As seen in TRIBlive:

People often ask Kathe Barge about her favorite homes.

“It’s not about the houses,” said Barge, a Realtor with Piatt Sotheby’s International Realty in Sewickley. “It’s about the stories.”

Those stories begin when a client chooses a Realtor such as Barge, who is a member of the National Association of Realtors. It is important to know the person helping you buy or sell a home because it’s one of the biggest decisions — and for some the biggest decision — of their lives.

“Real estate is about partnership and trust,” Barge said as she reminisced in her office about her calling of more than two decades. “I like to really understand my clients and find out what they are looking for so I know their story.”

Barge’s photographic memory allows her to recall details about most homes in the Sewickley area, where a majority of her business is based. She learned early on that each client is unique. Barge tells the story of a couple relocating from Texas. She took them to 59 homes in their price range, which all looked about the same, Barge said.

Everyone the couple asked said they loved their neighborhood.

The couple asked Barge to pick the home. She chose Sewickley because she had an idea about the husband’s job trajectory and knew if that happened she would be able to sell the house.

And she did.

The first home in Sewickley she and her husband Steve purchased didn’t have a lot of amenities they wanted, but it did have the perfect location.

“It had the tree-lined streets and the proximity to shops and restaurants in Sewickley Village,” Barge said.

The Connecticut native was recently appointed to a three-year term on Sewickley Borough’s historic review commission through Dec. 31, 2027.

The commission reviews proposed exterior alterations to structures sited in a historic district and recommends to borough council whether or not to approve the requested alteration.

A map of the historic districts can be found here.

Barge went through the process when she and her husband — who now have three grown children and a daughter-in-law — wanted to renovate their home.

Sellers of homes in any designated historic district in Pennsylvania have a duty to disclose that the home is located in a designated historic district, Barge said.

“It is important to preserve the historic fabric of the neighborhood,” Barge said. “This is part of the the beauty of this town.”

Changes

Being employed by Piatt Sotheby’s for the past two years has given Barge’s career a global reach — she can match clients with Realtors all over the world. When Barge and her husband travel, she stops at other Sotheby’s offices.

Lucas Piatt, founder and CEO of Piatt Sotheby’s International Realty, said Barge has embraced Piatt Sotheby’s global network and cultural collaboration.

“Kathe’s professionalism, care for her clients needs, strategic planning and representational skills go unmatched and go well beyond just the Sewickley area,” Piatt said.

Over her career, there have been many changes, she said. People can now search for properties on the internet. In the early days, Barge would create a book of printouts of homes for clients and took her own photos. Now, images, aerial pictures and virtual tours are done professionally.

A big change came with the National Association of Realtors settlement last August that created an environment of greater transparency with respect to real estate fees, which is better for all parties, Barge said. Agents are now required to have a signed agreement with buyers and tenants before showing them properties that delineates the duties and obligations of all parties, Barge said.

The Department of Justice sought to end the practice of sellers guaranteeing or controlling how much a buyer agent is paid. Buyer agents are free to negotiate on behalf of their buyers for the sellers to cover the cost of the buyer’s agent fee, said Barge, whose career sales exceed $400 million.

“It is ultimately the buyer’s responsibility to pay the fee if the seller will not agree to cover it,” she said.

Home life

Barge has helped children sell their parents’ home after they are gone, which can be a stressful time navigating the grief, she said. She recalled a seller who was divorcing and left her wedding gown. On a pre-closing sweep of the property, Barge tossed the gown in her car, as sellers are required to leave their homes broom-swept clean and free of their stuff.

“Having no use for a wedding gown and being a person who likes to upcycle things, I learned of a local woman who makes old wedding gowns into burial gowns for stillborn babies at (UPMC) Magee, so I gave her the wedding gown and she later provided photos of the baby dress she had made that I shared with the seller, who was very touched,” Barge said.

Barge was showing a home when she opened the bedroom door and found a person asleep in the bed.

“That was quite terrifying, as you never know if someone has a weapon nearby,” Barge said. “We quietly snuck out of the home and I reported it to the listing agent. My clients did not make an offer on the home.”

Another seller intended to demolish the home, terminated utility service to the property, and then reconsidered.

“It was a challenge selling a home with no working utilities,” Barge said. “I had to show the basement with a flashlight. “

Barge was showing a home that had a storage closet under the staircase. When she opened the closet door, a large plastic Halloween skeleton dropped out.

“That was not funny, although I am reasonably certain the placement was intentional and wondered whether the seller had cameras to record our reactions,” Barge said. “My clients did not make an offer on the home.”

Barge said sellers should never be present for showings and pre-inspections because well-meaning sellers may inadvertently share information that may be a turn-off to the buyer. In one instance, however, Barge recalled a family was selling a home that had belonged to their aunt who had passed.

The buyers were a young couple with a baby and wrote a lovely letter to the sellers along with their below-asking price offer. The sellers were very happy to find such a lovely family to take ownership of the home that had been in their family for decades that they agreed to the lower price, Barge said. At the closing, the buyers showed up and brought a homemade pasta dinner for the sellers.

Where it all began

Barge has always liked to stay busy. As a mom with young children, she was spending about 60 hours each week doing volunteer work for Sewickley-based nonprofit organizations.

“We were young and without significant savings and my mother felt my time — and her babysitting time — would be better spent contributing to family finances and encouraged me to go back to work after being home for a few years,” Barge said.

A friend had asked for legal help on a house for sale by the owner. Barge, a graduate of Duke University School of Law, practiced law for years. That got her interested in becoming a real estate agent, a profession she would be able to balance with her family life.

The home of Liz Daley, whose husband, Kevin, worked with Barge’s husband and whose children attended the same school, was Barge’s first sale, a Victorian on Walnut Street. Even before the house was for sale, Barge drove by with a client she knew would love the house.

“The couple bought it,” Barge said. “I specialize in pairing people and houses.”

Liz Daley, who grew up here and now lives in South Pasadena, Calif., said via email that Barge wants everyone to love Sewickley as much as she does.

Daley said Barge’s background in law and her natural attention to detail make the finer technical points of a home sale smooth. Being an attorney is an advantage, Barge said, because lawyers are knowledgeable about contracts and the strategy of negotiation.

Michele Burnette, who is from Michigan, said Barge introduced her to friends and helped her find two homes in Sewickley before moving to South Carolina in 2004 to be closer to family.

“She helped me get integrated into the community,” Burnette said. “She knows that a home is sentimental to both a buyer and a seller.”

A love story

Barge will celebrate her 26th anniversary in the real estate profession on Valentine’s Day.

That day is perfect if you know Barge, Daley said: “She loves connecting the perfect family with their dream house.”

“Many think a career as a real estate adviser is all about the houses, one more unique, more beautiful, more homey or more welcoming than the next,” Barge said. “But really it’s about the people whose lives you are privileged to intersect with for what is a relatively brief period of time in their lives, and the many stories that inevitably follow, some funny, some heartfelt, some shocking, but never dull.”

https://triblive.com/local/sewickley/piatt-sothebys-international-realtys-kathe-barge-opens-doors-for-clients/