Making and Keeping Memories

Written by Ann E. Butenas

Real estate agent Anne Fraser of the award-winning Fraser Team has a unique way of helping people find their way home in more ways than one.

Whenever you buy and/or sell a home, you are not only involving yourself with the physical aspect of doing so, but you are also inviting your emotional and mental state into the equation. It can be a rather daunting and overwhelming task. However, when you partner with a real estate agent who truly does work for you, keeping your best interests at top of mind throughout the entire process, you soon discover a peace of mind you never knew could exist.  That real estate agent is Anne Fraser of The Fraser Team with eXp Realty.

Making Memories with The Fraser Team

When you first meet Anne, if you sense a highly responsive, proactive, experienced, and compassionate individual, then please don’t waiver from that initial conclusion. Her passion for what she does is palpable. A genuine people person, Anne has a knack for making you feel right at home in her presence.

“I just love helping people,” smiled Anne, who began her real estate career seven years ago with her husband Mark. Prior to establishing their team, Anne was an educator and Mark was a home and mold inspector. Their respective professions moved them away from the metro area for a while, but Anne and Mark found themselves moving back to Kansas when both of her parents were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

“I took time off from my career to take care of them,” she reflected. “After their passing, I sort of reinvented myself. Over the years, I always had friends tell me that I should be a real estate agent, so I decided to obtain my license.”

Anne soon embarked on her newfound career as an agent and worked for about eight months before Mark decided to join her.

“After years of playing sports and many knee surgeries he came to the realization that living on ladders and crawling through crawl spaces to inspect homes, was a challenge,” Anne mused. “So, he joined me.”

Working alongside Mark and Anne is another agent, Ashleigh Brinkman, and the team’s office assistant, Angel Christensen. This team serves the entire metro area at all price points, but Anne does have a preferred niche or two.

“I love working with first time home buyers,” she smiled. “Often, they are scared and nervous, and I enjoy teaching them. Ashleigh is also extremely great at working with people, as she is very calming, understanding, and knowledgeable.”

Having Mark on the team only adds further value to the equation. With his extensive home inspection background, he can walk into a house and immediately know what is going on with it in terms of potential issues that need to be addressed and resolved.

“We look at things others might not even know about,” explained Anne. “When Mark walks with people through a house, he understands things an average agent might not know about. He sees the red flags and can advise accordingly. People appreciate that insight and knowledge.”

In addition to experience, knowledge, and a desire to truly educate their clients, The Fraser Team is also extremely honest.

“We tell the absolute truth, “emphasized Anne. “This includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. We want our clients to be fully confident before making a buying or selling decision.”

To even sweeten the deal, Anne and her team have raised the bar when it comes to serving clients well. They continually remain on top of things in the market. Plus, having walked through thousands of homes a year, they are well-versed in the industry. This is a full-time job for them, so clients will receive full-time attention and expertise.

In addition to working with the younger, first-time home buyers, Anne also enjoys working with clients that are in the afternoon of life. This is in large part due to having served her parents in their later years and realizing how many older people can often be taken advantage of, especially those who suffer from cognition problems.

“This is a huge passion of mine,” Anne paused. “I understand what a family is going through when a loved one has Alzheimer’s or related problems. I have the resources to get them the help they may need or to get them in a proper place for the services they need and for what they can afford.”

If a client needs to move to assisted living, Anne has several teams with whom she works, which includes an estate sales team, a clean out company, and several other companies that do whatever needs to be done to make the process as stress free as possible.

“These are trusted resources of ours,” noted Anne. “We have a great plan to ensure everything happens in a timely manner. We are going to treat your family and loved ones with the respect and honesty they deserve.”

Putting all of their resources, experience, talent, and commitment into each client, Anne and The Fraser Team help people find their way home to begin making new and exciting memories. Anne also helps people find another way home – to where their brain, overall health and well-being should be. She has a passion for raising awareness about Alzheimer’s and brain health. Not only can she help people make memories with a new home, but she can also help them keep their memories alive. This cruel disease has the potential to steal our loved ones away from us right before our very eyes. Anne wants people to know that a diagnosis does not have to be hopeless.

Keeping Memories with a Night of Hope

As a result of caring for her late parents as they struggled with Alzheimer’s, Anne established the Night of Hope Gala as a fundraiser to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. Her first event was in 2021 in which 200+ people attended, raising over $20,000. Last year, over 300 people attended, and this event raised more than $131,000.00.  On June 10, 2023, Anne has a goal of raising $250,000.00 with the anticipation of 500 people in attendance.  Anne truly wants to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and let people know that they need to start paying attention to their brain health before it’s irreversible.  As of now, roughly 6.5 million people live with this disease. That equates to one out of nine people age 65+, which is more than 10% of the population.

“It’s all about figuring out what is going on with your body and finding the underlying causes and how to address and treat those issues,” explained Anne. She has dealt with some cognition issues of her own and did a deep dive with an integrative medical doctor and found out she had mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and the APOE4 gene (the Alzheimer’s gene). Thus, she worked with her doctor to come up with a plan.

“If you pay attention to your body and brain health and know the early signs and symptoms and if you get it under control, there is the potential to reverse cognitive decline,” she noted. “Each individual’s plan is different, and may involve but is not limited to exercise, eating a certain way, taking supplements, getting enough sleep, and controlling stress levels.”

Anne went on to explain that Alzheimer’s is a lifestyle disease, an inflammatory disease, and has also been referred to as Type 3 diabetes. She emphasized the importance of having a doctor do a thorough exam to see what is going on in your body and that your gut is actually like your second brain.

“Stress and what you eat are contributing factors to the disease,” she said.

Now a 501{c}{3}, the Night of Hope throws an annual gala, which includes a cocktail hour, a live and silent auction, dinner, dessert, and dancing. Funds raised during the event are donated to the Alzheimer’s Association and brain research.

“I am not a doctor,” cautioned Anne. “However, I just want to teach others to pay attention to their brain health and to learn how to keep their cognition sharp, potentially for the rest of their life.  Many people think that a diagnosis of pre-Alzheimer’s is hopeless, but it doesn’t have to be. I just want to get that word out there that early detection and prevention is critical.”

The Gala takes place in June for a reason. The summer solstice on June 21st is the longest day of sunlight in the year. When those who suffer from Alzheimer’s get their days and nights confused, it is referred to as sundowners. The Alzheimer’s Association second largest fundraiser is called “The Longest Day”. Because of that important date the Night of Hope hosts the gala in June.  This is where Anne and her mission fight the darkness of Alzheimer’s.

For more information on The Fraser Team or to buy/sell with Anne Fraser, visit their website at fraser4sale.com or call 913.220.9071. For more information about the gala or to purchase your tickets to the Night of Hope Gala, please visit www.thenightofhope.com.

If you’d like to follow Anne’s journey in real estate and healthy living on social media, please visit her pages @thefraserteam and @thenightofhope on Facebook and/or Instagram.