Amie Varney

Long time, no blog. I know, it's just so hard to fit everything in. I had one busy summer which did end up with 3 closings in September (who said people aren't buying houses?) so there is a reason why blogging had to take a backseat, or in my case, "get out of the car and I'll pick you up later".

Since I had children, I have been juggling work/family/household management yet not quite keeping it all in balance. Being a bit OCD (my friends may say I am more than a bit), I like everything in it's place. Unfortunately for me and many other "control freaks", life doesn't always line up that way.

I recently started reconnecting with old friends on another website and it has been so good to hear how things are going for them. I don't want it to take up too much time and realized that if I can fit that in, I must also get back to the Rain to keep in contact with my colleagues and clients/customers. So here I am, trying to get a little more balance in my life and work, wish me luck as I start over once again...

Monday I drove out of my garage and saw a gorgeous sight, my crocuses. There are more than last year (I love how bulbs multiply) and the daffodils are beginning to emerge as well. Spring has always been my favorite season, maybe because I am a spring baby or more so because I HATE winter. I don't like to be cold (my brother in law teases me and says I would be cold if I was sitting on the sun). With the exception of building a snowman with my kids, I spend most of the winter indoors, unless of course I go to Florida to escape this nasty weather. I guess I'm not much of an advertisement for New England, or maybe I am in the majority who put up with winter to be able to enjoy the beautiful spring, summer and fall? Yeah, that's it!

When I had my house built 5 years ago, I started gardening. I had the basic builders landscaping and wanted so much more. I pretty much started from scratch. I kept a few of the bushes that the builder put in and then added. Each year I add more perrenials and either extend my bed area or create a new one. It is something that I am very proud of but it is also very therapudic. I look forward to getting my hands dirty and a trip to the Nursery is tops on my list of things I love to do. My husband, children and family members know that for Mother's Day all I want to do is work in the garden and get as much manual labor out of them as I can. Forget going out to brunch or dinner, buy me a new tree and help me plant it. My first Mother's Day here, I planted a crabapple tree in memory of my Nana. We lost her just a couple of days after the foundation went in here and her last home was at Rockingham County Nursing Home, I can see it from my back yard. The flowers are a fushia color (her favorite colors were green and fushia) and I added tulips around it this year. I think she would be pleased with it. When the tulpis bloom it is like she is smiling down from heaven on us.

This hobby really comes in handy during the busiest time of the year for real estate. Through the craziness of showing property and doing CMA's, negotiating contracts and listing presentations, it is nice to take a few hours off and enjoy nature and remember the good things in life. It rejuvenates me and makes me a better Realtor, advisor, friend and mother.

HAPPY SPRING!

P.S. These pics are from last spring!

Amie Varney

Prudential Verani Realty

PO Box 354

Epping, NH 03042

603-679-5654 x3920 Office

603-490-8799 Cell

I grew up in Everett, Massachusetts, a city about 10 minutes north of Boston. I walked to school and when I was selected to be in a program for smart kids in the 4th grade I had to take the MBTA bus to that school. I was a tomboy for the most part and growing up in the projects made me tough. Or perhaps it was having uncles that were closer to my age and acted like older brothers, teaching my sister and I lots of bad habits like swearing, fighting, etc. They liked to blame it on the projects but the more I think of it, I learned all my "Best" stuff from them. Anyway, back to Everett. Anything that you needed or anyplace you wanted to go was within minutes of home.

My grandmother and grandfather moved to North Sandwich, NH when I was young. It was a 2 1/2 hour ride from Everett and as far as I was concerned there was absolutely nothing for a kid to do there. When I would visit for my week during the summer we would have to drive for almost an hour to shop. Luckily, Brad (my uncle who is 5 years older than me but I was not allowed to call him "uncle") would usually take me to Funspot or someplace else cool while I was there but this involved a pretty good ride to get there as well. I will say that the highlight of my time there was being able to swim at Squam Lake and it was worth all the time in the car as I was a fish.

