About the Gals

Karen's Story - A few years ago, my mother had open heart surgery. She had to be moved from a hospital to an Assisted Living Facility. My sister and I knew that mom would probably never return to her home. We had to ready the house, take care of her personal belongings, reassure her about the move and sell her home! I lived long distance, my sister lived nearby but, worked full time. This move proved to be challenging and totally overwhelming. The real estate salesperson we used in New York basically sold the house and received his commission. I remember wishing he could have been more helpful. With this experience in mind, I decided to help others in similar situations, helping parents and children making similar transitions. Mom lived at the Assisted Living Facility for 2 years and recently, my sister and I relocated her to a retirement residence in Florida. But that's another story...

Ingrid's Story - Seven years ago I was faced with a dilemma. What was I going to do when all of my children were in school fulltime? I decided to try some things out. I took some interior decorating courses, I worked as a Membership Sales Coordinator for a fitness club and I did a stint at an accounting office. Then, as luck would have it, I had a friend who needed some help. Her father-in-law’s health had become such that he was unable to live on his own any longer. My friend asked me to help with getting the house ready to sell. What an adventure! We started by carefully separating items that were designated to be inherited by family members. Then we sorted and boxed, boxed and donated, cleaned and finally re-arranged the furniture (just a little bit). Not an inch of that house was left untouched including the basement (which was a workshop) and the garage (with lots of rafter storage). We cleaned out the garden beds, planted some fresh annuals, spread mulch, swept and raked until everything outside the house looked as good as the inside. Then came the final test, the real estate salesperson, that had seen the house before we started, came to do the final paperwork to list the house. She was astonished! The house was listed for more than what she had originally planned to list it at AND sold within a week and a half! Guess what? I found out what I wanted to do. Over the next couple of years, I took all the courses required to become a licensed real estate salesperson. When my first listing was ready to put on the market, the house went on sale with my dining room table and chairs and a couple of my area rugs (to help stage the house). I have never enjoyed anything so much. My career has involved wonderful experiences, including helping my parents, help their parents, move.

My Realty Gals.com is Born - Karen and Ingrid met at a School Council meeting at their children's school. As the year progressed, it appeared that both were motivated to get stuff done. Whenever something had to be completed for the school, neither hesitated to take on projects. They quickly found out that both were effective at accomplishing goals - even when it meant going the extra mile. When they found out they were both real estate salespeople, a light went off in Karen’s head. Ingrid would be the perfect person to team up with to help the senior population with the complexities of moving.