by Tracy Hammons | May 23, 2024 | Home buying & selling
Home… As real estate agents representing buyers and sellers, we get to look at a lot of houses, usually defined by an address. But we hear the term “Dream Home” used all the time, especially when our industry is represented by Hollywood or in the media. In Fact, many of the popular shows make it seem like the word “house” is shallow or uncomfortable. Since drama is what sells these episodes that must mean there is some emotional tie to “Home”.
So what is Home? We hear “Home is where the heart is” all the time. Sure it is cliche but there is just something to it. It also means that Home IS a place. But we already decided that home is emotional. So does that mean that Home is an emotional place? If emotion is “of the heart” and a house is physical maybe we can just agree that Home is the house of the heart. I guess that old saying isn’t so cliche after all.
For many, Home is where you can let your hair down. Put your feet up. Relax. Even rest and rejuvenate. Home is the place where you can really be you without worrying about the judgment of colleagues or classmates. Home is the place where you feel the safest. While I can tell you that I feel right at home wherever I am as long as Ashley is by my side, there is a feeling of ease that comes at once when we walk through the door of the house we refer to as Home.
At the time of this writing, we have only lived at our current address for about three years. So when did the house we purchased become “Home”? We have said from the very first day when we were headed there after a long day, “Let’s go home”. That was before it even felt like Home. At that time it was just the house where we kept our stuff and slept at night. How does a house become a home?
For us, it was after we began feeling comfortable there. After all our stuff was in its place and we began to develop a routine. After we had invited friends and family to join us and break bread at the dinner table. The first birthday party and lazy Sunday afternoon. That house wasn’t home until after the first argument and reconciliation. After the children had found themselves in discipline and we heard their giggles and pitter-pattertering feet echoing through the rooms once again. It’s the memories that make it Home. It literally takes time to make a house a Home.
Even though I moved from there many years ago, I can still go back to the hill where I was raised. There were 3 family Homes on that little hill. When I step onto the carport of my Grandfather’s place, I am instantly transported back to the day he brought his Skeeter bass boat home, all the fish frys with family, the first time I held my cousin’s son, Easter, Mother’s Day, Christmas, and every birthday in between. Step out back under the shade trees where we sat and shelled peas, cracked pecans, or just sat and enjoyed the shade and each other. So even after a Home is no longer where you live the status is never removed.
At AT Home Texas Real Estate, we understand that when we list your Home there is a part of it that will be yours forever. We also know that when we are house hunting, we may be looking at addresses, features, and room sizes, but you are looking at so much more than that. You know that house will one day be your Home and there is more to that than a mortgage. We get it. We love that part of our journey together with you and we will keep you informed about all the details, so you can make an informed decision all while dealing with the nuances of Home.
by Ashley Hammons | Apr 7, 2023 | Buying & Selling, Buying a Home, Home buying & selling, Real Estate, Real Estate Agent
While at the Hunt County foreclosure auction on Tuesday, I saw a couple frantically looking for “The Trustee.” They asked everyone who passed by on the 2nd-floor lobby, “Are you the trustee?” It seemed they had not been to a Trustee’s Sale before and didn’t understand how it worked. I was there waiting on my trustee, along with another bidder. We all started to chat and found out the story of this couple and why they were looking for The Trustee. I realized I could help them. I explained to them how the auction worked and that there wasn’t one single trustee; it depended on the property. I asked them if they had a copy of the Notice of Trustee Sale, and they proceeded to pull out a screenshot of the notice on the woman’s cell phone. These notices usually have a phone number or a trustee company name listed, but this one did not, so the digging began.
This couple’s story was that their son’s home was getting foreclosed on even though his grandmother left the home to him. The family was refinancing it when they found out it was getting foreclosed on sooner than they thought. After speaking with the mortgage company, the couple came to the sale to see if the house received any bids. In response to the situation, I started digging and got several phone numbers for possible trustees based on all of the names on the notice they provided me. After about an hour of phone calls, we were able to locate the right person. The woman was speaking to the trustee company and walked away down a hall. I stayed sitting on the cold marble floor waiting for my trustee. Minutes later, she came back covered in goosebumps and was almost in tears. My heart leaped. I wondered, “Are these sad or happy tears?” She then told us she talked to the right person and got the sale postponed! Her son wouldn’t be homeless. The other bidder started clapping and congratulating them. It was an exciting time at the foreclosure auction! After the couple left, the other bidder said he planned on bidding on that property but said to me, “What you just did was amazing! You are a hero!” Foreclosure auctions are not usually very exciting. It’s very uncommon for there to be praise or joy at these events. The other buyer said, “I am happier that they got to keep the home than I would have been if I had won the bid to own it!” I don’t think of the trustee sale as a happy place for the homeowners, but this experience has changed my perspective.
by Tracy Hammons | Mar 18, 2023 | Real Estate, Real Estate Agent
Tracy and Ashley promote attending TREC and Texas REALTOR events throughout the year for agents to understand the market, tools available and to network with industry partners across the state. In February, they attended the Texas REALTOR Winter Meeting. At this meeting, REALTORS discuss business affecting the association, address local trends, and network with other Texas REALTORS.
