Thankful and Blessed

It's Thanksgiving Day (at least here in the States...I know it may not be for some of you reading near and far) and I thought I'd pause to look back over the past twelve months and give thanks for what God has done in our lives! I also know many of you are busy today with dinners and such, so if you don't have time for this today, don't worry! Go enjoy your time of rest and come back to catch up whenever you can!

* I'm thankful for our fourth anniversary last December and its gateway to our fifth year of marriage. We had the most lovely weekend celebrating our marriage, and it included a carriage ride. That was sort of a romantic bucket list item for me, and it was every bit the delight I imagined it would be. Hey Ryan, remember when I accidentally threw your gloves out of the carriage? Whoopsie! Glad we got those back before the horse's bean dinner kicked in!

* I'm thankful for Ryan's swift(ish) diagnosis, surgery, and return to good health when his gallbladder quit on us this past January. We certainly never saw that little health hiccup coming, and it took a few more hoops than it should have to actually get someone to order the correct test, but once we got that bad boy out of there, Ryan was a whole new man. And we could eat things besides chicken soup!

* I'm thankful for Mom's successful hip replacement in February and the army of health care workers who banded together to bring her to full recovery! Ryan went with me to the hospital to visit her, he worked to get her set up with a great home health therapist, he helped with her outpatient therapy, and he helped us understand all the medical-ese!

* I'm thankful for the chance to see the Gaither Vocal Band one more time before David left the group. Ryan surprised me in March with tickets to a concert, and we managed to squeak in to David's second to last performance with them. It was wonderful to see David, yes, but my goodness: what a night of true worship, too!

* I'm thankful for Ryan's life, which we celebrated on his birthday in April! We got to spend an evening out with our friends, Mike and Angie, and we didn't know when we headed out on the town that night that they would be moving across the country shortly. We miss them so much, but we are thankful for great memories of double dates together with them!

* I'm thankful for our birthday getaway in May, and even though it was crazy frigid, it was such a treat to stay on a boat and breakfast! We love finding quirky little twists of places to visit, and this was just such a place! A cozy little B&B - on a boat! We loved exploring Saugatuck, Michigan, and someday when we go to Michigan, it will be warm. We're just sure of it.

* I'm thankful Ryan's sister had a beautiful wedding day back in June, when she got married in a barn at the family farm. Outdoor weddings in Indiana - at any point in the year - can be a real weather gamble, but she got a lovely (although windy!) day to tie the knot!

* I'm thankful for the conference I attended in July! Even though it kept me apart from Ryan, which was excruciating on all levels, it was such a worthwhile trip. I learned, I made connections, I soaked up everything I could, and I am just so thankful for the provision to go and Ryan's encouragement to do it!

* I'm thankful for the chance to celebrate Ryan's 20th high school reunion in August. It was so much fun to see his classmates and meet up with friends and family throughout the course of the weekend!

(FYI that was a recreated photo. The guy in the back isn't really mad!)

* I am thankful we had the chance to keep Phoebe for a whole month in September! (Okay, really August into September, but whatever.) She was so much fun!!!! She failed at convincing Ryan we needed a dog, but she was a joy to have for those twenty-some days!

* I am thankful to celebrate five years of engagement this past October. We went out for a fancy dinner and relived that beautiful day when Ryan proposed!

* And today, on this Thanksgiving Day, I'm thankful for Mom's successful double knee replacement and the fact that we get to spend today together as a family. Yes! My sister and brother-in-law from out of state came in to surprise her! They arrived yesterday, and my sister from Indianapolis drove up a day early to be here too, and we just went right ahead and started a "thankful and blessed" celebration!

Happy Thanksgiving to you, my friends! You are a joy to my heart. Thanks for interacting with me here in our little corner of the web! :)

Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Buying Homes

Last week I shared with you some pearls of wisdom from my friend Lesley, who works in real estate. She offered some sound advice on selling homes and let us peek behind the scenes of her work as she helps people do just that!

This week I want to look at the other side of the real estate coin: buying homes. Anyone else have a realtor.com addiction? No? Just me? I adore looking at homes for sale, and occasionally, Ryan and I will even visit an open house just for fun. No, we're not looking to move. My goodness, we just settled in here! But I will say that looking just for fun is what led to move last year! I had a friend in Marion who showed me some houses just for the pure delight of it, and that led Ryan and me to pursue looking in earnest!

