Bad renting
experience
leads
to new home purchase
By Jeffrey Fazio
Home & Real Estate Columnist
Just over a year ago I was living quite
unpleasantly in an apartment complex in the city of Reading. It
wasn't a particularly cold winter, but it was uncomfortably cold in
my apartment. The management and maintenance staff were always quick
to point out that the temperature in my apartment (at least the
center of the apartment) was never below the minimum allowed
by the city.
As
I struggled with the "powers that be" at the apartment
complex to turn the heat up to a comfortable level and alleviate my minimum
experience, I resolved to buy my own home. In hindsight, if I would
have been able to enjoy a comfortable apartment to live in, I would
not have been so motivated to buy my own home. It’s entirely
possible that I would still be forking over a large portion of my
take-home pay to landlord’s coffers. I almost want to thank
the landlord for managing the complex the way he did as it truly
inspired me to get the heck out.
As
the saying goes, "Every dark cloud has a silver lining." My
silver lining came in the form of a Realtor recommendation. A friend
of mine referred me to Jean Snyder who is a Realtor at Berkshire
Network GMAC in Wyomissing. I can’t say enough good things about
Jean, but I’m going to try my best.
As
a first-time home buyer I had piles of questions and was in desperate
need of education on the matters relating to purchasing a home. To say
that Jean was patient would be an understatement. She was careful to
explain everything about the process to me, often several times, since
I needed it.
One
of the best things about working with Jean was her sense of humor.
Some of the properties we looked at were just awful or completely
wrong for me and she always found a way to make light of it. She’s
the type of person that you can easily build a good rapport with and
joke with as if you have known each other for years.
More
than anything, I sincerely appreciate the dedication she had with
showing me properties. Realistically I was shopping with a rather low
budget and I’m sure she could have earned more money for her time
selling to folks with deeper pockets than mine, but she still offered
me awesome service.
She
showed me homes all over the county. She showed me homes listed as
"fixer uppers" or "handyman specials" knowing full
well I would never buy one of those, but I wanted to see them anyway
to learn and she gladly showed me. At one point I called Jean, said I
wasn’t happy with what we were finding within my budget in Berks
County, and expressed that I was interested in looking at properties
in southern Schuylkill County.
At
that point she could have easily pawned me and my low budget off on
some unknown Schuylkill County Realtor and went fishing for bigger
game. That just isn’t her style. Instead, she attacked the listings
again and started showing me the possibilities in the area I was
interested in. We ended up making at least two treks up to Schuylkill
County and that is where I eventually purchased a home. Her hard work
paid off.
Even
months after the sale I’d call Jean with questions and concerns and
she never even changed her number. Simply put, Jean Snyder is just a
darn good person and I’m glad I met her. After my last rental
experience, it was truly a pleasure dealing with someone that was
genuinely interested in offering more than the minimum of
service.
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