Coffee Connections and the Art of the Network

                                         

My younger daughter has often said "if you don't go to audition you won't get the part".  I believe this to be true to most things we want in life.  You can't get hired for a job unless you apply and put your best foot forward for an interview.  

At a young age, I observed the art of schmoozing and as my Dad would say "Kibitzing" which means making small talk in Yiddish.  My Dad was a manufacturers representative through most of his adult parenting life.  His territory was small Mom & Pop stores throughout the New England Region.  If he didn't reach out personally to these vendors he would not have made any sales.  To be top in his field he learned the importance of building a rapport with these customers.  

Throughout my life I have incorporated many of these skills into my approach to meeting with colleagues, real estate clients and contractors who provide service to me.  I have found the idea of building a common comfort zone important before engaging in the goal of our meeting.  Often I did this with a common thread of sharing a cup of coffee.  

Those who know me, also will remember that I am also a huge networker and always seek ways to connect my contacts to mutually benefit each other's needs. This is an area of joy for me.  

I am excited to share that my just released book  Coffee Connections: Finding Common Ground Through My Daily Brew reflects on these topics with a part memoir, part networking tips.  I would be honored for anyone interested to read and post a review.

Wendy is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Needham and freelance writer.  She enjoys her Havenese dog Delilah, reading, writing, travel, yoga and spending time meeting friends over coffee.  

You need to make a call and your cell phone crashed!!

Has this ever happened to you?  Last week I upgraded my iphone to the 12.  To set up my new phone I had to pair it with my old one.  Both phones locked up and were unusable for several hours.  I did not have a working landline.  I asked myself what would happen if I had a real emergency.?  

Have you recently moved or tried to set up land line service? Do you know that most major phone carriers do not offer simple phone service.  Particularly on Cape Cod the phone carriers try to upsell you a package that combines internet, cable and phone service.  Sometimes you only need the phone.

This past summer we opted out of an expensive bundling package with Comcast because we had duplicate service at both a primary and second home.  We learned that we could reduce our expenses at the second home by simply installing high speed internet service to stream from our primary home.  With this efficiency, however, came the cost of discontinuing our landline.  As I tried to set up my new phone a few days ago, I realized I was unable to call Apple support since I did not have a landline.

I now recognize the importance of having a dedicated landline for emergencies such as cell service not working.  There are times when the internet can be down and although I recently added a Google voice line on my laptop this would not be useful in such a situation. I am in the process and ordering service from a company called Community Phone.   

This company was started by the founder whose own grandmother needed a landline and instead was sold an expensive bundled package that she could not afford.  This is a common occurrence for many individuals.  

As an SRES Realtor I often work with seniors who are rightsizing to a new home or apartment.  Often they do not have a need for high speed internet or a cable package.  These are expensive and may not be practical particularly for those on a limited budget.   Now that I have become familiar with Community Phone I will now advise them about this service.  I honestly believe all home residents should have a dedicated installed landline for emergency call use.  I am looking forward to the installation of my new phone and will share an update once it is installed.  

Wendy is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Needham.  She enjoys coffee, walking her dog, theater/arts, reading, writing, travel and meeting new people.  She always welcomes the opportunity to have a virtual coffee now that we are amidst the “new normal”.  Check out her website at www.wendybcb.com or her FB page @wendybcb as she posts up to date content to meet the ever changing marketplace.  

Big house, small house.....My personal baby boomer journey

As part of the baby boomer generation either I or one of my family members has transitioned through all phases of the real estate cycle.  When I was born, my parents first lived-in an apartment and in the late 60s bought a small but affordable ranch house in Oak Hill Park, Newton.    It was on a quarter acre lot with 3 bedrooms and one bath and cost $24K.  At the time Newton was ranked and still is ranked as one of the top public school systems in the state.  Their top priority was for my younger brother and I to be able to attend the Newton public school system.  As a child, I perceived this home to be the tiniest house of all my friends and an embarrassment to bring people over.  Looking back this may have been a predecessor for the Tiny House  movement although my parents did not live a minimalistic lifestyle (this was early days of collecting habits of my dad.)  See my blog decluttering.

As I went through high school, interestingly,  this little house became the destination for many of my friends particularly after a movie or date.  My parents always had an open door policy and welcomed my friends to visit whenever they wanted.    The small cozy space had a welcoming warmth that guests enjoyed the minute they entered the front door.  One time, although a bit late (I think 1:00 am) a friend, Billy rang our door bell and said "he was home from college".  Although we told him it was a bit late for a non-college setting the idea that he would stop by was actually heartwarming and became a long time family joke that "Billy was home from college"(he was studying nearby at Bentley). I learned from my parents how to make a house a home and have since carried this philosophy throughout my adult years.  They were always open to hosting dinner guests or having friends over for fine tea and coffee served in the nicest of bone china.

Once I went away to college and then graduated I moved to my our series of apartments before getting married and buying a starter home.  Right out of school,  I moved outside West Hartford Connecticut for an auditing job with Emhart Corporation.  I had searched through for a roommate through the West Hartford JCC at the time and found a two bedroom to share with someone already there in a very family oriented suburb which was not fun for a single college grad.  After one year of discontent with both my job and my living situation I decided I really wanted to be in a NYC and got a great job at Dunn & Bradstreet Corporate and my own apartment.  I found a small studio in Forest Hills New York with an easy commute to Manhattan where I was working for two years.

