REAL ESTATE SERVICES

Want to know more about the Smart Home Options Partners team (SHOP), their services and how they can help?  Watch the below interview for answers to your questions!

You can also see the transcript (and corresponding video clips) of the interview below….

1.  What is it that you do?

Randy King:  “We provide solutions to real estate challenges. Everyone faces them at some time, selling a home, buying a home, and we provide very traditional real estate solutions when we see a house for sale or are helping someone buy a house. I am also co-owner of a real estate investment company, and that brings a very nontraditional aspect to solving real estate problems too.”

2.  Why do people need your services?

Judy Music: “Well, a real estate transaction is usually the most expensive investment of your life and the most complicated one, and most people don’t do it but a few times during their lifetime.  So it makes sense to hire someone who is a professional and who is trained in negotiating – someone who is not emotionally attached to the family home, in the case of seniors having to sell their home.  They can then work for you for the best benefit.”

Lauren Collier: “And then as a buyer’s agent for the team, I’ll help you locate a new property for purchase. So, if your current home is not meeting your needs, I’ll help you find whatever it is that will work for you. Maybe it’s a ranch home, or a low-maintenance town home, or just a smaller home, I listen to your needs to help you find exactly what you’re looking for.”

Randy King: “Another thing that adds to the team is our personal experience. We’ve each gone through this in some way.  So many people have gone through this…I had to move my mom from one state to another after she had a stroke. We’ve had to deal with my folks’ home, and my wife’s folks’ home too.

I think another thing about our team is that a lot of times the traditional solutions that you think are for real estate don’t fit everybody, and I think we bring a tremendous breadth of different kinds of options to them that are outside of the box, and sometimes that’s a much better fit to the challenges people face today.”

3.  How did you get into the business?

Lauren Collier:”Well, I like helping people, and I love studying the real estate market, so I got into real estate.  Now I get to help people understand and enjoy the process of purchasing a home.”

Judy Music: “I was a project manager and graphic designer for a small print shop, and it was sold. It had no renter’s paper and they sold it to a mom and pop buyer who put mom as the person I was then.  I had been thinking about real estate so I decided to jump in, and I did that 28 years ago. I’ve been here in the Springs practicing real estate for 26 years.”

Randy King: “I started quite a while ago when I was moving around – our family was moving in the military, and every time we went to move we were worried about whether or not we could afford the commissions and all of those traditional real estate things. So, we got in the habit of buying homes on our own. We would fix them up and we would sell them on our own.

We did that for every location that we went, and from there it just became a habit. So, we would buy more homes, fix them up and sell them. Later on, I also got my realtor license, and I think that makes a perfect marriage in the real estate world. It gives us breadth of experience, and we love what we do.”

4.  What is the most important aspect of your business, for you personally?

Judy Music:  “For me personally, it’s getting everyone to the closing table happy. There’s nothing more exciting than taking them to the closing table where everyone got what they needed – whatever the transaction – and everybody is laughing and talking and enjoying the closing, and it’s a win-win situation for everyone.”

Lauren Collier: “I think we’re on the same page with that. My number one goal is a happy client.  I want you to enjoy the process from start to finish. So many people feel stressed and overwhelmed by the process of buying a home, and I just want to answer all your questions for you and provide as much information as I can for you throughout the process. I enjoy showing homes, I enjoy doing the contract, the whole process, and I want you to feel very comfortable throughout and end up with the perfect home for you so that you’re happy going forward.”

5.  How does your work benefit the whole family?

Lauren Collier: “In many cases, a senior is living in a home that is too big for them and simply requires too much maintenance and upkeep, which can be a stress for the whole family as it often falls on the family financially and in terms of time to repair and upkeep the home. Often times they can’t keep up with it and that’s very stressful and it causes a lot of worry. So, finding a nice, smaller, low-maintenance home or a ranch or something that’s a little easier for someone to move around and have better accessibility relieves a lot of stress for everyone in the family.”

