Making A Match: Plymouth Realtor Helps Turn Browsers Into Buyers

Sub-prime. Short sale. Foreclosure.

These are just a few of the buzzwords that, since 2007 or so, have been tossed around like confetti at a surprise birthday party. Unfortunately, however, there’s nothing celebratory about them.

For many, the condition of the housing market has placed a proverbial cloud over what has traditionally been deemed a highly anticipated rite of passage: Buying a home. But as the saying goes, there’s a buyer for every home, and the good news is that matches are indeed still being made.

Despite the packing, organizing, and planning, few things compare to the euphoric feeling of finding – and then moving into – a new home. And a knowledgeable, competent realtor – like Camille Prochazka of Coldwell Banker Preferred – is often an integral part of the whole process. “It’s an easy job,” says Prochazka. “You just have to put your heart into what you’re doing … [the key] is treating people fairly and with respect.”

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Prochazka about how she does what she does and what it takes to find a good home. 

CC: When did you become a realtor?

CP: I became licensed in 1987, when my son was six months old. But I actually became active in the business in 1998. My mother-in-law was a realtor – she has since passed – and she was a realtor in the Plymouth area for about 40 years.

CC: How did you know that this is what you wanted to do as a career?

CP: Well, I’ve always been interested in houses and designing. I just sort of had a knack for homes and placement and location; the things I believe make up a good realtor, as far as having your eyes and ears open for things and looking for everyone’s best interest – trying to be a good listener, tactfully talking to people, and treating them the way they want to be treated. 

CC: How do you define the role of a realtor in the home buying process?

CP: What we try and do is define options for people, maybe things that they haven’t thought about. For example, if someone wants to rent, I’ll run numbers and then I may discuss with them the purchase process because of the savings they might have. So, I’ll give them things to think about. Perhaps open up some different avenues. [Another example] sometimes people will say, “I don’t need a basement, but I want a garage.” And then I tell them that they can never add a basement, but they can always add a garage. I discuss with them more resources for buying a house, the most important things. And, again, this goes back to being a good listener. 

CC: What do you find most challenging about your job?

CP: One of the most challenging things is the mortgage industry; they’re not so user-friendly anymore. It can be frustrating. Also, dealing with appraisers who aren’t familiar with certain communities. The rules and regulations are changing daily. Plymouth is such a unique area that you have to really have an appraiser who knows the downtown Plymouth area, and sometimes, they come from Macomb County or downriver, and they think that our market here is the same as some of those other pockets. 

CC: What do you find most rewarding?

CP: I get such a warm, rewarding feeling when the buyer has found the house that they truly love because you can feel their exuberant energy when that happens. They’re just so happy because that is their largest investment. You have to have patience! Sometimes you do have to show 60 or 70 houses. It’s challenging, but it’s also rewarding. 

CC: Let’s talk about the market here in Plymouth, which is considered by many to be an ideal place to live. You have a finger on the pulse of what’s happening, so to speak.

CP: First of all, Plymouth is classified as Wayne County, but not every neighborhood in Wayne County is parallel to each other. Some have taken larger hits than others. Plymouth, because of its excellent school system, location to Metro Airport, Ann Arbor, and downtown – and because it offers homes of character – is really a classic, all-American town with fun things to do. It’s not a cookie-cutter place with row housing. It’s eclectic. There will always be something for somebody – in all prices, from $100,000 to close to a million dollars. Plymouth has taken a hit on its prices – like every neighborhood – but it pretty much holds its own because it’s such a wonderful community to live in, really. 

CC: You live here in Plymouth, right?

CP: I do. I’ve actually lived here since 1980. I currently live in downtown Plymouth.

CC: Buying a home can be a highly emotional endeavor. But shouldn’t homebuyers yield more to practicality? What do you think many prospective homeowners lose sight of?

CP: A lot of times they lose sight of important features in a house, like windows, roof, AC, furnace, which are the costly updates. Sometimes they get camouflaged by paint color and drapery. And I can see through that. [I ask myself] what does this house have that I can see that’s not going to cost my buyer tens of thousands of dollars in a few years? I’m honest. I’ll point those things out. 

CC: In all of your years of guiding others in finding their perfect home, what, in your opinion, is the single most thing people should consider when house-hunting?

CP: Affordability. What they really want their payment to be. The reason for that is, there will always be little updates and decoration projects that you want to do, and those cost money and take money out of your daily budget. So I like to sit down with the buyer – and I even do it with the seller – and determine what it is that they really want out of their house. Their payment is most important.