This is the Good Neighbor Podcast , the place where local businesses and neighbors come together . Here's your host , Scott Howell . Hello , good neighbors , and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast brought to you by the Friends and Neighbors Group of the Greater Chattanooga Area .
Of course , as my intro video there told you , my name is Scott Howell and I'm your host for today . A lot of people want to know what is the purpose of the Good Neighbor podcast . What's it all about ? Well , we just desire to bring an awareness to the residents living in our communities of the locally owned and or operated businesses that are taking place .
They're doing their business in the greater Chattanooga area all the way from Cleveland down to Dalton and from Jasper all the way out to Benton Just that whole Chattanooga , greater Chattanooga area in between Small local businesses . They're the backbone of our communities . Our communities weren't built on large retail companies .
They were built on people like me and you , the mom and pops , that are out there trying to do the best they can to support the local community . And these businesses need our support today , and every local business has a story to tell , and we hope to try and let them tell it from the rooftops .
And so join me today is our good neighbor Jan Lambert with Remax Properties . Jan , thank you for being our special guest today on the Good Neighbor Podcast .
Thank you for inviting me .
Well , you're more than welcome , we're glad to have you and you know we want to learn all about Remax .
Of course , probably a lot of us are really familiar with the REMAX name , but I found out when I talked to realtors that everyone kind of has their own little take , their own little special sweet spot or their own way of doing things , and that's kind of what we'd like to learn more about today .
But before we jump into talking about all business , tell us a little bit about yourself and your family , Jane little bit about yourself and your family , Jane .
Well , I live here in Chattanooga in the East Ridge , but I've been a realtor now for over 16 years . I got in this in 2007 . Everything fell apart in 2008 . I have a couple of kids , five grandsons oh , wow . Yeah , yeah , so we have a lot of fun .
But yeah , over 16 years now , and I am Tennessee , georgia and Alabama licensed , I have some designations I have a GRI , which is a graduate of the Realtor Institute , an SRES , which is a senior real estate specialist , and the ABR , the accredited buyers specialist and the ABR , the accredited buyers .
Okay , so talk to us about that , about that second accreditation you said for the seniors . Is that what you said ?
Senior real estate specialist . So , yes , it was a class that I had to take and I got that designation so I can hopefully really start working into the senior world and helping them out , even if they're downsizing or you know , or just moving into a facility or something like that .
OK , so what time ? And talk to us about what you want us to know about Jan Lambert's part of the rematch .
Tell us about your part of that . Well , I've been with RE-MAX . I've been here for a couple of years . I love it . It's a great company , awesome company , it's just . I just love it . Love it here .
Jan , what do you think you specialize in ? Mostly that you kind of specialize in as far as your part of the business goes .
Mainly residential . I usually do residential , a little bit of commercial not that much , but I will do residential and I do go about an hour and 15 minutes outside of Chattanooga . So you talked about Cleveland , athens , dalton , trenton , georgia , jasper , south , pittsburgh , dunlap .
So I do travel a little bit , especially being Tennessee , georgia and Alabama licensed .
Okay , all right , so that's nice to know . So if you're a listener that's listening to those surrounding areas , jan is glad to accommodate you and come to you and help you get your house listed . Now do you do listing and selling , jan ?
Yes , I do both . I do sellers and buyers , both .
Okay .
Yes , yes .
All right , I know I've heard some people talking about being only a buyer's agent , so I just wanted to clarify that if somebody wanted to sell a home , you can help them list it , or if they want to buy a home , you can help them find one there .
Yep , yep . I have three right now listed , and then I have several buyers as well , so I do both . I like to do both .
Okay , and Jan , tell us this , tell us about your journey . How did you decide to become a real estate agent ?
Oh , my , okay . So I had actually sold a couple of homes for sale by owner , sold them to the first person who had looked at those homes , and then I had bought a couple through a realtor . But really what happened was I , a family member had passed away up north , so I had to travel back and forth to his house .
