Guiding Us Home

Change.  Life’s only constant, right? We’ve changed how we live, and, for millions of Americans, we’ve changed where we live. The real estate market reflects the climate of change, as, according to the National Association of Realtors, at the end of March, 2021, homes typically sold in 18 days, often after multiple offers were extended.

It takes a lot of Chicas and Compañeros to keep the market moving and to keep closings coming after a mere 18 days on the market. In an age of buyers closing deals ‘sight unseen,’ the challenges of crafting a home for someone in a virtual world have created new nuances in the housing industry. This quarter’s two Chicas and one Compañero are the essence of these new nuances and all that kindness and talent can mean in today’s brave, new homebuying world. 

Heading first left, we honor Central Arizona’s Cody Ann Yarnes.  Since 2006, she’s served in the real estate industry from the breathtaking base of the High Dessert in and around Prescott. She’s a community role model with groups including Big Brothers Big Sisters. She’s so many things to so many, but here, Cody Ann, we salute you for deft compassion in locating, packaging, and mailing a very large keepsake cross country to a family letting go of an old homestead. Thank you. May such kindness be multiplied.

Heading right now, we honor Northwest Georgia’s Carol Tucker.  Years of experience in real estate make her efficient and effective.  But her real talents shine through her authentic connection to the area and its people.  An active volunteer for organizations including The Boys and Girls Club, Carol is always finding ways to make connections.  In the fast-changing market of her rural community, she works with buyer, seller, lessor and lessee to ensure all parties feel whole at the end of the transaction, a complex endeavor in today’s rapid-fire market.  Deep roots and grand heart, Carol—for those, we thank you. May your connections continue to be boundless.

North a bit, we honor our Compañero for the quarter, See Off Mountain, North Carolina’s Randy Owen. Known as a top excavating contractor in the area, he’s also a noted lifesaver, literally, for his 38 years of work with Connestee Fire and Rescue.  Often seen riding the ridges on horseback, Randy is ‘of’ his mountains. His authentic, generational connection to the land shows in creative, eco-friendly craftsmanship plied on the land he tames for home builders from all over the world. Floods, Fast-Talkers—nothing gets in the way of Randy doing the job right. For your easy, confident talent and care for the land, Randy, we thank you. May your gentle vision of what’s right reign in your mountains forever.

As we enjoy Spring, 2021, and as we keep searching for home and how we live there, may we always remember the talented professionals who make it possible for us to turn out the light each night and feel at ease with our choice to rest there.