Missing my family and close friends as well as starting to date my now husband,  after two years it was time to move back to the Boston area.  I again started a new job in Needham and found an apartment in Chestnut Hill that I lived in for a year prior to getting married and moving to a 2 bedroom apartment in Newtonville.  During this time my husband was finishing a residency program in Boston and I studied for my MBA at BU. At this point an apartment was perfect as we both had full-time jobs and studying to do.

Once my husband finished residency and we were about to start a family we were ready to enter the housing market and started our search for our first home.  At the time we couldn't afford the high property prices in Newton or Needham ( my husbands family lived in Needham Heights) where we both grew up and a work colleague of my husbands encouraged us to look in her neighborhood of Dover, a rural community closeby.  In the mid-80s housing prices were booming and increasing much quicker than inflation and salaries. The starter home of my parents generation was now in the mid to high 200's.  

We ended up buying a raised ranch in Dover and closed one month to the date before our first child was born.    The house was structurally sound with 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths.  It was larger than the typical starter home and to me seemed like a huge home compared to where I grew up.  The lot size was an acre which is standard for Dover.  The area was very residential and only a few miles from the Needham line.   The house itself just needed some cosmetic updates which we would do.  The immediate needs of painting and redoing hardwood floors were tackled before we moved in but updating bathrooms and the kitchen could be done at a later time.  We were of the generation that understood that the first house would not be perfect.  We quickly learned that we had to compromise a bit and would need to put in our own money or sweat equity into tailoring it to our wants.

As part of our due diligence we drove around the area and went to the town hall to learn more about life in the community.  We learned that Dover had one of the top rated public school systems  and the amenities Dover had to offer fit our soon to be family needs.   As we drove around different areas in Dover we set our eyes on a few neighborhoods we admired as well but agreed that the location and size of this home was perfect for our family at the time.  We ended up staying in the house close to 17 years.

A few generations later, the starter home of our time may be a thing of the past. Todays millennials often seek out the maximum house they can buy.  Real estate is one of the largest single investments Americans will make and therefore it is important to buy the property you choose for the right reasons.  For insight into recent buying trends of millenials see a recent new article story on posted by CNBC.

As time progressed our family grew from three to five and in the late 90s we began to think about moving to a larger home.  We looked  off and on over a few years but truly did love our neighborhood.  As our daughters approached middle school though we decided it was time for them to each have their own bedroom.  We were bursting at the walls with clothing and things they needed and all felt we needed to upsize.  We ended up finding our dream home, a colonial, in one of the neighborhoods we aspired to move in when we bought our first home in Dover.  At that time it was just being built and didn't have trees.  Now in full bloom almost 15 years later it was bursting with families our age and we excitingly made the move.  The house was perfect and like my parents small home in Newton quickly became the "go to" place for our kids throughout their high school years.  We had a large basement and TV set up and always welcomed their friends.  Many a party and sleepover as well as a great cul de sac lot made our yard the perfect prom photo-op destination.

As the next decade approached our kids started to go off to college and leave the nest.   During this time we also had to deal with the process of helping our parents downsize and transition to care facilities as health care issues developed.  In addition to accumulating our own things we suddenly inherited our parents collections and items to deal with.  See Blog here Transition.  We now have a large house filled with things but the kids have all moved out of state.  The upkeep of this size house is high and a lot of work for two people.  We have since bought a townhouse on the Cape which is half the size and a the perfect space for our current needs.  Eventually we will decide what to do with our primary house.  

We are now seeing may of our neighbors downsizing from the suburbs towards an urban or resort lifestyle.  Many of my friends and colleagues are asking me, where I plan to retire?.  Although not quite ready ourselves I do have some suggestions for those who may be ready right now.  As we start to age, floor layout and ability to navigate a larger home may start to become difficult. For those who want to stay in their homes,  there are often renovation options to allow you to age in place.  The National Association of Home Builders has out together a checklist (click here)  NAHB.   

Today Baby boomers are changing the trends on the real estate market and will many opt to remain in place many choose to seek alternative living situations.  The options are growing now for our generation.  In California, for example a new law was just passed to expand the concept of Granny houses, small houses that could be adjunct to a property as an in-law or millennial type home for your extended family.  For those who may be aging and not be able to age in place or near family members there are senior housing options also available.  I suspect that as time goes on as the trendsetting generation there will be more innovative ideas coming along and I will share them as I become so informed. 

The other day, coincidentally my parents home in Oak Hill Park, Newton came on the market.  It is now listed at $659K and will probably sell in a bidding war above asking price.  As part of the weekly real estate brokers tour I went to visit the small ranch I grew up in.   The rush of great memories came flooding as I walked over the threshold.  I introduced myself to the listing broker and told her this was my childhood home.   She was actually the buy side broker when my parents sold the house in 2000 and remembered my parents quite well.  She asked if my Dad was the one with the large collection.   She moved to her Oak Hill Park house over 30 years ago  and raised her family there.  She said she went through a phase of thinking about upsizing but loved the area so much instead she chose to stay.  She too is an empty nester and said she is glad she did as this home is the perfect size for she and her husband today.  When I mentioned downsizing she suggested I consider making an offer as this would be the perfect size home for an empty nested baby boomer.  As I thought briefly about this idea I reflected on my own personal journey of living in this area most of my life.  

Wendy recently joined Coldwell Banker Needham.  She has been a realtor for over 8 years and knowing the area quite well can share a hands on local perspective.  She has also recently earned the SRES  designation and looks forward to helping other baby boomers as they approach their next transitions.  Feel free to contact her directly or click here http://www.wendybcb.com if you would like to learn more.