My other grandparents had a cottage in Fremont, NH. I spent a large chunk of my summers there from the time I was born. There were lots of summer people that we would see every year and we had lots of fun with all our summer friends. As I got older, the summer people started to sell their cottages and the people buying them were converting them to year round residences. It got to the point where we were the only ones left. We had friends that lived there year round but we were all getting older and they had jobs, cars and friends outside of Beach Street. We had only ourselves and our cousin and the 3 of us got BORED! I mean, what the heck did they do around here? It is so desolate up here. I could NEVER live in the country, I would be so bored.

Fast forward ten years and my parents just relocated back from California and are living in the cottage. They end up buying a house in Fremont. My husband and I are looking into buying a house in the Everett/Malden area and what is in our price range doesn't appeal to me. I don't want a multi family because I don't want to be a landlord. I can't believe the price of houses in southern, NH. We can buy a single family home on an acre of land for the same price as a 2 family in Everett. The area is really growing and we can handle a commute to work if it means having a nice house, I am pregnant after all and it would be so nice to have a house with a yard. It took some convincing to get him to agree to look but as soon as we walked into what became our first house, that was it for my husband. And the city girl was moving to the country. Against everything she ever thought she would do and she LOVED it. I made friends, Rte 101 enlarged to a 2 lane highway, we were 20 minutes to the mall and before I knew it, I had 2 babies to chase around all day. There was plenty to do in New Hampshire.

It's funny but I rarely leave N.H. unless it is on a plane to my next vacation. When I do go to Mass., I find myself in a rush to get home, where there isn't any traffic and things are a little more calm. Who would have guessed that this girl is all country now? Not me, not in a million years!

I got an up call on floor time Wednesday from a woman asking if a property was available. It was a co broke listing. The woman I was speaking to told me that she had seen it available online and then heard it was not available and didn't understand. I asked her some questions and found out that she and her boyfriend were working with another agent and were not happy with her. She said they were not in a Buyer Agency with her and was she obligated to stay with this agent. I explained that she could work with whomever she wanted and then she asked if I could get to the bottom of whether or not this house was available. I told her I would investigate and get back to her with my findings. I hung up with the customer and called the listing agent.

The house is bank owned and the bank has accepted an offer on it but the paperwork hasn't been sent back from the bank yet so that is why it is still active in MLS. I asked if the bank would consider back up offers and the listing agent said that they wouldn't look at another offer unless the first one fell through. So, I gave my info to the listing agent and asked her to call me should things fall through. I now called back the customer and explain this to her and she says thank you and how I have given her more information in this conversation than the agent that she has been working with for the past month or so. She explains that she is buying a house with her boyfriend and that she may have him call me. I get her email address and tell her I will email her my contact info and she or her boyfriend can call or email me with questions.

The next day I receive a call from the boyfriend thanking me for speaking with his girlfriend and asking questions about the market, etc. His biggest gripe was that the houses he was interested in seem to be going U/A before he can get in. I let him know that he has more competition in the 150-200k price range and that it is spring and more and more buyers are coming out. He tells me he would like to find out about a few other homes and I tell him to email me and I will get the scoop on those.

Here is the beginning of his email to me: "Thanks for taking the time to speak with me on the phone today. Not sure if my girlfriend said anything, but she thought I should "get some things on the table" with our next realtor and I thought I would take her advice.... I guess what's important to me is hearing back quickly when I have a question, and setting up showings quickly if I find a house I want to see."

Come on now! Is this not the business we are in? Showing properties and answering calls in a timely fashion should not be something that sets me aside from another agent but in this case apparently it did. These are young adults who are pre approved and ready to buy. So they aren't buying a million dollar home. Who does their first time around? Don't they deserve great customer service regardless of what they are looking for? Don't you want to be the one who sells them their first house? I do! I want them to associate the thrill of finding that home and making home ownership a reality with ME! Because if I work hard for them and they are happy, in the end, who are they going to be calling when it is time to move on to the next phase in their lives? ME! Being part of this process is a gift to me!

When I get back to my office I read through his latest email and make a few calls about the 3 properties he is interested in. I email him back the info. The next email I get from him says "Thank you very much for your efforts so far, I'm already glad we're working with you!"

So, take good care of those customers because if you don't, I or someone like me will!

Amie Varney

Prudential Verani Realty

603-679-5654x3920

603-490-8799 Cell