Looking for homes can be fun. But buying a home is kind of like adding a whole separate job to your life. It's intense, it's a huge decision, and today my best friend Lynnette lets us walk a mile in her help-people-buy-a-home shoes!

Lynnette has been working in real estate for four years. She and her husband recently relocated about halfway across the country, so she's starting over in a new spot! Lynnette got into real estate because both she and her husband have a huge passion for helping people through financial challenges. In most families, a home is their biggest financial asset, so Lynnette wants to help them make good decisions for their family about what house to buy, how much to spend, and even the right time to buy! She also appreciates the flexibility in schedule of the career. It suits their family lifestyle the best!

She may be starting over in her location, but the love of the job is deep in her heart, and here is what Lynnette says about helping people purchase homes!

 (This is Lynnette!)

1. Real estate agents do what they do for the love of their clients.

Sure there are some fun parts to the job, and of course some frustrating parts, too. But Lynnette said her biggest reward is the moment she hands buyers the keys to their new home. The good and the bad of the job takes a back seat to that moment. And trust her: there is a lot of work that happens before that big day.

No two days are alike for a real estate agent. That makes the job both fun and challenging! But what a blessing it is for agents like Lynnette to help people with one of their biggest financial decisions while simultaneously helping them find home!


2. Real estate agents work entirely on commission. 

Lynnette says they don't get a salary of any kind or receive any kind of pay from a brokerage firm unless they sell property. And did you know the average time to sell a home is 3-6 months? (Ryan and I are clearly not your average home sellers. It's a wonder any agent would work with us at all!) During those months of waiting, agents are spending money on gas, advertising, professional associations, MLS listing fees, and more, but they don't receive a paycheck until the transaction closes.

So if you're purchasing a home, and you're staring at the dollar figure that spells out your agent's commission, it may look huge, but remember that amount gets split with the brokerage firm and represents roughly six months of work on your agent's part!


3. Get pre-approved for a loan and don't be afraid to ask your agent for suggestions on professionals to help you through the process!

When Lynnette works with buyers, she encourages them to speak to a lender and get pre-approved for a loan amount. That step is necessary because it tells her realistically the price range her clients can afford. I mean, we all love the huge, pretty homes, but we can't all afford the huge, pretty price tags that accompany them, and it's only fair to everyone to be shopping in the right price range.

Lynnette says as an agent, she has cultivated relationships with several lenders to make sure she can make good recommendations to her clients. She also works with inspectors, insurance agents, settlement agents, and many other professionals to help clients through the buying and selling process.

(Side note from me! When Ryan and I bought this home, our agent recommended a lender that was local and amazing to work with. It was a blessing to sit in her office and have her walk us through every step! We had never heard of her before, but our agent said she was super, and boy was she ever right!)

4. Do some research, if you can!

I believe this is code for "it's okay to have a realtor.com addiction." It's so helpful if you can do some research online prior to your first trip to see properties in person. Of course your agent is happy to select some properties for you to see, but it's so helpful if you can give insight into the kind of house you'd like the square footage you need, the number of bedrooms you must have, the location you'd like, and more.

If you're local and can do so, you might even drive by some of those properties you think you like to see if you like the area. If you can't, don't be afraid to rely on your agent to help you with some of those decisions!

(Another side note from me: Long before I married Ryan, when I planned to move to Fort Wayne, I worked with an agent as I searched for a home. I knew nothing about Fort Wayne and had no idea where I might want to live in that big old city. It was so helpful to me that the agent was willing to give me some insights about neighborhoods! I was single and nervous about living alone in a city where I knew only my co-workers. She was so helpful in sharing with me information about places that were completely foreign to me.) 

5. Don't go it alone!

Lynnette suggests that you consider hiring a buyer's agent. She only works with buyers when she can represent them as their official agent. That allows her to negotiate on their behalf, advise them through the process, and make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible! 

***

Ryan and I certainly appreciate the fine folks of real estate! We had an agent who fought for us like crazy when we sold Ryan's Greentown house about three years ago. We had some unbelievable obstacles in selling that home, and our agent saw things she'd never seen in her (rather lengthy) career. She stayed right with us, though, fighting hard, going to bat for us, and making sure we made it to the finish line, even though that race took 141 days from offer to closing!

We had two stellar agents who worked with us to sell our Marion home. We appreciated all the time, money, showings, and open houses both of them put into their respective time with us! We also appreciated the final selling agent for us also serving as our agent when we bought our current Shafferland residence. She made the whole thing FUN!

