By Emily Elmore, account manager
These past few months have all been a blur. A house here, a condo there — my husband and I were on a mad dash to find a home before April 30, the last day for first-time home buyers to receive up to a $8,000 federal tax credit. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), qualified first-time home buyers may be eligible for the credit if they have a binding sales contract signed before April 30, 2010, and home purchase completed by June 30, 2010.
But finally, with 10 days to spare, we locked in our first home and, according to The Indianapolis Star, have joined more than 39,000 Hoosiers who have taken advantage of the home buyer credit, instituted in April 2008 by the IRS.
Now we are in the middle of getting a home inspection and packing – even figuring out what colors to paint our walls. Any suggestions?
Thank goodness for our F.C. Tucker real estate agent Denise Brunner! [Disclosure: F.C. Tucker is a 20-year Borshoff client.] She made all of the difference, living out what I consider to be the three most important client-service skills:
- She listened: Denise took the time to get to know us, and could translate that into strong recommendations. If we got to a house and didn’t like it, she made note before the next showing. This helped her weed out houses quickly.
- She responded quickly: Days, nights and weekends — Denise was always there to answer questions. She told us the best way to get in touch with her, which helped when we’d drive by a house and say, “We HAVE to look at that one!”
- She earned our trust: Trust is the foundation of any relationship, especially when it comes to investing in a home. Because Denise took the time to get to know us and our goals, we felt confident that she had our best interests in mind during the negotiations.
At the end of this process, I will walk away with an amazing house. More importantly, I have created a great relationship with our real estate agent which, as a communications professional, is the icing on the cake. Now if only I could find the box with my plates . . .
ese past few months have all been a blur. A house here, a condo there – my husband and I were on a mad dash to find a home before April 30, the last day for first-time home buyers to receive up to a $8,000 federal tax credit. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), qualified first-time home buyers may be eligible for the credit if they have a binding sales contract signed before April 30, 2010, and home purchase completed by June 30, 2010.
But finally, with 10 days to spare, we locked in our first home and, according to the Indianapolis Star, have joined more than 39,000 Hoosiers who have taken advantage of the first-time home buyer credit, instituted in April 2008 by the IRS.
Now we are in the middle of getting a home inspection and packing – even figuring out what colors to paint our walls. Any suggestions?
Thank goodness for our F.C. Tucker real estate agent Denise Brunner! [Disclosure: F.C. Tucker is a 20-year Borshoff client.] She made all of the difference, living out what I consider to be the three most important client-service skills:
1.) She listened: Denise took the time to get to know us, and could translate that into strong recommendations. If we got to a house and didn’t like it, she made note before the next showing. This helped her weed out houses quickly.
2.) She responded quickly: Days, nights and weekends – Denise was always there to answer questions. She told us the best way to get in touch with her, which helped when we’d drive by a house and say, “We HAVE to look at that one!”
3.) She earned our trust: Trust is the foundation of any relationship, especially when it comes to investing in a home. Because Denise took the time to get to know us and our goals, we felt confident that she had our best interests in mind during the negotiations.
At the end of this process, I will walk away with an amazing house. More importantly, I have created a great relationship with our real estate agent which, as a communications professional, is the icing on the cake. Now if only I could find the box with my plates . . .
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