Submit Your #Relentless Story Here!

Do you do whatever it takes to deliver extraordinary experiences to your clients? Do you strive to defy mediocrity in your local market and push to #alwayselevate your business?  

If you answered YES to either of these questions, you are one of the #AffiliatedRelentless...and we want to hear your story. 

Example: An Agent's client decided to cancel the contract for the lawn maintenance after he got his investment property under contract. The day before closing, the buyer says if the lawn isn't taken care of there will be no closing. The Agent's client was unable to take care of the lawn within a days notice, so what does the Agent do? She takes her own mower to the property and mows the place herself! That agent went #AboveAndBeyond for her client. 

  • Each quarter, two real estate professionals who exemplify what it means to deliver the extraordinary will be named CENTURY 21 Affiliated's "Relentless Agents".
  • Please Note: If you submitted a story last quarter, you are still eligible for this quarter's winners - no need to re-submit
     
  • Winners will receive a marketing package to help boast their achievements and a gift certificate of their choosing!
  • Only submissions tied to a specific CENTURY 21 Affiliated transaction will be considered. RealStafisfied surveys will also be considered.  

Nominate yourself or a deserving colleague by completing the submission form!  

Questions? Reach out to Marketing@c21affiliated.com


2022 Quarter 2 Relentless Agents

Amber Larson Amber had a listing for an elderly client and his home had an accepted offer very quickly.  She had a great deal of trouble communicating with him because he didn't have email and he didn't know how to use his new cell phone. She finally was able to meet with him and show him how to send and receive a call.  

 

The client continually assured Amber he was taking care of packing and moving but about a week prior to closing, Amber discovered the seller had not even begun to pack and seemed to be somewhat confused and overwhelmed as to where to begin.  Amber and her husband and children spent more than three 16-hour days helping the client pack up, dispose of, store, and move his 3-bedroom house, garage, and storage building.   

 

The home, garage, and storage building were all emptied and the house cleaned just hours before closing.

Peter Boettcher- Wisconsin Dells, WI

Peter’s buyer purchased a home in Rio with him in June 2020 during the pandemic. However in November of 2020, she needed to sell her Rio property as she had moved back home.  

 

She also asked Peter if he could turn on the heat and to ship a few items. They arranged for a locksmith and got the heat turned on just before the first deep freeze. 

 

At this point, she thought she would be able to return to pack up. However, come Spring 2021, she was not able to make it back and asked if Peter would be willing to pack up her entire house.  

 

Peter spent a day packing up everything and cleaning out the fridge to make sure they could list the house in a timely manner.  

2022 Quarter 1 Relentless Agents

Kate_Gingery_East_Lansing_Affiliated_Relentless_Agent

Kate Gingery's client and her son were looking to find a home that they could live in for the years to come. They both hoped to have a little more space, host family and friends and live near the local school district.

Kate and her client started looking at houses at the height of the seller's market in Greater Lansing. Over the 15 months, they walked through 34 homes and at first, could not gain any traction. Kate would reach out to agents in her office, contacted agents in her MLS, reached out to her sphere several times, and even sent postcards to potential sellers. Unfortunately, Kate and her client had little luck.

Over the course of 14 months, they made 11 offers, in which 9 of the 11 were rejected. Two were accepted but they walked away from one because of the inspection. The client was discouraged along the way, but Kate kept plugging along. Then, in November of 2021, they found the perfect house! The client’s offer was accepted, and Kate was thrilled to say it was worth the wait! Kate is so humbled and honored to have helped her client get everything she wanted in a home in a town close to the desired school district!

Sam Eifert worked with clients who were living in LA and wanted to move to the Madison area for retirement. Three weeks into their search, a home came up that they absolutely loved. It had the right style and design, was located across from a lake, and was central to the area they were looking in. They asked if Sam could put in an offer without seeing it, and although it was a fixer upper, they wanted the home. Sam drafted an offer with some great terms, and by the next day they had an accepted offer!

The clients flew in a week later for the inspection. Unfortunately, there were a litany of items that needed to be fixed. The clients tried to get some quotes, but they were set to leave for LA in three days. Sam extended the inspection contingency to get quotes, and as they flew home, Sam went to work.

In a time when contractors are booked out months in advance, Sam was able to contact his network and use family and friends’ connections to secure bids on flooring, asbestos removal, concrete lifting, new poured concrete, a roof estimate, plumbing, HVAC, and garage drywall removal and replacement. It took hours of calls, emails, follow ups, and some begging, but they got the quotes and submitted an amendment to reduce the purchase price. Because of the work put in ahead of time and the actual contractor quotes and bids, they were able to agree on a $35,000 price reduction. Sam’s clients were thrilled, and they closed two weeks later.

Sam_Eifert_Affiliated_Relentless_Agent

2021 Quarter 4 Relentless Agents

Alisa Boyd worked with a buyer that suffered from PTSD and struggled with the difficulties of navigating both the sale of his lifetime home and helping with the new build of his forever home. 

