First, here are questions you should ask about the real estate agency:

1)  Where does your company rank in production with other Realtor® firms in your marketing area?  For us, our marketing area includes the towns of Arlington, Shaftsbury, North Bennington, Old Bennington, Bennington, Pownal and Woodford.

2) How does your company handle coverage on weekends and Holidays?

3) How much support staff does your company have, including receptionist, floor time Agent and managers?

4) What is your marketing plan in general and specifically for my home?  Does your company conduct weekend Open Houses, and if so, why are they beneficial or not?

5) What percentage of the sales price is offered by your company for co-brokerage for a customer and buyer brokerage?

6) Do you have a list of print media as well as internet marketing sites that you routinely use and do you have examples for sellers to see?

7) Do you have a website and do you keep it fresh?

8) What are your business hours and how do  you cover the phone lines and the office?

9) What kind of ongoing training do your agents consistently receive?

Now, here are some questions for the Sales Agent:

1) How long have you been in the business?

2) How many homes have you sold in my price range?

3) Do you have letters of recommendation from past clients?

4) What is your policy on staying in touch? What can I count on?

5) When my property is shown will you get back to me as soon as possible but at least within 24 hours with feedback?

6) Will you give me all the information that I need such as checking current pending sales and closed sales as well as increases and decreases in inventory so that I can make an educated decision about my list price?

7) Will you optimize my marketability by helping me stage the home for showing and continue this action via feedback from all showings?

8)   Will I know when my property has been advertised?

Here is an interesting point – it is a well known fact that sometimes agents with no experience excel in their first three years in the business. Why? Because they believe and do all of the necessary steps to find you a buyer and they are assertive and not yet “burned out” or overbooked.  It is not uncommon for a top producer to have an assistant as his or her business grows beyond one person’s capability to be efficient.  Top producers can falter if they don’t have someone to help them with the paperwork…don’t be mislead by the “top producer” who can’t delegate and gets further and further behind.

At Hoisington Realty there are two part-time employees who aid and assist agents in staying in touch with existing clients and setting up appointments. 

As always, personal referrals and the reputation of the company and agent are primary but a little more digging at an interview may save you from an unhappy real estate experience.

Slick’s real name was Roland Nesbigle.  He was a card carrying character and loved to talk, alot.  As I got into the big leather and chrome chair Slick immediately, realizing I was new in town or at least to his chair, started telling me of all the famous people he knew.  Every few minutes Slick would leave the room where he was cutting my hair and go into another room in the back.  He was only gone for a moment but when he came back to resume cutting my hair he had very distinctive breath.  I was only 12 years old but I knew booze when I smelled it.

When he finished cutting my hair I paid him and left, feeling that I had been in the presence of a Very Important Person.  I had just met the man who had taught Ted Williams how to hit a baseball and Johnny Weismuller how to swim!

As I got to know Bennington, I discovered other barbershops in the downtown area.  At 520 Main Street, right next to Peter’s Ice Cream Shop, there was Toomey’s Barber Shop, owned and operated by one Bill Toomey.  R.T. Martins Real Estate is presently located at this spot.  Toomey’s had three chairs and many local barbers who would someday go out on their own worked there.  Barbers like Roger Rowe and Andy Mattison.  Roger Rowe took over Slick’s spot on School Street after Slick had gone on to that great barbershop in the sky.  And later, Any Mattison established his own shop on the second floor of what is now Hoisington Realty.

I liked Toomey’s because of the distinctive barber shop smell of witch hazel and Barbasol.  That and the chatter of the customers with the barbers when they were waiting to be served on a busy Saturday morning.

Another popular barber shop was on the other end of town in the Putnam Hotel Block.  It was located at 357 West Main Street and was the shop of Bob Cummings.  Bob’s son (also Bob) is a longtime practicing attorney here in Bennington.  This shop is presently operated by Gary Jones.  Being the Hotel block was important to business because customers could walk from the lobby of the hotel (right past the Western Union desk) to Bob’s shop.  In those days Bob would stay open until 11:00 on a Saturday night to serve his customers.  Bob took over the shop in 1922 when it was in the American Hotel down on North Street.  And Gary Jones, who started working for Bob in 1971, took over ownership of the shop in 1978.  At one time, this shop had five chairs.

Other barber shops in downtown Bennington in the 1950s were Ray Crosier’s at 110 North Street; Pearly Gates at 731 East Main Street (at the corner of Morgan Street); Ernie’s (Rousseau) at 133 North Street and Ketchum’s at 620 Main Street.  Also over Pleasant Street in the Leader Block was the shop of George Foucher.  George (who I have also heard referred to as “Georgie Hogan”) was, as far as I know, the only barber who made house calls.  You could see him walking along the streets of Bennington with his little black bag in one hand and a stool in the other hand.  The stool was necessary because George was quite short.  Also, there was Merrill Pleasant who was located on School Street and Union Street over the years.

And now, you can count the Barber Shops of Bennington on one hand.  Times have changed.

I wish to thank Gary Jones for his input for this article.

Let me tell you a little bit about Dorothy.  She raised four children as a single mother and at the same time returned to college after a successful when she owned her own Bennington real estate company, Town and Country Real Estate.  She earned both her B.A. in English and a Master’s Degree in Education and Counseling.  She put her degrees to use first as an English teacher then as a Guidance Counselor at Mount Anthony Union High School before retiring in 1998. 

