Terri started by giving us a crash course in real estate transactions in a way that was easy to understand. If you’re a first time buyer, you probably need a fair bit of education on the process. I’d really recommend calling her even if you’re still in the just-thinking-about-it phase because it takes a little while to get the hang of the process.

We are financially conservative people, so helping us buy a house (starting in summer 2021) when everything short of signing over your firstborn was required of buyers was... rough. We took her advice to heart and our offers were always competitive. The many we lost were due to terms we weren’t willing to cede or cash beyond our means. We also just had plain old bad luck: the number of times people told us “this has never happened before!”––from our inspector(s), to the water testing lab, to our lender re: one seller’s antics––sometimes had me wondering if we were unwitting leads on a housing-themed Truman show spinoff.

Despite this continual weirdness and many crushing losses, Terri stayed positive and never pressured us to make any risky moves. She is assertive AND kind, practical AND funny, and highly trustworthy. She pushed us when we needed to be pushed, protected our interests, and kept us from freaking out over stuff her experience told her was minor. I’m an analytical, detail-oriented person and Terri was very patient with me. She has keen listening skills and genuinely enjoys people, so we always felt comfortable asking questions and being open with her about our opinions.

In real estate, the incentive for agents is to get to the closing, because that’s when the commission pays out. Terri frankly was underpaid on a per-month retainer basis for the duration during which she helped us, but you’d never know that by how she treated us. She knows things tend to even out because some people take longer and some people get lucky right away. It’s really important that you can trust your agent to put you first, and Terri is a personal of high moral character who will do just that.

As a long-time local of Southern NH with deep community roots, Terri also has a strong network of resources: contractors, inspectors, mortgage lenders, town officials, other agents, on and on. She works with a whole team who can help advise her on unusual situations (our specialty!) or help pinch hit in the rare event she’s unavailable. And you may not realize it now, but it’s not just your agent’s interactions with you or even other agents that determine your experience. You need someone who has good people sense and is courteous as a rule, because they act as your liaison with so many third parties. Their reputation will precede you!

While we are very grateful to Terri for helping us finally close on the perfect first home for our family after 10+ attempts, we are perhaps even more grateful for her help during our first contract that fell through. We got into a bit of a scrape where our inspection revealed a major structural integrity issue and we wanted out of the deal. Our terms were restrictive in order to win, so we were in a narrow spot. So as you can imagine, I was working up an ulcer pretty quick. Terri stayed calm, out-maneuvered the seller’s agent, and got us out clean with our earnest money returned lightning fast. I never had to involve (or pay the eye-popping hourly billable rate for!) the lawyer I had lined up just in case. She’s kinda my hero, you know?

If you read all this, bless you, and give her a call right now. Seriously. The number is RIGHT THERE PAL.