I had to meet attorneys , I had to meet appraisers , I had to meet county , I had to do dumpsters , I had to do all kinds of stuff . I thought you know what I could do this . After selling a couple buying some . When I came back in 2007 , I had the opportunity to get my license , Got my license and 16 years later , I'm still here .
You find yourself doing everything that you would have to do as a realtor , or a lot of the things anyway , and so that kind of helped you .
Yes , yes , I did . I had to . I mean seeing the attorneys , everything , appraisers , the county deeds , everything . I had to do it all and I thought you know , I liked it . I it was rough , you know , but it was . I came back and thought , okay , okay , let's get our license .
You know a lot of people that aren't really acquainted with all that a realtor does sometimes thinks that a realtor just goes out and shows houses and then shows up to close and gets a check and goes back home . That's all you ever do . But that's a bad misconception , isn't it ?
Yes , yes , that's a big myth . I don't just go open up a pretty house and go to closing . There's a lot of things , a lot of things that are involved .
Yes , well , that's what . That's one of the reasons a lot of people you know think well , why can't I just do it myself ? But you and you've done it yourself you've been involved in having to do somebody else's so kind of explain to people out there why they should allow you to do it rather than try to do it themselves .
Well , there's so much involved in this and if people don't understand they think , oh , I'll just say , hey , I want whatever for my house and go from there . You have attorneys , you have title companies , deeds , you have issues , and with me I have for a seller . I actually have a list of 185 things that I can give them that we may have to go through .
Now , not everybody's the same , Not everybody needs a survey or a septic inspection or anything like that . And then again , with the buyer , I have 140 things that I do for a buyer .
So it's a lot , a lot , a lot of paperwork , phone calls , making sure that when you go under contract and they understand that 10 or 11 page contract , that everything gets done timely , on schedule and everything progresses to the end of closing yeah , because if any of those things get held up , so does the closing right yes , anything gets , it's held up .
You got any issues , so we have to try to solve those problems . And anything , anything that goes wrong , we always , you know , we're there to help anybody , to make it happen and get it to keep on going through . Close to the closing time .
And that's important because you know if you're , if you're a seller and you need to sell that house , you're kind of looking at a date Okay , I really kind of need to set up by this date and then things start happening that you're not aware of , that you don't know how to handle and you didn't know you were supposed to get this done .
And now , now you know the next thing , you know the closing being put off and and as a seller it's kind of dangerous because now you've got a buyer , but now they're having more time to think and driving by other houses that have for sale signs and they may go . You know what , maybe we jump too soon and they say you know you may be without a buyer .
So it's really important to move and progress along in the right order , isn't it ?
Yeah , you just got to keep everything going on a timeline . Keep everything , and you're always going to have hiccups , there's always going to be something , but we always get through it . We get through it and keep everybody calm and just keep moving forward . Yeah .
The difference in having a hiccup and doing it on your own means you've got to go do everything . Having a hiccup and having Jan Lambert handle it . She's handling all that for you , so that's that's a big deal .
I'm making the phone calls , I'm getting people there , getting them on , getting getting schedules , everything's going . Yeah , it could be septic , it could be surveys , it could be attorneys , it could be deeds , title work , anything that can happen . A lot can happen . A lot can happen .
A lot can happen , a lot can happen . I hear experience in your voice , Jan .
Yeah , a lot can happen . Sometimes , when closing happens , things are not finished . Yes sometimes you have to keep moving and keep things going after closing to make sure things are still going the way that the contract had stated .
So , yeah , okay , all right . Yeah , that's something to think about too . All the things that happen afterwards . Yeah , that's why we close we just walk away , it's done . But sometimes that isn't the case , is it ? It's ?
not , it's not the case , is it ? It's not . It's not the case . Sometimes I've got one right now , a month and a half later . So it's , it's a . It's always interesting .
I know there's a lot of different Remax offices and you're with the one called properties , right ?
Yeah , so I'm with properties here in Chattanooga and then , uh , beth and Francis own another one over in Hickson , so they do own two . Remaxes .