After retiring from education and before joining us at Hoisington Realty, Dorothy became a guardian ad litem representing the best interests of Bennington area children in the southwestern Vermont judicial system.  She has been doing this for over fifteen years and fits this into a very busy real estate career.  She also volunteers at the Bennington Museum where she assists with the Senior Tea at Christmas and other social functions.

She is an inspiration to all of us with her quiet, steadfast devotion to the Town of Bennington and its children.  Thank you,  Dorothy, for your work and example to all of us.

We are so health conscious here in our little corner of Vermont that our local hospital, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, sponsors the Trek for Health each year.  Thousands of participants from Bennington and its surrounding communities take part in an eight week event tracking their steps and activities in an attempt to get folks up and moving!  I’m proud to say that Hoisington Realty has had a team participate in the Trek for Health every year!

So get up, get outside and go stretch your legs – you’ll be glad you did!

When I started working with transferees back in the late 1960′s, it was quite different from how it is now.  The process was alot more complicated without virtual tours, http://www.realtor.com/, and the speed of email communication and faxes.  Ninety-nine percent of the time it was the husband that was transferring and the family followed.  I met my first “house husband” in the 1980′s when he transferred with his engineer wife and it was he that did the housework and took care of the children.  When they sold, I remember feeling odd when I would tell him how nice the house looked after a showing.  But he was proud!!  Soon after trends changed and the multitude of transferees were both working parents and the new challenge was finding a position for the other spouse in their field.

Today, transferees begin the process from across the country through www.realtor.com and individual Realtor websites.  They use the power of the internet to investigate local schools, churches and community amenities.  By the time we meet these buyers in person they are already quite knowledgeable about the Bennington area and southern Vermont.

What hasn’t changed is our understanding of how difficult it is to be uprooted.  We take great care to understand the needs of the whole family (including pets) when we start our relationship.  The house they choose is actually the last part of the process.  First we want to say “Welcome to Bennington! What is it that we need to help you find here – is it a sports or academic program that your child excels in, or is it a doctor with a specialty in a particular field? What kind of shopping needs do you have – do you need a list of attorneys, physicians, builders?”, and so on.  It takes a while to settle in, but nothing gives me more joy than meeting a member of this family a year later and to hear them say “I LOVE IT HERE!”

There is nothing worse than an “uninformed” buyer making a ridiculously low offer that will only cause the seller to become non-negotiable. On the other hand, a buyer who emotionally reacts too quickly will most likely suffer buyer remorse during the contract period. A seasoned professional, your Realtor, can aid you tremendously in avoiding these pitfalls and assist you in finding your home in southern Vermont.

Now, back to the question – how long should you look? If you are serious about buying this year give yourself a month but certainly not more than 3 months to educate yourself before settling on a property.  There are high inventories in many price ranges and this can be confusing.  You don’t have to look at all of them, personally.  Use virtual tours on http://www.realtor.com/ and individual Realtor websites to get an excellent idea of what meets your needs and desires. However, it is very important to broaden your search in three ways:

 1)  Look at properties listed for 10% above and below your exact price range as this is a moving target.

2)  Do not insist that all homes have to be Colonials or ranches or any one particular style. While you are looking, remember that you are becoming an informed buyer and it is wise to check a variety of properties to get a sense of value.  

3)   Last but not least, keep a list of interesting properties and what you personally think they are worth and check the  properties that sell and see how close you came to judging the selling price.

If you look too long, you may lose your first choice to another buyer and too much time searching for the “perfect home” can confuse you rather than help. NOW IS THE TIME TO START YOUR SEARCH….GREAT RATES, GREAT INVENTORY AND A FIRST TIME HOME BUYER’S CREDIT OF UP TO $8,000. Good luck and enjoy the process!!  

I have learned over the years that people who buy historic homes, especially in Bennington and Southern Vermont, are a special breed of people. They are undaunted by sanding, painting and restoring to original luster all of the special appointments of their historic home and they see in their mind’s eye the restored and lasting results.  Even those buyers fortunate enough to purchase a fully restored (not renovated-restored) property have a noble gleam in their eyes that says “Yes, we will be responsible for this historic Vermont treasure as it is irreplaceable and we will care for it and honor it as part of our heritage.”

I have come to see that the Bennington area with its rich history has produced an amazing array of period homes from Center Hall Colonials with original fireplaces and wide board floors to magnificent Victorian homes for the Barons of local industry, to the era of Arts and Craft Bungalows in the 1920′s. I love them all and it is exciting to list historic Vermont homes, market them and help in the transfer of ownership.

I treat all of these properties with special care and attention. They are irreplaceable and I am careful to research the history of the ownership as well as the authentic details of the property.  Most of our historic properties come with freshly prepared floor plans, a history of the original ownership and the description of authentic historic details. It’s part of my education but also an attempt to spread the knowledge of what makes these types of properties so interesting. I employ professional help for my research.

From this vantage point, you get the dramatic sense of the valley that our Town of Bennington, including North Bennington, Old Bennington and Shaftsbury enjoy. From here you can see the roadways, waterways and the Green Mountains to the East, The Taconic Range to the West and straight north to Mount Equinox in Manchester.

What are your favorite views in the area?  Let us know so that we can share them with everyone. Southwestern Vermont is a naturally beautiful place and we should pause and take the time to appreciate it.  How lucky we are to live and work in such an environment!