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Real Estate News
By Marian Goetzinger, Pine Knoll Shores Realty
How do you choose a real estate agent?
When thinking of buying or selling property, most people select a real estate
professional to assist them. The person you choose will make a difference in
whether you have a good experience or not. When you are in that situation,
how will you be sure you choose well?
First, be sure the person you choose is not just a licensed agent. Not all real
estate agents are realtors. Realtors must subscribe to a Code of Ethics and have
ethics training on a regular basis. The Preamble to the Realtor Code of Ethics
states:
Under all is the land. Upon its wise utilization and widely allocated
ownership depend the survival and growth of free institutions and of
our civilization. REALTORS® should recognize that the interests of the
nation and its citizens require the highest and best use of the land and
the widest distribution of land ownership. They require the creation of
adequate housing, the building of functioning cities, the development
of productive industries and farms, and the preservation of a healthful
environment.
If you have a friend who is a realtor and is familiar with your market, it
makes sense to work with her. The process of buying or selling property can be
a lengthy and stressful experience,
with lots of twdsts and turns along
the way. It is important to work with
a professional with whom you are
comfortable—someone you can trust
and with whom you can enjoy the
process.
If you don’t have a friend who fits
that description, ask your neighbors
and friends for recommendations
and interview two or three realtors.
What is their success rate? Do they
know your neighborhood? Are they
active in the community? Google
them. Check them out on national
real estate sites to see if they are
advertising well.
And finally, trust your gut.
Regardless of the success rate and
credentials of any professional,
if you don’t click, it just may be
a hard experience. Choose a
realtor with good credentials and
recommendations, but be sure she
is also someone with whom you
can enjoy the experience. Once you
have chosen your realtor, trust her.
Be totally honest with her so she can
assist you to the best of her ability.
Now, enjoy the process.
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14 The Shoreline I June 2017
Book Talk
The Schooldays of fesus by J.M. Coetzee
Viking 2016
Reviewed by Ken Wilkins
Think for yourself
Nobel laureates seem to exist on a different plane from us normal folk,
and J. M. Coetzee is no exception. Many of his earlier works may seem more
accessible, but his two recent novels about a young boy and his caregivers
stretch one’s mind to places it might rarely, if ever, go. The Childhood of Jesus
and, now. The Schooldays of Jesus, function as allegories disguised as novels.
Coetzee raises questions as profound as life itself, shows us how his characters
grapple with them, and leaves us with no answers. To properly read and enjoy
these books, the reader must be willing to stop and think—and to look far
deeper than the straightforward plot and spare prose.
Though one really needs to read these books in order, this review will focus
on the second of the two. In The Childhood of Jesus, Coetzee introduces us to
the main characters of the tales, Simon, Ines and David (who is in the first
book). The bizarre situation in which they find themselves is this: Like all
residents of this new land, they came by boat from their original lives, having
been “washed clean” in the passage, with no memories of their previous lives.
Simon finds himself caring for David, with the promise of finding his mother,
a role that Ines takes when they meet her.
After getting in trouble with the authorities regarding David’s education,
they leave—run away, really—and move from Novilla to Estrella. Here is
where Schooldays takes up the story. Simon and Ines find work and a place
to live, and enroll David in a dance academy, where they hope he will also
take more conventional lessons. The academy is run by the beautiful Ana
Magdalena, who teaches dancing, and her husband, a musician and composer.
Trouble ensues: Ana dies, Simon and Ines move into separate places,
and the academy closes. Such are the bare bones of the plot, and Coetzee s
prose serves to flesh out the story only a little more. Rather than finding a
compelling plot and characters, readers must use their imagination to make
sense of the events of these novels.
We are left with three people in an unimaginable situation, starting life
anew in a strange, passionless land. Everyone is friendly and helpful, food is
bland and the same for all, money is not an object, and those in charge are
invisible for the most part. Yet, underneath there still beat human hearts, with
desires, hopes and fears. Simon is the best example of this. He simply cannot
come to terms with the new reality.
Coetzee is remodeling the novel and has taken its structure down to the
studs. Both Childhood and Schooldays have the minimum requirements
of location, characters and plot. Coetzee’s prose, never flowery, is reduced
here to its basics. Still, Coetzee is able to educe themes of love, parenting
and what it means to grow up. Underlying all of this is a battle between cold
intellectualism and passion or emotion. When stripped of the trappings of our
lives, what is left?
The Schooldays of Jesus is not fun to read, but careful attention to its
surprising depth makes it worthwhile. One can read this from a religious
view, in which there may be a Christ figure—or consider it as a treatise oh
totalitarianism. Wherever your mind wants to wander, Coetzee is prepared to
take you. And perhaps, like Simon at the conclusion of The Schooldays of Jesus,
you might begin to dance.