All was fine until the builder started making mistakes. Real Estate is challenging enough, but adding this type of stress to a buyer with PTSD made the situation difficult. With great determination, extremely creative thinking, and impressive negotiation skills, Alisa was able to find ways to get the buyer adjustments, credits, and additional items (like insulation in the garage and drywall) to help ease the pain.

In the end, the sale of the buyer’s original home closed for over asking price with 30 days free occupancy. Alisa was also able to get the new build closed. Her client is moved in and happy!

In 2021, Renee Heintz created “HomePACT” -  a program where 10% of each sale is donated to a local organization or charity of the client’s choice.

In the year 2021, Renee’s program donated over $16,000 to organizations, non-profits, churches, and charities throughout the community.

Renee is looking forward to surpassing that in 2022.


2021 Quarter 3 Relentless Agents

Gina Hees had out-of-state clients who wanted to list their WI home that they were renting out. Gina she made an appointment with the renter to go see the home. She walked into a very trashed house. Gina told the sellers she would take care of everything!

Once the renter moved out, Gina had lined up a painter, professional house cleaner, plumber, garage door repairman, had new carpet installed and replaced outdated lights. Her husband did all the neglected yard work, and she re-painted all the trim around the garage and service doors. She and her husband were there every day and fixed the house in one week.

It had multiple offers and sold in two days. They spent $8000 in repairs but got $40,000 over asking price! To top it off, this was Gina’s very first listing!

Tammy Kerr worked with an adult client that had some issues and needed to have a guardian of her estate. The estate was held with a bank and all the funds were frozen. This client could not access the money to purchase a home that she needed, due to all the red tape around guardianship of an adult.

Tammy went on to work with all those involved to ADOPT her client! This way the funds could now be accessed by her client so she could buy a home—a dream come true for her.


2021 Quarter 2 Relentless Agents

Kelly Falk had a seller who was a single mother of two children and owned her own business. The seller was a very busy person but really needed to get top dollar for her home so she could move on to the next adventure. She did an amazing job on the inside of the home but needed help with the outside.

Kelly knew that curb appeal and first impressions were everything, so she spent three days cleaning up leaves and sticks, removing all the weeds and purchased some potted plants to dress it up.

The seller was so happy when she received an over-asking price within the first 24 hours of listing. Kelly would do it a 100 more times to get a result like that.in this area

Lexie Caldwell has a client couple that she has done eight transactions with! Each time Lexie helped them sell, they have made money on their home. Not every deal has been easy, but Lexie has been able to effectively market each property, receiving excellent offers each time.

The most recent transaction on their buy-side and was from a friend of theirs. The client’s friends had lived in their home their whole married life. It was really emotional for them, but Lexie was able to walk both parties through the transaction so they both had a smooth and enjoyable experience.

Having eight transactions from one client is one thing Lexie is most proud of. 


2021 Quarter 1 Relentless Agents

Elizabeth Ajluni's clients listed their parents’ home. Their father had passed away and were dealing with their mother who had dementia. The home had a 40+ years of household furniture, files and was very outdated compared to the similar homes.

She explained to the family that some updates could make a difference in the sale price, but the family were not able to handle remodeling at the time.

So Elizabeth researched and met with contractors on the family's behalf. After all the work was completed, the home looked more updated and appealing to the buyers, and sold at a great price.

Shannon Wucherer had a client who was selling her home of 20+ tears. The home had accumulated a lot of stuff - one thing being an old, HEAVY Sears refrigerator in the basement.


Her buyer requested the fridge be removed and after multiple failed “free if you pick up” situations, Shannon and her husband decided to remove it for her.


There were a few very stressful moments getting it up the stairs and out the door, but they all lived to tell the tale. And now Shannon’s husband has a “vintage” beer fridge.


Quarter 4 Relentless Agents

Jake Waddell continues to shine and impress his clients one at a time. In this deal, he was representing the buyers. The home inspection required some repairs that the sellers took care of, but they were costly. Jake and Lisa Kuhl (sellers agent, also in the Toma, WI office) reduced their commission rate to help the seller out.

After the appraisal came back, there were more things needed to be updated - namely the garage painted, and a railing installed on the wrap around porch. But the sellers were completely tapped out. The deal was going to fall apart because they could not afford to repair these items. 

Knowing how important this home was to his buyer, Jake jumped into action. He went to the hardware store and purchased all the needed items himself, and personally painted the seller’s garage. Then he installed railings around the entire wrap around porch, with the help of his father.

These jobs could have been passed on to either the buyer or seller, but Jake took care of them himself to know they would be done correctly and on time to keep the deal rolling. We live in a small community and things like this matter to both buyers and sellers. Being a good person goes a long way, Jake is just that!” – Breanna Garcia

Giovanni Arenella received call from a woman who requested a market analysis on her parent’s family home of 45 years. Upon entering the house and meeting the family, Giovanni was told she needed to sell their family home as her parents had recently passed away. There were many sentimental connections to the home.

The house needed repairs to pass the local village ordinance inspection, and the family would have needed to search for contractors to bid on the work, which would cause delays in putting the house on the market.

