HOT PROPERTY
"I think I'd like to buy a house," Cody said, surprising his parents. He'd stopped over their house for dinner like he did once every month or so.
Cody was twenty-six years old, four years out of college, and doing very well for himself. He had a good-paying job as a sales manager for a major soft drink and snack food distributor. He'd been recruited right out of college and had already been promoted twice. He had what he thought was the ideal job for a young single guy. He worked Monday through Friday, no weekends. He went in very early in the morning, five or six a.m., but his days were usually done by mid-afternoon, which gave him some daytime to do other things. That came in especially handy on Fridays when he could get an early jump on the weekend.
"Really?" his mother Melanie asked. "Do you think you're ready for that?"
"Sure," he said. "I'm making good money, I have savings in the bank, good credit, I made my final car payment last month, and the lease on my apartment is up in two months. My landlord said I could go month-to-month after that. I think the timing is right."
"That's a big commitment," his father Jerry said.
"I know it is," Cody said. "But I'm ready. I'm tired of throwing money away paying rent. I'd like to own something. Start building my empire." He laughed. His parents laughed along with him.
"Well," Jerry said, "Your mother and I were not much older than you when we bought our first house. It wasn't much, an old run-down row house in the city, but it sure felt good when we moved in, didn't it, Hon?"
Melanie looked at her husband with a relaxed smile. "Yes, it did."
"We spent the first weekend painting, every room, before we even moved in," Jerry said. "The place needed everything. Every weekend after that for the next two years was a project. But it was ours."
"Hopefully I can find a place that's not a fixer-upper," Cody said.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure you can," Melanie said. "It's a buyer's market right now. Have you talked to a realtor?"
"Uh, no, I haven't."
"My friend Toni is a realtor," his mom said. "Do you remember her? She was our realtor back when we bought this house. You were in middle school at the time."
"Kind of. I think I might have met her."
"You did. She was very helpful and brought us a bag of sandwiches the day we moved in."
"Oh yeah, I remember that," Cody said. "She was good-looking, I remember that too."
"Yes. She was and still is. She was young at that time, about the same age as you are now. Young and hungry. She did a great job for us. She seems to be doing very well these days, I see her ads and signs around town and she has listings all over the place."
"You don't think she'd be too busy to work with a first-time buyer like me?"
"She's a businesswoman, I don't think she would turn down business. I see her fairly often at the Historical Society meetings and I've given her a few referrals over the years. I don't think she'd turn down my son. Would you like me to call her?"
"I can call her."
"Let me call her first, Cody. If you call her, she's going to call me anyway."
Melanie called Toni and left a message. Toni called back within minutes and said she'd be happy to help. Cody got on the line and they set up a meeting for Monday afternoon at three o'clock.
----
Cody showed up to the real estate office promptly on Monday afternoon and checked in at the front desk. The receptionist told him to have a seat and Toni would be with him shortly. Less than a minute later Toni came striding into the lobby and walked up to him with a wide smile.
The first thought that crashed into his mind was that this woman is a knockout. His mother had mentioned that Toni was in her late thirties now and had two kids in high school, but he thought she looked way too young for that. Cody was a good-looking young man--over six feet tall, slim and athletic, blond and blue, and he'd had a number of hotties for girlfriends over the years--but he hadn't expected his realtor to be this attractive. She was raven-haired, thin, with firm breasts and a shapely rump, and she was wearing an expensive blue business suit that accentuated her assets.
"Hello, Cody?" she said, as she reached out to shake his hand and give him her business card.
He was thrown off a little, mumbled a yes.
"Nice to meet you again," she continued. "It's been quite a while."
"It sure has."
"Ready to take the plunge into home ownership?"
"I hope so. We'll find out, I guess."
"Well, I'm glad you're here. Would you like a coffee, or tea, or a bottle of water?"
"No, I'm good."
"Okay, then. Follow me."
She led him to a small conference room behind glass walls, shut the door behind them, and they took seats at the table. Against the only wall that wasn't glass there was a computer and a giant monitor.
"So, tell me about yourself and how you reached this point, and what kind of property you'd like to buy."
Cody described his background, and discussed his employment record and wish list as Toni took notes. He told her what areas he would consider.
"From what you've told me, I think you're qualified. Car's paid off, no debt, decent income, money to put down. Have you talked to a lender?"
"Uh, no. You're my first step."
"Well, we need to get you pre-approved. Sellers want to see proof of financing when they get an offer."
Toni looked at her watch, picked up the phone, got an outside line and punched in a number. "Hi Marilyn, glad I caught you," she said. "Fine, how are you?.....Good. Look, I have a young client here at the office, a first time buyer. I need to get him a pre-approval letter so we can start looking at property.....He looks good on paper....Are you available?...Yes, he's here right now, I'll put him on."