Thanks, Lynnette (and Lesley from last week) for letting us walk a mile in your shoes and showing us what it's like to work in this fun, unpredictable, important field that helps people find home!

 
To see the rest of the Walk A Mile in My Shoes Posts - look here!

The Date Inspired By the Letter U

Podcast Tuesday!! Stories from our week and a wish for you to have a HAPPY Thanksgiving week! :)

 Source

It's been over a month since we did an alphabetical date. WHAT!?!??! We are on the home stretch, and I'm excited about the dates we have coming up to finish out the list!

This  one was also pretty exciting, although we kept running into issues that caused us to reschedule it!

This date was unique in that it was unplanned...by us, anyway. My friend Kari thought up a series of date ideas and put each one in a different envelope. She gave them to me and we could pick whichever one we wanted to be our date night!

We planned to do this date last weekend, since Ryan had Saturday off work, but he ended up working so late on our porch (which really was more important) that we didn't have time for a date at the end of the day.

Then we planned to do it this most recent weekend, after Ryan got off work, but it was SO nasty, we just were not in the mood to go out.

So we did it last night!

We chose date #3, which was so perfect for us. It was a date centered around random acts of kindness!!

We were challenged to do 3 random acts of kindness, and though we modified a couple, we had a great time with all of them!

The first challenge was to purchase 2 boxes of Ding Dongs. We were to tape a provided tag to each box. (The tags said "You've been Ding Dong ditched.") We were supposed to leave the boxes on people's front porches, ring the doorbell and run. We were a bit nervous about doing that after dark, for fear of scaring people or getting the police called on us if they had security cameras. So we modified the challenge a bit. We took the boxes to the hospital where Mom's been, and we left them at the nurses' station. (They were all out tending patients, so they didn't see us!)

The second challenge was to leave a bag of laundry detergent and a bag of quarters taped to a washer at a laundromat, along with a provided tag that said, "This load's on us." (Two of those, actually.) Again, the people who watch too much Dateline were nervous about leaving unidentified white powdery substances in a laundromat, so we just did the quarters, but we had taping them and running!

The third challenge was to purchase a $15 gift card to a grocery store and find a person to hand the card to while in the store. We walked allll through the store, looking for the perfect person. We found a nice lady shopping alone and handed it to her. I so wish we could have gotten a picture of her shocked face. She had no idea what to make of it. She said no one had ever done that for her before, and that made it TOTALLY worth it!

So that was our fun date! It was a blast to do things for other people. GREAT idea, Kari. Very unique!

(To see all our alphabetical dates so far, look here!)

Getting Our Tree!

We have a tradition we started back in 2012, when we celebrated our first Christmas together. We hadn't even been married a month yet, and we hadn't had the chance to give proper thought to things like Christmas traditions. It's kind of a wonder we have traditions at all!

But neither of us had ever done the live tree thing before (at least as adults) so we decided we'd have one live tree in our decoration collection each year. For our first four Christmases, we visited different Christmas tree farms around the state, picking out cute little trees and bringing them home to be part of our season.

Last year, the day we set aside to go to the tree farm brought the first wintry mix of the year. We decided it wasn't the best day to go, but we would have to wait over a week for our next opportunity to find a farm. I didn't want to delay my decorating, so we visited the Kroger Christmas Tree Farm (okay, lot) and picked out a pre-cut tree from their stash.

It ended up being the best financial choice for us. While we love the fun of going to a farm and walking among the trees and finding ours, those trees are not cheap! We could get a tree twice as big as any we'd ever had, for less than we'd paid at most farms.

We decorated earlier this year than we ever have before, mostly because we are hosting Thanksgiving, and I wanted the house to be all pretty and cozy. (Mom will host Christmas, so we'll look at her tree that day!)

I'd been keeping an eye on Kroger, to see when their trees might come in, and as of Saturday, I'd not seen any. That afternoon, while Ryan was still at work, I called to see if they knew when they might be delivered. The lady who answered the phone said they were being unloaded from a truck that very minute. Well....perfect timing!

So we went out in the freezing cold and rain (why????) to pick out our tree. We made short work of that choice due to the aforementioned freezing cold and rain.

 (Guarding the tree while he went inside to pay. And oh my soul, that NOSE!!)