Before this event, Ashley was stressed about the first day because she was to present a 20-minute mock Graduate, REALTOR® Institute (GRI) class. Many people in the industry consider the GRI designation “Masters Degree of Real Estate”. During the presentation, Tracy watched her impress the room full of professionals and instructors with her teaching. The evaluators told Ashley, “They loved you so much! You are approved.” She was the only candidate at the Winter Meeting authorized to teach GRI, becoming one of only 28 approved GRI instructors in the State of Texas! This opened up opportunities to teach for their local association and several others. In conclusion, Ashley explained, “It wasn’t as scary as I made myself think for weeks. It was enjoyable. I was just myself and that worked. If you consider doing something you feel is out of reach or out of your comfort zone, Do it and don’t hesitate. If it is not meant to be, it will not work, but you will not know until you try!”
Looking back over the event, Tracy & Ashley were disappointed they could not participate in more activities. The event offered so many valuable classes and meetings scheduled so closely together that they were leaving events early or entering classes late. Another surprising thing, according to Ashley, was that one percent of the agent body attended this event. She explained that there are 170,000 agents in Texa, but only 1,700 agents attended. However, that is a record attendance for the Winter Meeting, about 500 more agents than they have ever had. Ashley said that our association is the second largest in the state with 27,000 agents in MetroTex, and only 30 of those agents attended this event.
There were many great takeaways from this meeting, Tracy and Ashley were pleasantly surprised with their interactions with the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC), a government agency that is a safeguard for consumers in matters of real estate transactions and valuations. They realized that some of the TREC commissioners are brokers and genuinely want feedback for proposed rules. The process is there are rule ideas and deliberation at this meeting. Next, the rules are proposed and put out for public comment. Then there is a waiting period for several months before changes are made. Tracy and Ashley saw some of the rules changed and adopted as revised based on comments made at the Winter Meeting. The biggest takeaway is that TREC wants feedback and cares about opinions. In addition to asking for opinions, TREC is improving its customer service from a five-week response for new applications to a four-day turnaround.
In the end, there was a lot of information to bring back to the agents here in Hunt County. Tracy and Ashley will continue attending these events, learning, networking, and letting others in the industry know where Greenville,Texas is on the map!
by Emily Blankenship | Feb 9, 2023 | Buying & Selling, Home buying & selling, Income Property, Real Estate, Real Estate Agent
From the perspective of Emily, who had never experienced a trustee sale and accompanied Ashley to the courthouse:
On a rainy Tuesday in downtown Greenville, Ashley Hammons of AT Home Texas Real Estate climbs up to the second story of the courthouse. She has general knowledge about the properties she is bidding on and has run a preliminary title search. In hand, she has cashier’s checks for many different amounts and some cash (in a previous experience she almost lost the bid because she didn’t have any small bills and a bystander gave her one dollar to win). In her stomach are butterflies, she shared she always gets nervously excited even though she has done this so many times.
This process is a waiting game. In Hunt County, Texas, you have a three-hour window when the trustees can appear. They either announce themselves loudly, or they can be sneaky, possibly hiding behind a fake plant or other decor and whispering about the property with the hope no one hears. During this waiting game, other bidders mill around and try to get you to share which properties you are there to purchase so they know if you are the competition. Ashley sits on the cold marble floor and keeps her files and the homes she wants to bid on close to her chest, not fully answering the questions asked by the curious investors present. Each person walking by draws Ashley’s stare, wondering if they are simply an attorney going to court or a trustee she needs to follow.
After an hour in, the trustee for one of the properties Ashley is interested in bidding on shows up and runs the auction. Six people gather around, and the bidding starts. Ashley counters the bank’s starting bid by just $30 and wins the house in a few seconds. The Trustee and Ashley sit on a nearby church-like bench in the foyer of the courthouse and complete the paperwork for the real estate transfer. She ruffles through her stack of cashier’s checks and cash to find just the right amount. The paperwork and exchange take less than ten minutes, and the property is hers. Then the waiting game for the other two properties on her list begins. In this case, Ashley waits two more hours to have the other trustees cancel their auction.
by Emily Blankenship | Nov 4, 2022 | Buying & Selling, Buying a Home, Real Estate, Real Estate Agent
Why AT Home Texas Real Estate is the Best Choice for YouThere are lots of real estate agents out there, so what makes AT Home Texas Real Estate the best choice for you? First and foremost, we know the Greenville and the Hunt County area like the back of our hand. Whether you’re looking to buy a home in one of Greenville’s historic neighborhoods or sell your house in the fast-growing country properties, we can help. Our deep knowledge of the Greenville Texas Real Estate market means that we can help you find or sell your home quickly and for top dollar.
In addition to our local expertise, we’re also experienced negotiators. When it comes to real estate in Greenville Texas, nothing is more important than getting the best possible price. Whether you’re buying a home and need to get the seller to come down on their asking price or selling your home and trying to get the buyer to up their offer, we know how to get the job done. Our proven negotiation skills will save you time and money, guaranteed.
Finally, we genuinely care about our clients and always put their needs first. We’ll be with you every step of the way, from your very first showing all the way through closing day. And even after you’ve moved into your new home or sold your old one, we’ll still be here for you if you have any questions or need any assistance. AT Home Texas Real Estate is more than just a business—we’re your neighbors and friends, here to help however we can.
When it comes time to buy or sell a home in Greenville Texas, make sure you call AT Home Texas Real Estate. Our experience, local knowledge, and dedication to our clients are second to none, and we’ll work tirelessly to make sure your home buying or selling experience is as smooth as possible. Give us a call today—we can’t wait to work with you!
