I came a long way from the nervous child asking how he might help to serve his school. I found myself returning to that same place with a family of my own, again asking how I might be of service to the community.

As I shuffled across the threshold, I wondered if I was the first student at the school to elect to go to the principal's office. I felt sort of grown up, having a meeting with an authority figure. As an elementary school child, it felt like a big deal.

The principled smiled warmly at me, “Hello, Jeff. What can I help you with?”

“I want to help,” I mumbled.

“What do you mean?” the principal asked, kindly.

“I want to help the school. I’m gonna be an Eagle Scout, but I need to volunteer 100 hours of community service for my Eagle Project. I want to spend those hours helping the school,” I explained, gaining some courage.

We went on to create a schedule for me that involved four or five smaller projects that spanned 100 hours of volunteer work for me to submit as my Eagle Project. The Scouts proved a great way to learn about providing service and being a part of your community. As a bonus, I also had a new respect for my school.

One year, as an adult, I was attending my parent’s annual 4th of July party and their neighbor across the street was doing the same. A friend of my family also knew the neighbor and was at her party. Seeing me, he waved me over.

“It’s amazing to talk to you!” he enthused. “Oh, and you have to meet the hostess. You’ll love her.”

Did I ever. The hostess and I talked for longer than passing acquaintances do, and over the course of the conversation she brought up her son, Preston, and how they lost his father several years ago. She went on to tell me that Preston went to the very same school I had when I was a child. All those memories of volunteering for my Eagle Scout Project came flooding back. I told her all about that and a lot else.

She and I got on so well that, after a while, we got married! I was raising her son as my own. Suddenly back in that school spirit, happy to jump in and volunteer. Excited to rejoin that part of the community.

I became active within the school for a third time when my other two kids, twins, entered the school. While I met my older son at the end of his time there, I was with the twins from the very beginning. It felt like coming full circle.

I dove back into supporting the school. I was especially involved in fundraising events. Extra-curriculars like art, music, and sports are often the first programs dropped without additional support, and class sizes will grow without additional funds for more teachers and instructional aids. Actually, much of our work is to support the teachers and faculty and the amazing work they do. It felt good to be volunteering at the school like this, helping create the fundraising events. I was working with administrators who, in my past, had seemed like towering titans. We now happily worked side by side, equals with the same goal of helping out the kids and the adults who instructed, looked after, and guided them.

It meant backyard barbecues and galas featuring artwork by the students. I met the other parents and became a part of that community. I was shocked by the funhouse mirror these events had to my childhood experiences.

In my role as a real estate agent, I strive to assist my clients in finding communities within each of their given neighborhoods. I plan mixers for the neighbors and send regular updates to past and current clients, giving them information about the community. In working with sellers, I explore how they feel about the place they are leaving behind, what it means to them, and the place they are heading for their future. I know how important that is, since I’m currently involved in my own community and want to bring you a home for the moments that will become your cherished memories.

I learned a lot about real estate from my mom. She was an agent and I saw her as a role model. She had a strong moral compass and, while I had heard negative things about the industry and other realtors, I saw none of the nastier reputed stories in the way my mother did business. Relationships with clients are important to me. I’m not a “turn and burn” realtor. I want to know how your life has transformed after a transaction. I want to take care of you beyond buying or selling a house. Roofing trouble? Need help landscaping? I know a guy. I care deeply about my clients and want them to know that everything I do is in their best interest, even if it seems detrimental to me. It would be far worse to have an unhappy client spending money on a house they don’t want and feel they were pressured into by an agent. On the other side of the token, I don’t want a seller to feel they aren’t being heard and are getting a poor deal because of it. I want to be your guide and your teammate.

With gratitude,

Jeff Lemen
REALTOR®