We planned to decorate him that very night, but alas, he was SOAKED. We didn't think putting strands of light on a drenched tree seemed very wise. So we just set him all up and let him acclimate overnight.

He ended up being a lot bigger OUT of his net than in it. 

Sunday afternoon, we put the lights on him and went through our tradition of reading the stories behind all our ornaments as we put them on the tree.

(Side note if you don't know: this particular tree is our "story" tree. All the main ornaments are ones we've collected on our various adventures, plus an ornament to represent each year and a piece of each tree's trunk. We fill it in with colored balls, but the main ornaments tell our story. As we collect the ornaments, I take pictures of them and write on the back the year we got them and the stories behind each one. We read those stories as we decorate!)

The only ornaments on this tree that have NOT been collected since we got married? Our very first ornaments from our childhood. :)

I filled in with a few extras, and then Ryan put the S on top to complete it!

It may be tethered to the wall in three places because it has a curved trunk, and it may be raining needles when bumped, but it's our tree! A piece of Shafferland history!

(Further photos of our Christmas decor to follow later!)

Linking up with Tamar!

The Shafferland Shuffle

Greetings from an almost fully decked-for-Christmas Shafferland. WHAT?!?!?!!? I know! I was surprised, too!

* Last Sunday was Ryan's grandma's 90th birthday party. I know I already told you about it, but it really was a beautiful party for her. She's the kind of person who has spent her entire life (and still spends her life) doing for others, so to watch her sit back and soak up something done just for her was pretty amazing.

* Monday morning we were up bright and early (okay, early) working out, and then it was back to watching Mom work out! It was her first regular weekday in the rehab hospital and she did a great job with her walking and stair-climbing and all that! I took our lunch to the hospital, and Ryan and I just ate with her! :) 

* When I stopped to visit Mom on Tuesday, I found her weightlifting. Uhhhh that is so NOT my mom, so I made her pose for a picture. (She is so over my documentation of this, but I told her one day she'll thank me. She assures me she will NOT.) Anyway. She got some gorgeous flowers that day, and when I got home, my own version of flowers were waiting on me. OUR CHRISTMAS CARDS ARRIVED!!!!

* Wednesday we went to visit Mom and I got a little carried away with her wheelchair. It's like a glider, and I can't stop zipping across the floor when I sit in it! And you know what it was more fun than? Working out after work! Because that's what we did! Oh that stupid stair-stepper. It hates me, and I hate it!

* Thursday brought another round of therapy for mom, and in the afternoon, Ryan called to tell me they were taking her back to the main hospital for a quick x-ray. I went along as her partner in crime, and it was one cold, miserable day to be out getting x-rays, let me tell you! (She's okay. It was just a precaution thing that turned out to be nothing. Except freezing.) In other exciting news, that night, Ryan hung our new foyer light. We found it at IKEA a couple weeks ago!!!

* In late-breaking news, we are actually now hosting Thanksgiving, so I decided I wanted to go ahead and decorate for Christmas. I normally don't do it before Thanksgiving, but I thought it would be so cozy for our meal, and since we don't host Christmas, it gives me a chance to let a few folks see how we decorate. It was a whole weekend project, but I got started on Friday. Braeya helped, and we got most of it knocked out. (Partway through, I got so tired and wanted to quit. You've been there before, right?)

* Yesterday was MISERABLE here in Indiana. Cold, rainy, stormy, YUCKY. Ryan had to work, so I alternated between visiting Mom and doing a little more decorating. And last night? We got our live tree!!! We'll tell you more about that next week, but it was fun! We planned to decorate him last night too, but he was quite soaked from the aforementioned Hoosier misery, so he's currently drying out. Can't wait to get him all gussied up. 

The Saturday Six

One.

I don't know if you've been following Davey Blackburn's story the last couple of years, but if you've not seen his latest news, you won't want to miss it!! (If you are not familiar, Davey is a pastor in Indianapolis, and two years ago, his wife was murdered during a home invasion. She was pregnant with their second child at the time, and their first child, a son, was home but unharmed during the break-in. He's written a book that hasn't released yet.)


Two.

 Perhaps you read the Putting Me Together blog, but if you don't, or you missed this post, she has a great list of gift ideas for people who like to travel!

Three.

Last minute table setting idea for Thanksgiving, if you need one. Super easy AND super cute! 

Four.

If you're having trouble being thankful this season, read these comforting words from Barbara Rainey! (And it's no judgment from me if you're feeling that way. I've had those Thanksgivings before...when I just couldn't. I get it!) 

