We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Barbara Imes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Barbara below.

Barbara, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?

There is so much negativity in the world lately, stress and uncertainty. I was approached by an Emmy Nominated show, American Dream TV Network, to do a Lifestyle and Real Estate segment highlighting Northern Colorado. They’ve tasked me with finding the Positives, the gems that make Northern Colorado such a fabulous place to live and work.

Not only am I the Host, but I’m the Production Manager. Having control over the content, I can seek out movers & shakers, entrepreneurs, CEOs & Philanthropists, those making a positive impact on our marketplace. Telling the personal stories, being able to highlight all the incredible successes has brought a new positive dimension to my work as well.

With the added Real Estate dimension to the show, I am able to highlight listings on a national level to an ever increasing audience. National exposure is an advantage I can bring to my clients to market their home when they list with me. I am enjoying the challenge!

Barbara, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As a Real Estate Professional for over 25 years, I have come to realize the real estate is only one dimension of what I do. I am truly a transition coordinator – I facilitate change! Clients don’t come to me on a Tuesday, they come when they are having a life change. Getting married, divorced, kids moving out, kids moving in, new baby, lost a loved one, new job, – a significant life change, good or bad, usually results in a change in their living situation. That’s where I come in to ease their stress over this portion of the change and give them space to work through the rest.

Realizing how I can best help makes me a better listener, a problem solver, and helps save time for my clients. I have my ear out for upcoming listings and network my sellers ahead of time to offer convenience where possible. With my marketing degree and background, I can identify the best way to market their offers and their homes to help them get where they want to go on time and with minimal stress. That’s the service I can offer that means the most to my clients.

Another transition piece is retirement savings and college funding. Real Estate can be one of the easiest ways to accomplish my client’s financial goals. Purchasing even just one rental property for each child can be a multifaceted tool. Teaching your children how to care for/maintain the property is a skill I wish more new home buyers learned. Understanding that the property is their future college fund motivates them to help.

When your children are ready to go to college, they have a choice to stay in town or go further away. In town, they can pull equity out, live in the house with roommates, and have roommates pay the mortgage! Out of town, they can sell, use the equity to either pay directly or buy a house there and again have roommates pay back the mortgage. Genius!!

Retirement is a similar path – with appreciation, tenants paying off the principal, and working toward paying off and having an income. Real Estate is a positive cornerstone of wealth building. I help them thru the process, give resources for being a landlord. The tools for success are the same tools I have personally used to build my net worth – I love helping others get started!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The hardest time of my 25 years in real estate had to be during COVID – not surprising, as I think that was difficult for all of us. For Real Estate Agents, we were “invading” homes of owners and renters, where they were told to shelter in place to be safe. We had to make sure to make everyone feel as safe as possible. First getting buyers and sellers to disclose any sickness and health concerns, getting documentation of their health was something we’d never considered. How do we confirm that? Then how do we make sure we are behaving responsibly.

Arming my self with a thermometer, a satchel full of disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizers, gloves, booties, N95 masks and a list of expectations before we even entered a home. Clients weren’t able to open doors and cabinets at will. They weren’t able to freely wander – I was charged with disinfecting anything they touched. We could no longer talk about likes and dislikes about the home or neighborhood easily – that was secondary to the process.

Open houses were not allowed. Showings couldn’t overlap, so timing was difficult. We often only had a 15 minute window to see enough to let the buyers make their biggest financial decision! Photographers were limited, Videos were limited. Having appraisers in to do floorplans – all the normal ways we marketed homes were denied in a time where we could have more safely eliminated houses by reviewing those from the safety of their home.

At one point, over about a 10 day period, we were told we couldn’t show a property unless it was under contract. Huh – OK. One of my listings went on the market on a Friday. I negotiated an offer that came in on Saturday morning at 11. The buyers came in to see it for the first time at 5 that afternoon. The next day they dropped off the earnest money check and we continued to close. My negotiating skills were definitely an advantage.

Another client was relocating here as a professor at the university. His doctor wife and new baby was still back getting the house ready to sell and completing her contract at a local health care system. He and I looked at a couple things and he went back for the weekend to see his family. Her employer told his wife that if he flew back he wouldn’t be able to come back without being in isolation for a 10 day period, since they didn’t want her exposing her clients until he was cleared. He opted to stay there and I, based on limited time with him and none with her got to buy them a house! Using videos, still pictures, floorplans and zoom calls we found the perfect house and put them under contract. They weren’t able to come back for almost 2 months after close, so I continued to have grass cut checking on the house for them – all with the trepidation of “will they like what I bought for them??” They loved it!!

I’ll have to add – they were coming from my rival school! I am an Ohio State grad and fervent fan! I started an Ohio State Watchsight here in Fort Collins where the faithful gather to cheer on the team. We pass out Buckeye candies when we score!! The buyers? University of Michigan grads AND he was a professor there transferring. Boy, didn’t I want to tease them!!

Orneriness aside, those were some of the darkest, most stressful times to be in Real Estate. Having sometimes daily regulations coming down to keep up with, having video cameras and neighbors watching, eager to catch us being lax with our standards. Helping exhausted clients make best decisions possible in the circumstances. Not being able to even just hug when they needed it. We survived – and I count those successful closes and some of my biggest wins!

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Happily, my biggest source of new clients has always been from my sphere of friends and family, past clients, but I also have a strong group of business who utilize me as a part of their hiring process and relocation of their successful candidates. Northern Colorado has a robust business community. It’s been critical to our financial well being to have a wide and varied range of business, federal, state and local entities, and universities. Having transplanted here myself, I find it was important for us to dig roots in our new home town. I researched the history and quirky details about the towns I service and put those in to a tour form. When local employers are interviewing out of state candidates, they add me to their schedules. I send the candidate and any trailing spouse a questionnaire to get an idea of their lifestyles and tailor tours to reassure them that they will fit in well and thrive here! The employers I work with understand the pressure the candidates feel with making a major relocation decision. If I can help them feel comfortable with where they are moving – they can concentrate on the job opportunity and company.

Over the years, I’ve enjoyed meeting people from all over the country and sometimes the world. Showing off our community is fun and rewarding. Knowing the answers when they call asking for referrals, making suggestions for restaurants, dentists, hair stylists – all fun challenges. I love it when they call to say “hey Barb . . . do you have a guy . . .” and I about always do!!

Contact Info:

• Website: TimeForImes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbimesrealestate/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barbara.imes.1
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/barbimes
• Twitter: @BarbaraImes
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@barbimesrealtor1307
• Other: https://theamericandream.lightcast.com/

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