Meet The Lankford's & Sakran's

This story is about Amanda and Bryan Lankford and their Parents Dr. Bradley Sakran and Mrs. Hazel Sakran. 

The Problem

Originally, they were fearful that their agent was not working for them, not marketing the property, and didn't have their best interest at heart. Then, when it became about combining generations, it was about being patient with their parents, considerate of their needs, and understanding of the family dynamics, combining households, needs, etc. It took almost 2 years to find their new home.

The Story

The first home we sold for the Lankfords was Gemini 1853 E Gemini Place. They needed to downsize from that home because the oldest of their three kids was going to college and Amanda was having a self-proclaimed midlife crisis that they needed to downsize. 

The house was on the market for a year and didn’t sell so they got some short-term renters in there while they looked for another agent. They went through three different agents and then found us online “best east valley realtor”. When I asked them why they thought it didn’t sell before they said that the agents didn’t do a good job. They said that we offer a full package of media that they did not. They said our market is well defined in our company which is what makes us stand out as we are providing an actual service to them not trying to sell them something. They found us on Google. They said that I often say “I’ll be honest with you”. 

Once we sold Gemini, we stayed in touch with them through our client appreciation events and our CRM and as Amanda’s mother aged (a former nurse, married to her dad a retired doctor) - they talked about combing homes. We spent about 18 months looking for the perfect home and going through the aging process together. I asked what her dad’s first thoughts of me as their agent were and they said that they think his thoughts were related to the situation or the house - so when the idea of downsizing or his wife’s health were looming, they were harder. She said that as real estate agents, if we are good at what we do, we are the avenue for the client's feelings throughout the process and we can help with the situation by being another medium for them to flow through. I asked what wouldn’t have worked about another agent that made the family stick with me through the process as difficult as the situation was - and they said that I really respected her dad and it showed, I called him doctor, I always said hello to the mom and kissed her cheek, I didn’t just look at them as old people - I really wanted to help them. 

We finally found a house for the whole family at 2222 Val Vista #22 in Mesa and then sold their house at  2700 E. Hazeltine Way in Chandler in 12 hours for full price, and when that one closed, we started prepping the parents home at 2201 E Prescott Place in Chandler this week and that one will go on the market on Thursday of this week! 

I asked them what was hard about leaving Hazeltine and she said that she had fixed up that house exactly how she wanted it with a huge kitchen and bath remodel, all new floors - it was perfect. I think they thought they’d be there for a long time after leaving Gemini but really felt the need to take care of her parents so knew they had to go. She ended up going back into teaching from being an administrator and now is a kindergarten teacher - which she says the schedule works better for taking care of her parents. 

Her dad is fiercely independent and she has one kid in college and another in junior high. I asked what is the hardest thing about her parents leaving Prescott and she said everything - aging, familiarity with their own space, relaxing and independence - and now they learn how to live in a multigenerational household (three generations). 

I asked what advice she would give and she said that anyone she sends to me, she’d tell to just sit back and relax and to trust me entirely. If they were going anywhere else - she’d say ask a lot of questions, understand the process. She said that I was very patient in answering her questions but that she did it just to understand not because she didn’t trust me.