Some really good people follow the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you. You followed the Platinum Rule: Do unto others as they
would want done unto them.
—Elayne and Aaron Goodman
Elayne and Aaron Goodman had the highest praise for Realtor Janet Reynolds after an incident at their Sunriver home in early January. While they were some 3,000 miles away in New York, Janet responded to a home crisis situation and handled it with aplomb.
Early one morning, Janet received a call at her home from East Cascade Security. The company had received a “cold alarm” from the Goodmans’ home, indicating the temperature had dropped below 40 degrees. When the security firm could not reach the couple, its personnel dialed Janet, who had been listed as an emergency contact when the Goodmans bought the home four years ago. Janet and her husband, Dave, headed for the house immediately. “Fortunately,” she said, “the owner had left a key with me many years ago. When we got there, we found that the heating system had failed. We didn’t want the pipes in the house to freeze so we called a heating company, hoping that the owner would agree with our decision. Damage caused from frozen pipes would be far more costly than a furnace repair bill.” Janet and Dave turned on every heat source they could find in the house, including floor heat, two gas fireplaces and space heaters. At the same time, Janet searched for an address book.
“I found numbers for their two sons—one in Portland, one in New York—and left messages at both sons’ homes,” she recalls. “I finally received a call back a few hours later. The owners of the house were visiting their son in New York.” The Goodmans responded: “The word 'agent' means standing in one’s stead, and that you certainly did! Recognizing the danger of freezing pipes in an unheated home, and the fact that we weren’t accessible, you acted in our stead by contacting our heating company. When that company was unable to respond in a timely manner, you called a second company and authorized them to enter our home. You oversaw their goings and comings. “When finally you were able to reach us, you maintained regular contact, always keeping us in the decision loop. As you may imagine, it was painfully frustrating for us to have this happen while not in Sunriver. Your response enabled us to breathe more easily, while so far away.”
The Goodmans ultimately had to replace the heating system, which Janet and Dave also coordinated for them. The couple arrived back at Sunriver a few weeks later to find their home toasty warm. “It is hard to put into words how grateful we are,” they wrote in a letter to Janet and Dave and broker Kellie McDonald, who also assited. “Saying thank you doesn’t adequately describe how lucky we feel to have you on our side. It has been four years since
we bought our home with you. It is gratifying to know you were willing to accept the responsibility you did, four years later, with such integrity and grace.”