When we first met with Amanda Cole we were newly married (less than 2 months in), both in college working part time jobs, full of fraudulent credit card debt of over $40,000, and carrying around our own personal debt of about $15,000.
We remember at the first meeting feeling afraid (due to the fraudulent debt), frustrated (due to the extreme tightness of our budget), and feeling hopeless in regards to a healthy financial future. At that time, because of the fraud we had just discovered, we thought purchasing a home in the next 10 years, maybe even longer down the road than that, might be impossible and we were so discouraged we didn't even know where to begin.
During that time Amanda met up with us regularly and coached us through how to handle not only the fraud, but also how to pay off the amount of debt we had personally accrued, how to come up with a workable budget each month, how to not panic (this was more for me... Abigail), and how to create financial goals, starting immediately, for the future in terms of buying a home, preparing for retirement, etc.
After we left our first meeting we remember laughing because we thought we'd only be working on the fraud and then moving on - we had no idea we had "stuff to work with." We thought planning for the future or purchasing a home would come way later. We laugh NOW at how ridiculous we were.
Fast forward to 4 years later and we were completely fraud-free, debt-free, and had a somewhat substantial amount of savings. We called Amanda up and tentatively told her we might be ready to "think" about buying a house. We were relived when Amanda told us we were ready. After all we'd been through together, we knew she would know.
With this new exciting venture on the line we set up a meeting with Amanda to talk through what to expect in the home-buying process. Also, knowing Amanda, we knew we were about to be "educated" on what was coming - and we weren't disappointed. Even though she had already walked us through so much (step, by step, by step) we were still nervous we didn't know enough about buying a home to not make some potentially huge mistakes.
Amanda, as always, was way ahead of us. We showed up to our first meeting with Amanda to find she had bought us a book about purchasing a home (broken down for people like us who would have no clue what so many of the financial terms, etc. mean), a disk she created that answered many of the questions we naturally had and that also gave contact information of people we would need to contact in the area as we went through the process, and two cups of really good coffee.
Our final meeting with her was similar - Amanda, after all her hard work, baked us a CAKE and came over a few weeks after closing to check in with us, go over some of the papers in our binder, and give us advice and thoughts on what we needed to remember and think about moving forward. People, that cake was amazing. Knowing we are fellow Christ-followers, Amanda also gave us a gift with scripture on it and throughout the whole process prayed with us and talked us through Biblical principals and thoughts on handling money and purchasing a home. This probably meant more to us in this entire process than anything else. But even if you aren't a believer, Amanda is a beautiful balance of grace and truth and she'll tell you the things she believes will be the most beneficial for you to hear and do and then step back and let you make the decisions.
We cannot recommend Amanda Cole and her services enough - but we find our main recommendation is simply get to know Amanda Cole. This woman is a fierce worker who loves her job but so much more than that, cares and proactively fights for the people she is working with. Amanda went to bat for us so many times, gave us pep talks when we needed to get on the ball about things, stayed connected with us even when she was supposed to be vacationing, and answered her phone again and again to what we thought were "random" or even "stupid" questions. She always affirmed, always educated, and always protected us and our future investment.
Amanda will not let you make a stupid choice - she will make sure you know what you're getting into, she will give you advice about what she would recommend and what she would not, she'll educate you on things to look for in a home that actually add value, not simply things that "look nice."
We love our home - love our home. And amazingly enough, Amanda brought this listing to us on a whim because she and her husband had seen the listing (it wasn't on our list) and thought we may like it. She was right.
We have felt safe, valued, protected, and fought for this entire process and as a result Amanda will always be our real estate agent and our #1 recommendation. All of our closest friends have used her and all have had great experiences. We even have several friends who have moved across state and still call her to ask questions and advice as they have prepared to move. She is the real deal and we couldn't be more grateful. If you're looking to buy a home - do yourself a huge favor and call Amanda Cole. You won't regret it.
We remember at the first meeting feeling afraid (due to the fraudulent debt), frustrated (due to the extreme tightness of our budget), and feeling hopeless in regards to a healthy financial future. At that time, because of the fraud we had just discovered, we thought purchasing a home in the next 10 years, maybe even longer down the road than that, might be impossible and we were so discouraged we didn't even know where to begin.
During that time Amanda met up with us regularly and coached us through how to handle not only the fraud, but also how to pay off the amount of debt we had personally accrued, how to come up with a workable budget each month, how to not panic (this was more for me... Abigail), and how to create financial goals, starting immediately, for the future in terms of buying a home, preparing for retirement, etc.
After we left our first meeting we remember laughing because we thought we'd only be working on the fraud and then moving on - we had no idea we had "stuff to work with." We thought planning for the future or purchasing a home would come way later. We laugh NOW at how ridiculous we were.
Fast forward to 4 years later and we were completely fraud-free, debt-free, and had a somewhat substantial amount of savings. We called Amanda up and tentatively told her we might be ready to "think" about buying a house. We were relived when Amanda told us we were ready. After all we'd been through together, we knew she would know.
With this new exciting venture on the line we set up a meeting with Amanda to talk through what to expect in the home-buying process. Also, knowing Amanda, we knew we were about to be "educated" on what was coming - and we weren't disappointed. Even though she had already walked us through so much (step, by step, by step) we were still nervous we didn't know enough about buying a home to not make some potentially huge mistakes.
Amanda, as always, was way ahead of us. We showed up to our first meeting with Amanda to find she had bought us a book about purchasing a home (broken down for people like us who would have no clue what so many of the financial terms, etc. mean), a disk she created that answered many of the questions we naturally had and that also gave contact information of people we would need to contact in the area as we went through the process, and two cups of really good coffee.
Our final meeting with her was similar - Amanda, after all her hard work, baked us a CAKE and came over a few weeks after closing to check in with us, go over some of the papers in our binder, and give us advice and thoughts on what we needed to remember and think about moving forward. People, that cake was amazing. Knowing we are fellow Christ-followers, Amanda also gave us a gift with scripture on it and throughout the whole process prayed with us and talked us through Biblical principals and thoughts on handling money and purchasing a home. This probably meant more to us in this entire process than anything else. But even if you aren't a believer, Amanda is a beautiful balance of grace and truth and she'll tell you the things she believes will be the most beneficial for you to hear and do and then step back and let you make the decisions.
We cannot recommend Amanda Cole and her services enough - but we find our main recommendation is simply get to know Amanda Cole. This woman is a fierce worker who loves her job but so much more than that, cares and proactively fights for the people she is working with. Amanda went to bat for us so many times, gave us pep talks when we needed to get on the ball about things, stayed connected with us even when she was supposed to be vacationing, and answered her phone again and again to what we thought were "random" or even "stupid" questions. She always affirmed, always educated, and always protected us and our future investment.
Amanda will not let you make a stupid choice - she will make sure you know what you're getting into, she will give you advice about what she would recommend and what she would not, she'll educate you on things to look for in a home that actually add value, not simply things that "look nice."
We love our home - love our home. And amazingly enough, Amanda brought this listing to us on a whim because she and her husband had seen the listing (it wasn't on our list) and thought we may like it. She was right.
We have felt safe, valued, protected, and fought for this entire process and as a result Amanda will always be our real estate agent and our #1 recommendation. All of our closest friends have used her and all have had great experiences. We even have several friends who have moved across state and still call her to ask questions and advice as they have prepared to move. She is the real deal and we couldn't be more grateful. If you're looking to buy a home - do yourself a huge favor and call Amanda Cole. You won't regret it.