My first sale remains my proudest sale. I acquired the listing for a local quarter section of land that was poor farmland but had a natural spring that flowed year around and hundreds of locals used it as their source of water. It, historically, had been a roadhouse and stopping place going back to the days of horse and buggy travellers.
A shy and naive 27 year old, I picked up the phone and called the administrator of the MD of Fairview to advise them that I had a piece of property that might be of interest to them. Imagine his skepticism - until I told him it was the "Whitelaw Spring". Imagine my horror and trepidation when I realized I needed to present this to their local Council.
The MD of Fairview paid full price without hesitation, more than doubling my sellers profit in less than one year of ownership. I later learned the MD had attempted for over 20 years to acquire this property. Today it is still a major source of water for the area and consumers can haul water from the pumping station without paying. My final sale in Fairview was the land for their new and current RCMP detachment.
I relocated to Fort St John and began selling for Ivor Miller Realty Ltd. in 1978, when new homes could be purchased for $45,000. It was an exciting 2 years during the boom years with gum boots as my most important tool in marketing new construction.
In the spring of 1980 I relocated to Whitehorse just as interest rates were climbing and peaked to over 20% during my 3 1/2 years of selling there. It was also the time when all the mines shut down and the Whitepass Rail ceased running to the coast. But even during slow and depressing times, real estate was a much desired commodity and a good realtor was needed. My last sale there was to a neighbor and a friend from my childhood in Fort Smith.
In Fort St John and in Whitehorse I also participated in selling vacation homes and retirement lots located in Florida, Lake Tahoe and Palm Springs, the beginning of my love for international travel.
From there it was to The Pas in northern Manitoba, a town not unlike Fort Nelson. It was in The Pas where I sold my first R-2000 home, a super insulated, airtight and energy efficient home. Years later I met, again, buyers from The Pas when they came into my office in Fort Nelson in 1995!
I then relocated to Winkler in southern Manitoba and opened my own brokerage. Winkler is a Mennonite town with low German as the first language of many. I was a non-Mennonite woman in business, not the "norm". This was the time when contaminated land was becoming an issue and rail companies were major landholders of prime commercial and industrial lands. I was the exclusive local agent for many of the CP Rail lands in the area that were being sold off by Marathon Realty, finalizing the last sale as the packers were loading for my move across country, in record cold temperatures, to Fort Nelson in December, 1989.
While selling in Fort Nelson, one of our building inspectors who was here for a few years was the same building inspector that I had worked with in Winkler. I am forever meeting people that I knew elsewhere - it really is a small world.
I am proud to have been actively selling in Fort Nelson since 1990 and consider Fort Nelson my home. My proudest sale in Fort Nelson to date is the sale of "Trapper Rays", now the Liard River Hotsprings Lodge, to the Fort Nelson First Nations. We scooped that property out from under a competing buyer - a lesson for all potential buyers. Unable to remove any conditions on the due date puts a buyer at risk to lose a coveted property.
With my background of many relocations I can really understand and appreciate all that is involved for those moving into and out of our community. Additionally, I know the importance of learning as much as I can about the new home where I was going to be marketing properties. Years ago, another realtor® , a long time resident of Fort Nelson and good friend, said to me "I wish I could sell my town the way that you do!" ... I thought that was the highest compliment!
Fort Nelson and our Northern Rockies Regional Municipality remains an exciting community and area with a promising future ahead of us. Every day I look forward to meeting new people and reconnecting with old friends ... call me anytime, I always welcome your calls.
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