Five.

If you're an online Black Friday shopper, here's a sneak peek of at least some of Amazon's deals.  Less than a week away, you know! ;)

Six.

Source

If you want to scare your husband, leave your book of the week on the couch, and have this book-of-the-week be about hurting wives. That's what happened here in Shafferland this week!


One of my friends gave me Hope for the Hurting Wife, a new book co-written by Rebekah Hallberg and Jen Stults, because Jen is her relative, and she wanted to help spread the word of their book! I wanted to read it because I'm always trying to find ways to walk in the shoes of those whose lives look different than mine. (Hence my whole Wednesday series right now!)

This book is a 30 day reading for wives who are in places of deep, deep hurt in their marriages. Women who aren't sure they will get through this season and still be married. Women who aren't just having a bad day, but who are living through hard, painful seasons where everything from communication to trust comes into question. And I know there are many of you out there living in that very place. I wanted to learn more of how you feel and how I can help encourage you.

Though it appears the book is self-published, I thought it was well written and was full of excellent points that apply not only to marriage, but to other hard places of life, too.

I do want to say there were a couple of points in the book I did not agree with, and I don't want to belabor the point of them and drag the whole book down. But there were a couple of times that I just couldn't agree with the points made. Aside from that, I appreciated so much that the authors focused on the importance of prayer, dependence on the Lord, and ultimate restoration of marriage.

Though they did not spell out all details, both authors were clear that their own marriages have not been easy or perfect, and they come into the writing of this book with firsthand understanding of the muddy trenches where some marriages seem to camp. From there, they acknowledged that above all else, a person's relationship with God should be the main focus. Communication with Him, obedience to Him, and living for Him are what this life is all about.

They also taught important truths about learning to understand that for as hard as marriage troubles can be, they are but a small portion of our life here on this earth and certainly our life with eternity attached. The problems seem long, hard, and never-ending when you're going through them, but God has been faithful before the problems arrived, He'll be faithful long after they're gone, and therefore we can all trust Him to be faithful in the middle of them.

They cover hard topics, like how to survive when your husband says he's leaving, how to love when you feel unloved, how to control your emotions, how to handle temptation, what to do when you don't want to pray for your husband, how to let your husband lead, and how to be a warrior wife.

I do have some friends whose marriages are in such precarious places right now, and I kept these girls in my mind as I read. I found insights that will help me as I relate to them, and also an understanding of how to further guard my own heart in my own marriage while it is in a healthy place.

Marriage is sacred, and while it's easy to talk about the good and fun parts of it, it's hard to vulnerably admit the areas where disappointment and even failure have dominated. I applaud Rebekah and Jen for sharing so openly with the clear goal of coming alongside hurting wives and encouraging them!

* Thanks to Jen and my friend Sandee for providing a copy of this book to me! *

Just A Note of Thanks

I left a shortened version of this on Facebook this week, so if that display of schmoopiness left you eye-rolling, then just feel free to skip this post! :)

I'm not sure if it's this season of Thanksgiving or the heart-preparations for our upcoming 5th anniversary, but this week I'm so grateful for Ryan, I could just cry. (Alas, I cry over most everything, so I haven't worked up the energy for thankful tears just yet.)

We learned earlier this year, when Mom had her hip replacement, that it's handy to have a medical person in the family. Ryan translated all the doctor-ese for us, helped us secure things like walkers, which apparently require a level of federal security clearance to obtain, and of course, helped with her actual therapy.

This round (this double-knee-replaceent-round) it's gone from being "handy" to have a medical person in the family to being just flat-out comforting.

He's answered a zillion questions (from her, from Dad, from me, from my sisters, from bystanders in the hallway - okay maybe that last part is an exaggeration). He's offered advice to try to make recovery go smoothly. He's gently corrected her when he sees something isn't quite right. Those are all handy sorts of things.

But I've watched (from the far corner where I'm confident I can't break anyone) as he has actually rolled up his sleeves and crawled in to help. He's shifted her in bed when she needed to turn. He's walked with her when she needed to move. He's helped her get up and down, back and forth from restroom breaks, and in and out of cars.

And more than that, he has been voluntarily going to work early every single day to spend some time with her before his shift begins. He talks with her, prays with her, and tries to make sure her day begins well. (And I didn't ask him to do any of that. It was all his idea.)

