Hello. I am the Designated Broker for Adams Country Properties, Inc., our small family owned and operated real estate office here in the heart of the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. I have lived here most of my life, having originally moved to this area in 1963. I graduated from Stevenson High School in 1974 and went on to the University of Washington, and then later lived overseas in Germany and Panama and here stateside in Alabama, Maryland, California, Oregon, Hawaii and in 1993 returned to my home state of Washington to begin this career in real estate. I enjoy visiting with people from all walks of life and from various cultures and I welcome you to my neighborhood. Enjoy.
I have been a licensed full time real estate professional since 1993, and specialize in helping my clients resolve difficult and often times tangled real estate problems. Honesty, confidentiality, experience and tenacity are the keys to my repeated successes in this field, and the root of this success comes from putting the interests of my clients first, without prejudice, without pressure and with a great deal of patience, understanding, compassion and mutual respect along the way.
Most people have no idea how real estate agents and brokers do their jobs. When I first started, I know I had no idea about this crazy career choice either, but when I quickly realized that I could really help people by making the process of buying and selling real estate as easy as possible, I was hooked. Almost anyone can become a real estate licensee, hang their license on a broker's wall and start working. But honestly, that's not such a good thing. Real estate done well is a vocation, and not a stop over on the way to some other employment opportunity. And like most other jobs, experience is the best teacher. You can take all the classes you want and get all the little letters to prove that you took the classes, but those letters don't automatically make you ethical or prove you have the knowledge and experience to do the job well. Of course I've taken many classes along the way as well and always enjoyed learning more and better ways to serve my clients.
The State of Washington has seen fit to keep renewing my broker's license regularly, which requires a minimum of 30 hours every two years of continuing education, but I read articles and professional reference materials every day and get weekly updates from the WARealtors Friday Facts for Brokers, which I read faithfully for answers to legal issues, etc. This is a full time job and a commitment to my community to be here when they need me.
For me, the basics are still the most important aspect of this job. To care for the client. To work honestly. To pay attention to the details. To be consistent, persistent and fair and thankful for the opportunity to serve those who really need my knowledgeable assistance, my expertise and occasionally, a hug when life has dealt them a tough blow and they find they need a good real estate broker to help them deal with it. Those are my real qualifications.
By the way, I was offered 29 choices of little letters to put next to my name. I'm choosing one that wasn't an option; I'm choosing "MOM" as the one that best describes my proudest and most successful achievement.