Karen Barbour Cary, NC ePro

To all the real estate investors out there in the Triangle area, I have an important message for you. If you make your rentals accessible they will come!

Recently I was featured in a front page article in my local paper because of my unique niche in real estate.

http://www.carynews.com/2011/09/27/44225/no-barriers-to-a-dream-home.html

Since the article appeared I have had lots of folks contact me. In the last 2 days I have had 3 different people contact me around their accessible housing needs. Unfortunately 2 of them were looking for an accessible rental and that is harder to find than an accessible home to purchase. There just are not enough of them!

So if you flip houses or fix up & hold them as rentals it is important to know that there is an under served population out there. With the number of baby boomers increasing every day, it makes sense to make homes that work for this population. People don't want to face the facts but, the older we get the more chance we are going to have a disability. Universal designed homes work for all!!! Widening doors, pulling out walls, changing hardware, creating a zero step entrance and doing a zero threshold or minimal threshold shower are all GOOD strong marketing enhancements to a rental.

This is old data but the "U.S. Census Bureau’s 2002 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) found that there are 51.2 million people with disabilities in the United States. More than one in six people in this country are potential customers for businesses." (taken from an article "Customers with Disabilites Mean Business").

This is my business card holder placed at a shower threshold. This is not a roll in shower, but it is meant to show how low a shower threshold can be...helping those with mobility challenges.

So make your rental accessible and with universal elements in mind and it will get rented! Trust me! There will be a tsunami of need coming. Are you ready?

Every fall, Wake county has the Parade of Homes where the builders put out there very best examples of their work for the public to come out and see. The homes are judged by the Home Builders Association and win prizes. The majority of these homes are for sale (95%). This fall there was a very unique & beautiful home that was featured on the Parade. This home was not for sale, in fact it was built specifically for a couple with unique needs. This home was not your average home in that it was valued at 2.5 million dollars. It also was not just an average home because it had an amazing story behind it.

Through my coworkers at Go Realty, I was lucky enough to meet the owners and learn the heart warming story behind the home. Because of my specializing in accessible homes they knew I would want to meet them. The home was built for Shane and Jennifer who both have Cerebral Palsy from birth. Shane uses cruches to help him walk and Jennifer does not need canes but still has her struggles. The home was build & designed with many Universal Design elements in mind. There isr an elevator fom the 1st to the 2nd floor. The doorways are at least 36 inches wide. The halls are extra wide. In the master bath room there are roll under sinks and a roll in shower.

There are several zero step entries into the home. There is a ramp outside from the screened in porch out to the pool. All the rugs are recessed into the hardwood floor to prevent trip hazards. In all my years of specializing in accessible homes, I had never seen this! The hardware throughout the house is the easy grab and lever type. The tub in the master is an air tub rather than a whirl pool Jacuzzi type because it is healthier to circulate air rather than old water that remains in the tubing inside the tube. Not much was over looked.

So back to the heart warming story behind the house. It was actually Shane's dad who built the house for them. Shane and Jennifer have only been married one year. They met in church. Having both grown up with CP, they had alot in common, they connected and fell in love.

It is true that not many newly weds get such an amazing gift of a 2.5 million dollar home built specifically for their needs. Shane is an only child and his dad who was a high school drop out and had a sever stuttering problem built a printing empire and sold the company for an amazing profit. He wanted to give something of meaning to his son & daughter in law. What better than a custom home? Home is where the heart is!

There is one more twist to this love story. Jennifer had been a special ed teacher in Wake county for many years. She also has always loved dance and grew up taking lessons and performing despite her disability or maybe because of it. She now would like to teach special needs children to dance and there is a studio in her new home where she can do just that!

I want to highlight a new subdivision which is for seniors who are proactive planners. They plan that this will be their last home. They want to "age in place". This community is the Village of Aversboro in Garner NC. I think this is a lovely community and I think you will too. It is a young community and still being built out.

It has a great location: walking distance from grocery, shops, pharmacy, and restaurants. Yes location is key! But there are many more highlights to this community.

Dental crown molding on cabinets

• Custom details
• Screened in porches
• Tile floors
• Tile back splash
• Granite counter tops
• Under cabinet lighting
• Built in bookcases
• Custom wood shelving in closets

Aging in place features

• At least one zero step entry
• Lever handles on the doors
• HOA takes car of your lawn
• Wide hallways & doors
• Higher toilets

• Gorgeous kitchen with stainless steel appliances

  Hardwood floors
• Low threshold showers
• Low maintenance exterior

Under cabinet lighting & tile back splash

Custom closets

Sun room with tile floor

The price range is $250,000 to $330,00.

I have talked to many of the residents and they just LOVE it. But you need to see for yourself. Give me a call and we set up an appointment!

Stacked stone fireplace and built ins

I am honored and tickled pink that there was an article written in my local paper about my niche in real estate and what I do. The title is "No barriers to a dream home". They even interviewed my past and present clients Hopefully this will bring some more business but as the article says, "It's very rewarding; it's not about the money. It's more about helping people find the right home that's going to work for them."