I've been doing my best to be a good daughter in the ways I can. (Laundry, company, taking mental notes from conversations with social workers, therapists, and doctors...that sort of thing.) But when it comes to the hands-on part, I'm not what she needs. He is. And he's absolutely willing and able to step in and help. It lifts a HUGE burden from all of us and makes me love him even more. Not because he's doing work in my place, but because he's genuinely showing love and care. He's not on the clock. He's just being a good son.

I've watched Ryan step into this very role in his own family, with his mom, with his grandpa last year after his brain surgery, and with others, too. But to see him voluntarily assume that role with my family is such a blessing.

Yes, here on the brink of five years and Thanksgiving Day, I have much to be thankful for, and Ryan Shaffer tops my list.

(One of our more awkward selfie attempts, but you get the idea.)

A Nugget for Your Day

Last week (a week ago today, actually) I was a bystander to a conversation that really convicted me. I've chewed on it so much in the last week that I thought I should share the  nugget of wisdom with you. Maybe you need it like I did.

I say I was a bystander, because the conversation was actually a meeting that included me in no way whatsoever. But I happened to be in the room, so I took a vow of silence on the meeting details and went about my business while the rest of the involved parties talked. (And don't worry. I'm not breaking my vow.)

The conversation, much like a good novel, had a story of conflict between a couple of characters. And in the discussion, one wise gentleman said the following words:

"You say you're praying about this. And you should! But if you don't believe prayer can change things, why are you even bothering to pray?"

Put. on. the. brakes.

What?

I fell under a pretty big blanket of conviction with those words. I thought about my prayer list in my trusty binder. Big deals that I pray for with full trust that God can move and work in the needs scribbled hastily on a line. But every now and then, I hit a request that falls flat in my mind. Usually the ones that fall flat include people who have a history of proving they're not fond of changing. I "pray," asking God to work in them, but more often than not, my words don't match my belief.

I pray so I can say I've prayed, not because I believe the person is actually capable of submitting to a God-ordained change.

It's a humbling thing to admit out loud, because I'd like you to think I'm a bit more faith-filled than that. I'd like to be a bit more faith-filled than that.

But it's true.

People can be so maddening, can't they? They claim they want to change and improve, but when the hard work part comes into play, suddenly they're a bit too tired. And so I pray for God to change them, but if I'm honest, I don't always believe they'll let Him do it.

Sadly, that makes my enthusiasm to pray over them look much like their enthusiasm to change.

So why do I even bother to pray?

That phrase has come back to me over and over in this past week. Do I believe God is big enough to create actual change in the hearts of others? Am I not proof that He was big enough to work in my own stubborn, change-loathing heart? Am I not glad that He persevered with me? Wouldn't I want to be faithful in prayer for Him to be faithful to work in others?

That's the conviction camp in which I reside today. Maybe you want to keep me company!?

Walk a Mile in My Shoes Wednesday: Selling Homes

As you know, I have a bit of an addiction to realtor.com, and as you also know, Ryan and I spent a good chunk of our marriage trying to sell our homes! So naturally, I wanted to feature the fine world of real estate in this series! I actually have more than one friend who works in real estate, so I am breaking up the topic into both buying and selling. This week I want to introduce you to a friend of mine who is passionate about selling homes. She has some great advice for you if you're looking to sell in the future, and she also has some fun facts about her own career as a Realtor!

Lesley Downing works in the Wabash, Indiana area, and I have to tell you, Wabash has some serious hidden treasures in the world of homes. She posts listings to Facebook sometimes, and I have drooled multiple times over properties she's featured. Wabash seems like such an unassuming place. Who knew it had so many really great homes?

But I digress. Back to Lesley.

She has worked in this field for twelve years and is so passionate about her work! I love seeing her posts on Facebook, because if she's not about to make me fall in love with a house, she's about to teach me something! :) I asked her what led her into real estate, and she said she had previously been working in the criminal justice system, and after she began commuting quite a distance to work, she knew she needed a change. Not just a change in travel time, but in life-outlook. She thought real estate would be more uplifting and that led her to make the switch!

 (Here's Lesley, in case you want a face to go with the story!)

Here are some of the things Lesley wanted you to know about what it's like to be a Realtor selling homes:

1. Please hire a local Realtor!

Lesley doesn't say that to beg for business. She says it for your own good! So many people (and once upon a time, Ryan and I were "so many people") think it will be more financially advantageous for them if they skip the "middle-man" of a Realtor. They don't want to pay the fee, and they think they can handle it all on their own.