6.  I understand that two of you have the Senior Real Estate Specialist Designation. What does that mean?

Judy Music:  “Well, the Senior Real Estate Specialist (“SRES”) designation is a National Association of Realtors designation that requires an extensive education on our part, and we’re taught to look at all aspects of seniors and their families and how to handle transactions, not only with the real estate but also take into consideration all of the other things that surround that.

We realize that it’s a very emotional time and that maybe the seniors have been in their house for 20 years and it’s going to be hard for them to do something different now. We’re trying to get all the aspects of that to make sure that we listen very carefully and communicate with the senior and the family to make sure that we can get them the best possible solution to their problem.”

Randy King: “There’s not a lot more that I can add to that. That is absolutely right on. I think a lot of us we go through those experiences with our parents such as Medicaid restructuring or the impact of selling a home on the estate for folks, and then different considerations of where to next. I think one of the things the training for the designation does is it sharpens the awareness of all the things that are involved for seniors and their families as they approach that time where they want to be comfortable wherever they are going to move to next.

The other thing is it helps us connect to the other experts that can help us in those areas. We don’t necessarily become experts in all those areas, but that training, the designation training, really helps sharpen who we go to and how we can bring those resources to help with the situation.”

7.  What special considerations do seniors face in selling their homes?

Judy Music:  “Besides the obvious needs as Lauren pointed out before – all the difficult amenities of the property – a senior needs to have a home with special needs and that can be accessible to maybe a wheelchair. Maybe selling their home is not the answer. Maybe a reverse mortgage is the answer just so they can continue to live in the house they built for the rest of their lives. Most people don’t realize they can do that.

Maybe move into a nursing home, or an assisted living, or a retirement home of some sort is the answer. Maybe moving into a smaller home is the answer. We are trained to listen and find out what is the best solution for the senior and the family and make their real estate transaction as hassle-free as possible.”

Randy King: “You know, another consideration that enters in is there are a lot of folks who have lived in their homes for a long, long time. Lets say that they want to go out and live in California or some other place with their grandkids, and if they lived in their home for a long time then you need to know you sell a home differently than you live in it.

A lot of times seniors face difficulties in terms of: How can I afford to fix it up so that it can compete with other homes on the market?  Or how can I comfortably leave and move my stuff and have that home ready? What do I do in that interim? So, I think a lot of what we bring are some solutions, some options, some considerations that can accommodate those kinds of difficulties.”

8.  What special considerations do seniors face in moving or buying another home?

Lauren Collier:  “Well, when it comes to buying, everyone’s needs are different so everyone has different considerations. So number one, we will listen to what they are looking for and what their specific needs are. It may be in terms of location, it may be in terms of accessibility of the home. In many cases they are looking for something more affordable or less maintenance. So, first off, just listening to what their specific considerations are and then going out and finding it for them.”

9.  What kind of “options” are their for seniors regarding the sell their home?

Randy King:     “One of the reasons for putting that name in the name of our team, Options and Partners, is too often realtors will look at a situation and the answer is de-clutter, move out of the way, get out of the house for an appointment, depersonalize, and we are going to put your home up for sale.  There are so many other ways to do this.

I think as Lauren and Judy have said, the first thing is to listen to exactly what they want to do. One option might be like Judy said or Lauren, maybe it’s aging in place, maybe it’s adjusting that home so it accommodates whatever difficulties or challenges that they might be facing.

And, if they did need to move or sell their house then other options could include perhaps we can find a buyer so that the home could be sold prior to them moving out and accommodate their move over time. Maybe another option is perhaps we can give even advance them the funds from the closing that could be used to make some repairs to fix their home so it could be sold. There are a lot of different options, and I think it starts with listening to the family, and to the senior, and finding out what are the challenges that they face. What is it that they want to do, and together I think our team and the resources that we bring can look at that situation and come up with some tremendous options for folks.”

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