The Next Big Step: Guiding Seniors Through the Real Estate Process

CALIFORNIA REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL RECOGNIZED BY THE SRES® COUNCIL FOR PROVIDING OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO SENIORS

By Barbara Pronin

Oceanside, California, REALTOR® Ginni Field, who in her nearly 40-year career has served in multiple facets of the real estate industry, has been selected as the 2021 recipient of the Seniors Real Estate Specialist® (SRES®) Outstanding Service Award.

The SRES® designation is offered through the Center for REALTOR® Development, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). The community of designees is comprised of REALTORS® who are dedicated to the real estate needs of maturing adults; whether they’re relocating, selling, buying or refinancing. Each year, the SRES® Council selects one or more outstanding senior-focused real estate professionals, highlighting their achievements by recognizing them with the Outstanding Service Award.

Exceeding the Needs of Maturing Adults Field’s passion for ensuring that the elderly feel safe and secure during real estate transactions can be traced back to the mid-’70s, when her own parents moved from southern New Jersey to a senior community in California. “I was living and selling real estate in New York at the time, but it opened my eyes to the special needs of older people when they move,” says Field. “By the time I moved to Oceanside in 1998, I knew I had found my market niche.”

Older people, she notes, often feel insecure, not just about the

Field

process of buying and selling their homes, but about transitioning to a new area.

“They deserve an agent who advocates for them, who markets their homes properly and reassures them that they are making the right decisions,” says Field. “Ensuring that the elderly feel safe and secure when they move is paramount to me.”

Today, more than 95% of Field’s clients are seniors. Many of them live in the Pacifica Senior Living community where she herself resides.

One recent seller, a 90-year-old woman, was relocating to Seattle at the request of her children who wanted her closer to them. According to Field, the woman was reluctant to move and fearful about adjusting to new surroundings.

“What she needed from me was more than good representation for the sale of her home,” explains Field. “She needed emotional support, a lot of handholding and reassurance that she would find new joy in seeing her children and grandchildren often.”

The woman’s communication after the move, letting Field know that her assessment was correct and thanking her for making her feel safe throughout, was worth more than her commission.

A Source of Knowledge and Expertise Field, who began her real estate career as a sales associate in Connecticut, served as a branch manager for several companies over the years and has been a real estate mentor and life coach since 1990.

As a real estate consultant, she works with company leaders to help them grow their businesses. She has also worked with the California Department of Real Estate to help establish compliance audits for multiple business models.

Field has earned a number of specialty credentials, including the Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®) designation in 1997, and the At Home with Diversity® (AHWD) certification in 2014. She earned her SRES® designation in 2007— “as soon as possible when it was offered,” she says.

Still a working REALTOR®, Field believes her greatest asset is her ability to connect to her clients—especially older clients—and to help them achieve their goals with as little stress as possible.

“I believe in the values of the SRES® designation—namely that we’re a source of knowledge and expertise,” says Field. “And we consistently demonstrate the principles of good practice within the 50-plus market.”

Field, who “couldn’t wait until she was old enough to move into the 223-unit Pacifica community,” typically sells between eight and 15 homes there each year. She also serves as president of the community’s homeowner’s association, which enables her to stay on top of issues and work as a problem solver.

In addition to helping elderly clients navigate their real estate transactions, Field is sometimes called upon to work with family members who are left with Pacifica properties to manage after a loved one has passed on.

“Often, families dealing with grief are from out of the area and know little about market conditions or property values in the community. Part of my job is to educate and advise them and ensure that they achieve the best possible outcome,” says Field, who goes on to explain that more than 95% of her business comes via referral.

Driving Change to Better Serve Seniors Asked whether retirement is in her own plans anytime soon, Field says it most assuredly is not.

“The work I do today is my ‘why,’” she says. “I’m not yet done contributing or giving back.”

Among other criteria, SRES® Outstanding Award recipients are expected to demonstrate that they are a driving force for change in the effort to better serve seniors, and that they work to further the principles established in the NAR Code of Ethics in all interactions with the senior population.

For Field, those principles are all in a day’s work.

“I’ve won a lot of awards over the years, but this one is by far the most meaningful,” concludes Field. “It’s a validation of who I am and what I stand for.” RE

“Ensuring that the elderly feel safe and secure when they move is paramount to me.”

– GINNI FIELD, REALTOR®

For more information, please visit sres.realtor/about/sres-outstandingservice-award.

Barbara Pronin is a contributing editor to RISMedia.