But if you're serious about selling, you'll benefit from the expertise of a Realtor. They know how to effectively price your home so it will actually (gasp) sell! They are also trained and licensed to fill in legal purchase agreements written by attorneys, and trust her: you want that! If you try to navigate legal agreements on your own, it can end up costing you thousands of dollars (you know...all those dollars you saved by not using a Realtor to start with?) and a lot of needless stress.

Lesley actually knows someone who bought a contract online, filled it out themselves, and it ended up costing them dearly with lawsuits, lawyers, and stress. It's just not worth it! And she begs you, if you really don't want a Realtor to handle your transactions, please hire an attorney to write up your purchase agreements!

2. Staging is paramount!

If you watch any amount of HGTV, you probably already know this, but it's always good to have a reminder! If you want to sell your home (like actually sell it), de-clutter, and when you think you're done, do a second round. If you have small rooms, remove unnecessary items so the room feels bigger.

Some Realtors will tell you to remove everything that makes your home personal, but Lesley doesn't like to go quite to that extreme. She agrees personal pictures and touches should be kept to a minimum, but leaving some of those things up and visible makes the home feel warm and loved, and people can sense that when they walk through. (We heard that a lot when we had our Marion house on the market. We left up some of our main photos and people frequently commented on how they enjoyed that and the homey atmosphere it created.) All that said, it is good to remove things like excessive photo magnets on the refrigerator and any personal keepsakes and valuables that you don't want to risk losing!

Sometimes the simple things are the most important! Wash the windows to make the house sparkle, invest in paint or new flooring to increase your market value for very little out of pocket, and pay attention to the appearance of your front door, front porch, and entry area. First impressions are everything!

Lesley also adds that it's important to get rid of any pet odors and to NOT mask any odor with citrus fresheners. And something you may not think of, but should always do? Clean your gutters!

3. You are unlikely to get 100% of your money back from every investment you make.

Boy, did we ever hear about this when we were selling our Marion home! We had made thousands of dollars in improvements while we lived there, and we saw very little of that come back to us, actually. You always hear that kitchens and bathrooms sell homes, and they do, to an extent, but buyers aren't going to pay excessive appreciation fees for your hard work!

Actually, Lesley says that the national average return on investment for a new kitchen is 79%. (To put that in perspective, the average cost of a new kitchen remodel is just under twenty thousand dollars.) Interestingly enough, the top five improvements you can make to get the best return on your investment are: replace the entry door, add manufactured stone veneer, replace the garage door, replace the siding, or upscale your garage door. I never would have guessed most of those!

For a lot of people, quick, simple maintenance could add a lot of value: new counter tops or faucets, pressure washing the exterior of the house, painting exterior trim, re-staining a deck or privacy fence, sealing a garage floor, sprucing up landscaping, and painting a front door.

The moral of the story is that your Realtor wants to help you sell your house and wants you to get the best price you can, but he or she is not a magician. Part of the outcome depends on your willingness to invest in your sale!

4. Remember you were once a buyer too!

Lesley says to think back to the days when you looked at houses. Think about what caught your eye and what mattered to you. Put yourself in your prospective buyers' shoes and put your time, energy, and money into the things you would want to see if you were walking in the door for the first time!

Also just for fun...

Lesley wanted to share with you some of her most memorable moments in real estate. This is what it's like to be a Realtor: the fun, the crazy, and the quirky!

* She once showed a home during a code red snow emergency. (And guess what? She made the sale!)

* She once killed a bat during a showing and it didn't scare her clients. She said she was more scared than they were. (And guess what? She made the sale!)

* Last year, she sold a house that had been featured on the TV show Dead Files. The episode was called Deadly Grounds. The current owners have not reported seeing any ghosts or other strange things.

* If you're a Christian fiction fan, you might be interested in knowing Lesley once showed Colleen Coble's home.

* A toilet paper dispenser was put in the purchase agreement for one of her clients. 

* She once had a client ( a sweet lady, she says) named Aunt Scrappy. 

* And just to show you how much she cares, she once sat with a client at her dining room table and cried with her when she found out the client had to sell her house to go into a nursing home.






So there you go! A mile in the shoes of a Realtor who just wants the best sale possible for her clients and genuinely cares about them!



To see the rest of the Walk a Mile in My Shoes Wednesday posts, look right here!

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