Tuesday’s column: Quest for a house ends with a custom ramp
Darren Jones, outside his house in southwest Roanoke County, as agents from MKB Realtors build a ramp so he can get in. Jones was disabled by a 1994 motorcycle accident. | Photo by Don Petersen
Many of us walk around through everyday life taking a heck of a lot of things for granted. Consider buying (or renting) a place to live.
The big factors are price, location and size of the house or apartment. Some smaller ones might include the color of the walls, or whether there’s enough closet space or whether it has a dishwasher.
But for disabled people there are many other much more basic concerns. Today have a window into those, via Darren Jones.
He’s 41 and works as a data analyst in Roanoke County’s Geographic Information Systems department. Jones hasn’t walked since Nov. 13, 1994, when he lost control of his motorcycle and crashed on Yellow Mountain Road. He’s used a wheelchair ever since.
He drives a Scion sedan outfitted with hand controls. For years after the accident, he lived with his parents. Since about six years ago, he’s rented a one-bedroom apartment off Colonial Avenue. But he wanted to buy his own place.
By 2011, Jones was earning enough to purchase a home. So he went to MKB Realtors, where veteran agent Tina Hannabass agreed to help him look for a house.
That turned into an 18-month quest. It wasn’t so much a matter of finding the perfect place that was the right price and size in the right neighborhood, with the right color walls.
The question was finding one that wasn’t all wrong for a person in a wheelchair. That was more far difficult than either of them had anticipated.
READ THE REST OF THIS COLUMN HERE.
January 15, 2013 - 6:00 AM
Great story, Dan! We take our mobility for granted, and it can be gone in an instant. It’s nice to read about good hearted people for a change.
Great story Dan. Thanks for making us more aware of this.
Good stuff, Dan!
We had these things in mind, given that my mother-in-law and other family members use wheelchairs to get around because of progressive muscular dystrophy that has taken their ability to walk. When we chose our home, we made sure that both front and back doors were wide enough for wheelchairs, and that the master bedroom and bathroom were also accessible. We could make a couple minor tweaks to the 2 spare bedrooms and second bathroom to make them accessible too, mainly constructing new entrances to them with wider doors, but that’s a project for another day.
The big thing was putting an 8×10 deck on the front, with a ramp to the driveway. The ramp is about 30′ long, and it allows my mother-in-law to easily use her motorized wheelchair to come to our home for dinners, holiday gatherings, and other times. The bonus is that should my wife or myself ever need it, our place is ready.
It also makes moving furniture and appliances easier, but that wasn’t an initial consideration that we thought of…but it has made life easier on numerous occasions.
So glad he found something.
I’m glad he found a home. I’m glad that after 18 months of showing every other weekend, his agent got paid. And I had no idea Kit Hale was that handy.
Cool story.
I’m glad that after 18 months of showing every other weekend, his agent got paid. And I had no idea Kit Hale was that handy.
Cool story.
Comment by John Wilburn — January 15, 2013 @ 11:27 pm
All of us in the real estate business are interested in making a living. But somehow the comment about Tina getting paid seems to miss the point here. I’m sure that once you add up her time and effort and all the work by Kit and the MKB staff, the profit motive was not the thing here. Tina went out of her way to provide a service and help someone who needed it and the rest of the MKB folks consistent with that company’s philosophy
and caring about the community went out of their way to help out. In my 35 years as a realtor,I’ve witnessed dozens of times when commissions were slashed to help out when a truly needy situation arose. Agents have dipped into their pockets to buy and replace appliances and furnaces or have rented trucks and hired labor to help people move. Realtors every year participate in a local project called rebuilding together and have often participated in habitat for humanity projects.Kit Hale is one of
the most ethical,honest and professional people I have ever worked with
and I know something about his efforts to pass those traits along to his staff and to others in the profession. For people like him who take an active interest in bettering their community and apparently also for Tina,
it’s not always about the money. So kudos to all of them for this story.
( And by the way, I think Kit was a homebuilder before he was a Realtor)
Kit was indeed a builder.
wayne goodman, That wasn’t the point of the article, but I didn’t want it to get lost in the story. Tina spent lots of time away from her family, spents who knows how many tanks of gas, and went way above and beyond. I applaud her efforts. Believe me there are plenty of deals that are more about the people than the money. I have lost my hyde on more than I care to think about. There are plenty of clients who will vouch for how far out of my way and how much profit I have forgone to make things work for them.
No, it’s not about always about the money, but that’s a punishing transaction on the agent. Would I have stuck with a money-losing deal like that for a deserving person? Sure I would.
That’s not really my market, though I do work there from time to time. Kit Hale is first class and a great guy. I’ve only dealt with him as a broker, but can say that he is what’s right with your market. I just did a handshake referral with MKB and would do so again without hesitating.