My husband, Ralph, had to be in Dallas on business last week, so I tagged along. It’s always an adventure, as we are always looking for new places to discover. I suggested Italian for dinner, so we drove to the upper Greenville area, to a great place called Prego’s Pasta House. As it turns out, Prego’s seems to have quite a following. They’ve been around for years and the locals flock to this place. I can understand why. The food was some of the best I’ve had in some time.
A cute couple came in and they were obviously long time customers, as everyone greeted them cheerfully, welcoming them back. She was wearing a wonderful hat. I mentioned to Ralph that I really liked her hat a lot.
As we were getting ready to leave, we walked by this couples table and Ralph, who never meets a stranger  said, “my wife really loves your hat!”. She laughed and said, “oh really, it’s a Helen Kaminski hat. I got it at Neiman’s. You can get this hat at Saks Fifth Ave. too”. We continued to talk a bit and then she insisted that I try the hat on. Feeling a tad awkward, but she insisted… I tried it on and of course it fit perfectly. I handed it back to her and had some nice chit chat.
We left and as the valet was bringing our car around, Ralph ran back inside for something and the nice couple we had been talking to called Ralph over to their table again. The lady insisted upon Ralph taking her hat and giving it to me. Ralph brought it to me in the car. I was shocked! No way was I taking that hat from the sweet lady! That was just over the top!
I ran back inside to see the sweet lady and return her hat to her. She would not have it! She said when she realized we didn’t live in Dallas, she wanted me to have her hat.

As we were talking, another lady, Sabrina, from Miami Beach, FL., approached us. She said, “I’ve been watching you all and listening to your conversation. Do you all know one another?” We said, “no, we just met.” Sabrina looked at me and said, “I can’t believe she just gave you her hat! I love this. I love paying it forward. That is what my company is all about.” As it turns out, Sabrina is a former Super Model and has been seen on the cover of magazines like Sports Illustrated! She also is a singer/songwriter and actress. The list goes on and on of her accomplishments. Sabrina gave me a card with her t-shirt business promo on it. I had no idea who she was until I went to her website much later. She was a very nice, un-assuming type of person, with a super sweet heart. Sabrina and her business partner Christopher, own a t-shirt company. See their tees at http://www.sabrinabarnett.com/ and learn more about what a great lady Sabrina is! Their t-shirt company prints bejeweled uplifting messages on their stylish tee’s that impower women. Christopher came over and said he was mailing Mimi, (the hat lady) a t-shirt for being such a wonderful “pay it forward” kind of gal.
I still cannot believe a perfect stranger gave me her expensive hat!

People over 35 are not the only ones that want to live The American Dream of home ownership. Young Adults everywhere, see the importance of home ownership too. They are just as committed to having the American Dream of home ownership, as the generations before them. Young adults see home ownership as a wonderful environment within which to raise their families and create memories. They also believe that owning a home contributes to their financial goals where as renting is the same as throwing money away with nothing to show for it. However, everyone has to start somewhere and we all know you have to have a place to live while you are working and striving toward owning a home! Saving toward a down payment and incidentals needed to purchase their home is at the top of the things young adults are striving towards.

I love working with first time home buyers. It’s a lot of fun to be part of their excitement and guide them down the path to home ownership. The first thing I want to see a couple do is get with a mortgage loan professional and get pre-qualified for their home. Once a dollar amount has been established, I know what price range we need to focus in on. After mortgage pre-approval, I like the couple to sit down together and make a wish list of the things they feel are important to them in a home. I like to think of the list in two categories….a “must have” and a “would like to have” wish list. Once they get an idea of what’s important to them, we can get busy selecting homes they think might be a good fit to go check out.

So many young couples are on top of things in today’s world and know, for the most part, what they are looking for and really have their act together. That was the case with my sweet young professional clients that allowed me to assist them in finding their first home in 2009. Jade and Marc were ready to go when they contacted me about a beautiful home I had listed in Avery Ranch. They did not have a Realtor®, representing them at that time. I started working with them and learned what saavy home buyers they were! They knew what they could spend on a home, had the money saved and had narrowed down the areas that they would and would not live in. They also had an idea of what they needed in the way of their wish list. After looking at homes on several occasions, we narrowed down what the most important items were for them. I found a home that hit the market in the area they wanted to live in, the price they wanted to pay and fit the criteria they were wanting. If fit the parameters and I put together the offer and in a short time we were at the closing table. Things could not have been more perfect.

Watching the Grammies tonight and seeing Miranda Lambert sing “The House that Built Me” reminded me of an article I read recently that allowed Miranda to express what the song is about. In the article, Miranda talked about growing up in a house the she loved and wanting to go back to it again. Homes are the touchstone of our lives she says. That’s so true! The song came about when her co-writer came across an article about how houses shape us into the people we are and how that they play a role in our personal development. The house I grew up in has special memories and everytime I go back to the town I grew up in, I always have to drive by and look at it and wonder what the people are like that live there now. My thoughts go back to “the good ol’ days” where memories were made and my value system was instilled in me.