Phil and I met Jessica Sadler (Fonville-Morisey) when we stumbled upon an open-house that she was manning. She complimented my haircut and gave me some chocolate. I could tell it was the start of a beautiful relationship. Phil, ever-cautious and unwilling to be burned or disappointed, said he wasn't ready to start a long-term commitment with a realtor and signed only a 1-month contract to be involved with her and her alone. I should mention that he and I had seriously discussed buying a house, but had only halfheartedly begun to research neighborhoods, mortgage rates, etc. since our intention was to close on something 6 months down the line. For our first day on the hunt, Jessica rounded up a list of 8 homes in the zip code and price range we specified. She'd spoken with us about our preferences (3br /2 bath, hardwoods, a yard with trees, a fence, etc.) and plotted a route that took us efficiently through several neighborhoods. She came well prepared with bottled water, notepads, and pens. And for each property, she printed out an info sheet, highlighted to bring our attention to assets we'd shown an interest in. She treated us to a coffee break mid-way through the day. How good a realtor is she? Well, our first day house-hunting was also our last. The 6th house we visited, we just 'knew'. We slept on it, made an appointment to see it the following day, and then sat down to draw up an offer. Jessica, though young, was very professional and knowledgeable. She walked us through the process and stopped to explain terms and next steps along the way. She's very responsive to emails and phone-calls (we had some frantic ones when another bidder entered the picture!), and she's a real sweetheart to work with. We had her, her husband, and their dog over for a housewarming soiree a few weeks ago; glad to have made some friends. I definitely recommend her to anyone in the market for a new home! read more