June 9, 2009. Jackson, Ms. Condominiums

Ken thought that the computer must have a new word for them because no matches were showing on the MLS. He was wrong. Only three condominium projects turned up in the whole of Jackson. Now Jackson is the size of Halifax and lots of condos have been built in Halifax, but not in Jackson. I got the idea last week to buy a one bedroom condo here, so we could leave our stuff here for when we visit the next time. In our eighty's, I intend to be in the South all winter, either in Mexico, Texas or Mississippi and as the prices here have dropped, the time might be right to buy one now. When picking up Kate from a church activity last Thursday, I was introduced to Lee, the father of a friend of Kate. I casually mentioned that we were having trouble finding condominiums in Jackson. Lee is a good old Jackson fellow and said that the person to call was Susan Mims, a real estate agent, so we did. This morning Ken and I went looking at properties.

Susan is about my age and is a busy, productive professional, so it was a pleasure being with her. She did everything right, even to bringing a small cooler full of cold water bottles for us to drink. One small thing: she never opened the lock to the back door, so when the car stopped and Susan and Ken got out, I, who was sitting in the back seat, had to find the lock on the door before I could get out. I felt sure that sooner or later she would notice me, always late out of the car, but she never did. Everything else was top drawer treatment. She gave us both a print out for every condo we were to see, along with a market analysis for the past year for the two developments. It was fun being a buyer.

Now this is the best part. I, being nosy, asked Susan how long she had been an agent, and she laughed and told me the story. She got her licence twenty five years ago, but did not do much with it, just selling a house or two a year, but always keeping her license active by taking her CE credits. Five years ago she was diagnosed with lymphoma, and during the chemotherapy, she decided that if she did not have a job, she was going to die, either from boredom or because she had nothing to live for. She began to take her job as a real estate agent seriously. She is very busy and she enjoys her role, helping buyers and sellers with their transactions. She is in good health too, and feels sure that her attention to her job rather than to her health has made all the difference in her life. Her zest for life is catching and it was a pleasure being in her car, looking at the few condos in Jackson.