Giovanni introduced them to a licensed contractor who was able to get the repairs done before the village inspectors came out. Additionally, they also needed to have the house painted and the floors repaired – so Giovanni again recommended great contractors.

Once on the market, the family home received six offers in a few short days. They accepted one of the offers, but because the family lived out of town they asked Giovanni to help with the city inspections. He sat in his car for four hours waiting for the inspector to show up, not once, but twice, so the property would meet all village codes.

The property closed over asking price, and the family was very pleased not only with Giovanni’s real estate guidance, but that he went above and beyond by recommending contractors and being the point of contact for the inspections.


Quarter 3 Relentless Agents

Allison Miller_Relentless Agent Winner_Q3

Allison Miller’s sellers had lived in their home for over 15 years, raised their children there and accumulated quite a bit of stuff over the years. They had possession after closing and knowing they had been having a hard time moving everything out, Miller checked on them to see how they were doing.

Though they had hired movers and had been moving their things for weeks, they said they still had quite a bit to do and did not think they would make their deadline for moving. Miller ran home and quickly changed into moving clothes, emptied out her SUV, and went over to help. She arrived around 11 AM and stayed until 7 PM moving items to their new apartment.

They were able to make the deadline and get them completely moved out of their home! “It was exhausting but I was happy to do it,” said Miller.

Daniel Ruggles’ client was in the process of purchasing a home in Three Rivers. When the inspection came in, the repairs required on the home were to be done before the sale could be completed. The sellers were not able to complete the repairs as the client had physical disabilities not allowing her to do the work.

Ruggles had dirt delivered to the home and leveled the grade around the house. He spent a day climbing on the roof to clean out the gutters with a power washer, followed by power washing the two sheds in the yard, and trim all the bushes.

At the conclusion of the work, the home passed inspection, and closed. Ruggles client was so grateful for all the work completed and to have a home of her own. 

Daniel_Ruggles_Relentless_Agent_Q3

Quarter 2 Relentless Agents

Carrie Buckett’s clients were relocated out of state. When she listed their home, they had to move in a few weeks.

It went under contract but a week before closing the Well Inspection came back and the well cap was buried up to the neck and the ground was froze. To finalize the deal, Carrie went to the property on a 40 degree day and dug up the area herself, called the Well Company and they passed the inspection.

The sellers were very happy as they were not able to come back and complete the extra work.

When Bill Underdown sold the family home of Ann's last fall, her two children we moving to the west coast. Ann decided to use her ICU nursing skills to follow her children for a temporary assignment in California. Upon her return, she resumed her nursing position in the ICU at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids.

Bill and Ann touched base and she started looking for a new place to call home. At this time, they were learning of the pandemic and needed to hurry in order to complete the sale and get her settled in. Bill found and negotiated a great condo in Douglas for Ann and stepped up the pace for closing. Ann was now working even more hours at the hospital and free time to move was at a premium, so Bill was able to get Ann a furnished turnkey condo.

As the Stay in Place order came in, Ann's two children found their way back to Michigan. They needed a place to stay during the quarantine. With their mother being an essential worker on the front line of the pandemic, Ann’s children needed a separate place to stay. It just so happens that Bill Underdown had a one bedroom unit vacation rental in the same condo complex. Bill offered his furnished condo and asked only for compensation to cover the utilities.

The family was able to stay near to one another and find comfort during the quarantine knowing that they were safely sheltering in place. Bill Underdown was pleased to be able to assist one of our front line health workers during this CoVid-19 Crisis.


Quarter 1 Relentless Agents

John Karrigan was one of six real estate agents interviewed to help Ms. Chen, a mother moving from Shanghai to Madison to be near her daughter as she attended college. John not only served as Ms. Chen’s real estate agent, but also her primary source of transportation, her tour guide and her companion.

Once Ms. Chen made an offer on her soon-to-be new home, the entire transaction was finished in one day. Even though John’s duties were finished as a real estate agent, John took the time to accompany Ms. Chen to the bank and furniture store, and even housed some of Ms. Chen’s items until her daughter could arrive. But John didn’t stop there. He helped open Ms. Chen’s utility accounts and coordinated the arrival of furniture to her new townhome. Days later, John picked up Ms. Chen’s daughter at the bus stop, and took her shopping for kitchen necessities.

“In all my years in real estate, and all my personal experiences in buying and selling homes, I have never met another agent as thoughtful, considerate, kind, gracious and professional as you,” said Dr. Samuel Y Kupper, Ms. Chen’s advisor. “You are truly a "class act" and a credit to your profession, to your broker in Madison and to the entire Century 21 franchise.”

David Taylor was nominated by his colleague, Colleen Hatami, who was impressed by his drive, patience and kindness.

David took the time out of his busy schedule to help an older client not only navigate the sale of his home, but through the nuances of everyday life.

His client had no family nearby, so David stepped in to take him to appointments, grocery shopping, spent time chatting on the phone, and even delivered his favorite Arbys sandwich a few times a week.

“That’s the kind of agent David is,” said Hatami. “He not chasing an easy dollar - he is helping people in everyday life as well as in real estate transactions.”

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