to accept less on the sale of a home, than is actually owed. In other words, the bank is going to come up short on this sale, thus “short sale”. Typically the owner finds themselves unable to pay back the mortgage and instead of waiting to be foreclosed on, they negotiate with the bank to enter into a short sale. It looks better on your credit rating than a foreclosure, so it might be in the owner’s best interest to discuss the possibility with their mortgage lender, but it can be a long and difficult process. As Realtors often joke- Short sales are anything but.

Outside my office window, the snow was that lovely shade of Sludge Gray that defines old snow, and the sky was that lovely shade of Cloudy Gray that defines sunless Dayton winters. I was taking notes as she started telling me her story. Single mother, job loss, working part time, going back to school- she was doing everything “right”, but she was still going to lose her home- her dream home.

Now, Realtors know that your dream home is going to be completely different from your brother’s dream home, which is not at all like your best friend’s dream home. We are each unique, and we are each entitled to have our own unique dreams. She was living in a brand new home, in a brand new subdivision. Tract home, yes, but for her, a new home was a dream, and she was going to lose her dream home, in the middle of a gray Dayton winter. Deep breath. Okay.

I went out to the new home in the new subdivision in Trotwood. I was paying close attention to the neighborhood, and the exterior condition of the home. Modest homes, and only a few years old, but you’d be surprised how quickly a little neglect can lead to big problems. I was relieved to see that this home looked great on the outside. She loved her home and it showed- curb appeal always helps, but especially in winter.

The interior was just as lovely- more so actually, with nice decorative touches here and there, and still as clean as a model home. She loved this place, it was obvious, and she told me how happy she was to have purchased a new home in a new neighborhood for her and her son. This was a lovely place to call her own, but she lost her job, and her part time job wasn’t paying nearly enough, so we started the short sale process. Because of her love and care, we were going to be able to list this at nearly full price.

Before a bank agrees to a short sale, they want to make sure that they cannot recoup the full amount owed on the loan. The seller has to fill out forms and statements, and send specific information of proof that their financial situation has changed. If you’ve ever applied for a home loan, you know how extensive that process is. A short sale is no different. You might think of it as un-applying for the loan. It took a few weeks to gather all the documents and make contact with the loss mitigation officer who would be taking over her loan, and get all the forms her lender needed.

Like foreclosures, short sales can be an emotionally painful time, and Realtors try to make this process as smooth as possible. We are not only dealing with the bank on our client’s behalf, we are sometimes a shoulder to cry on. Occasionally a seller will just give up and let the home go, become uncooperative and uncommunicative, but this seller loved this home and wanted to do whatever she could to keep her dream home, so during this time of un-applying for the loan, she kept working, going to school, taking care of her son and her household.

Just a few days before we were ready to officially list the property in the MLS, I got a phone call. “Teri, I wanted to let you know that I’m so grateful for all your help, but I was just offered a new position at work, and I’ll be able to make my mortgage payments now!”

As you gather with loved ones this week, you might drive past a suburban Dayton subdivision and wonder why anyone would want to live there. You might look around at the people you know so well and think about their homes. A modest tract home, a large McMansion, an historic fixer, a garden condo- any one of these might be the furthest thing from your dream home. But take a moment to be thankful for what I know- that every home, regardless of how modest or extravagant, new or old, each home holds the unique dreams of the remarkable dreamers within, and in that regard, we are all the same.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo credit: Teri Lussier.