This is a link to the article.

http://www.carynews.com/2011/09/27/44225/no-barriers-to-a-dream-home.html

See I do, what I do because it comes from my heart. I have always been around people of "different abilities". My sister was born deaf and due to the effects of Rubella she was more fragile than most kids plus she could not speak their language. When she died in 1983, I threw myself into work in the Deaf community. I learned to respect their culture and love their language. It is sad to say but my signing skills improved all the more after she died. I was the best signer in my family but when I went to her school, I have vivid memories of saying to her friends "Say it again, slowly". Immersing yourself in a culture teaches you quickly. I owe a lot of who I am today to my sister Susan and my experiences growing up with her.

Susan, in some way, prepared me to be Joshua's mom (my youngest son). Joshua has autism. He is high functioning and fully included in school, but he will always struggle with his autism, social things and emotions. There have been times in his life when he exhibited classic autism: not talking till the age of 4 1/2, flapping his hands, biting himself, talking to himself with rote scripts, ect. He also has incredible gifts to share. He is very gregarious for someone with autism and the kids in school genuinely like him. He is not afraid to stand up in front of a crowd and do his thing. You should have seen him at his poetry slam at school last year. He ROCKED the house.

Yes I am a proud mom.

Albert Einstein once said, "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on it's ability to climb a tree, it will live it's whole life believing it is stupid."

I do what I love: helping people and being of service to the WHOLE disability community and the "aging in place" community around their real estate needs. It seems to have served me well....ten fold.

When someone writes you a glowing letter of reccomendation it just makes your day. I was blown away by the glowing accolades and praise in this letter. I could not have paid Jerry to do better PR for me. What made it all the more special is that it came from someone in my niche: a senior couple who needed a wheel chair accessible home.

The money that I make selling real estate is nice but it is really this that I work for.

112 Country Club Drive

Monroe Twp., N.J. 08831

September 20th, 2011

Cell# 732-261-6555

Home# 732-521-5043

Mrs. Karen Barbour

Go Realty

123 Weston Parkway

Cary, N.C. 27513

Cell# 919-931-1939

Re: Letter of Recommendation for Superb Assistance

Dear Karen:

Sharon and I were overwhelmed with your sincerity, knowledge of the Cary/Chapel Hill/Apex housing market, unselfish time devoted to house hunting for 3 1/2 days,contacts to whom you introduced us, dinners at expensive restaurants you expensed to your personal credit card, and driving us throughout the area to obtain a first hand impression. We have dealt with dozens of real estate agents during our 45 years of marriage in home purchases, and, no real estate adviser could even match your devotion to client needs; to paraphrase a financial term, "you ability is certainly over the top"!

When I e-mailed your informative website on July 12th, citing a "Special Needs Trained Real Estate Agent" because of Sharon's spinal cord injury, you replied the next day with an informative e-mail. During the ensuing two months until we drove to Cary on September 14th, you mailed detailed brochures of the local area, e-mailed pictures of at least 75 plus homes which met our financial criteria as well as Sharon's requirements for a ranch home with no steps, initiated and promptly returned dozens of phone calls, and specially allocated three days to visit homes(and not being present in your office for sales leads). There was no expectation of a commitment to bid on a home by us; rather you unselfishly drove us to various communities, toured Chapel Hill for an extensive time, called individuals whom promptly called back to answer our many questions, and provided any data we requested.

As you are aware, we are serious about bidding for a terrific home in Carolina Preserve which is a resale of 5 years, priced within our financial parameters. It meets all of our requirements and is in "move in condition". I have discussed my potential move to Cary with the V.P. of my firm, since I have to continue working. After she receives an answer from senior management, I will discuss an opening bid with you, if allowed to relocate with my firm.

When we often sought your opinion of a specific house, you stated repeatedly "You should be comfortable with the financial commitment required and enjoy your surroundings". Never once did you worry about commissions that might be bypassed if we did not bid on a house you visited with us. This attitude is exemplary and why I was as enthusiastic when interviewed by Jennifer of the Cary News & Observer newspaper on Friday, September 15th in Apex.

Jennifer was overwhelmed with my praise of your ability, and never expected such as laudatory interview from a prospective client. However, you deserved all the accolades, and hopefully, will be featured in the "Home News": section shortly.

Please cite this letter to future prospective clients for whom you will assist in a home purchase. They can be relocating "Yankees" (although I am proud to be an Akron, Ohio Midwesterner by birth and college education), local retirees, young families upgrading, or "Special Needs' clients for whom you can readily assist in their housing requirements. My cell and home numbers are cited on top of this letter, namely, Cell 732-261-6555, and Home # 732-521-5043. They can call anytime, and I will provide them with frank answers including impressions about the area, homes, restaurants, taxes, utility costs, etc.

Most important for any prospective client is THE INTEGRITY OF THE REAL ESTATE AGENT for which you are nonpareil (defined in Webster's dictionary as "an individual of unequaled excellence") -Karen, you personify this trait and MORE!

Sincerely,

Jerry Meyers