First-time home buyers are understandably nervous about taking that giant step into homeownership, so they appreciate a helping hand. Supporting, guiding and representing first time home buyers is the forte of the father-son real estate team of Jim and Jay Atkins.

Jim, the elder Atkins, has worked in real estate for more than 20 years. His son, Jay, earned his real estate license while attending Auburn University. After graduating with a degree in finance, Jay worked as a sales rep and in a Midwestern hospital’s finance department before returning to Lexington. He quit graduate school to join Atkins Real Estate.

“I never thought I’d be working with my father, but it was the best decision I ever made,” said Jay. “It was not my intention initially to work in the (real estate) business. I came back here and started working with my father, and I had too much fun not to keep doing it.”

Atkins Real Estate knows that first-time home buyers have distinct needs.

“They really need someone to work with them and direct them,” said Jay. “They don’t know the ins and outs (of buying a home). They need someone to look out for the best interests.”

To do this, the Atkinses take clients through a detailed five-step program. Step 1 involves an initial meeting with the potential client to give them a chance to meet Jim and Jay and see how they do business.

“We build up trust in step 1,” said Jim. “We meet with you to see if we want to work with you and if you want to work with us.”

The Atkinses ask the client questions to see where they stand financially. If there are any monetary problems, they discuss ways the client can resolve them, such as paying down bills or clearing errors from a credit report.

In Step 2, after the client and the Atkinses sign a contract to work together, the client receives information about the many financing programs from which they can choose.

“We can’t tell people where to go and get their financing, but we can tell them what programs are available to them,” said Jay. “There are so many different programs that assist first-time home buyers.”

“When they come back from Step 2, they know what kind of price range they can afford and how much money they’re going to have to have,” added Jim.

The client usually gets pre-approved in Step 2, then moves on to Step 3, which Jay calls the “fun” step.

“Once they get pre-approved, then we get out there and start looking at homes,” said Jay. “That’s what I enjoy.”

Step 4 is when the Atkinses negotiate the potential homeowner’s contract. That leads to Step 5, the “happy” step, where the client gets their home, the seller sells their property and everyone is pleased. Through it all, Jay and Jim are right there helping and reassuring the client.

“Doing all those things scares first-time home buyers because they are not familiar with it,” said Jay. “But they know we’re here to help them. We’re looking out for their best interests through out the whole process.”

“We try to help people decide what is best for them to do,” Jim said. “We want it to be a fun learning experience.”

Both Jim and Jay have recently earned a relatively new distinction, Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR), from the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council of the National Association of Realtors.

As ABRs, the Atkinses can represent a home buyer in a real estate transaction, in much the same way a Realtor represents a home seller.

“In a real estate transaction, you can be a client or a customer when you purchase a home,” said Jay. “When a buyer works with us, they are a client. If you get somebody at the very beginning that represents you and looks out for your best interests, they can lead you through the whole process and make it go a lot smoother.”

Jim said that as ABRs, he and Jay can do so much more for the client.

“It’s all about making people feel comfortable and explaining things to them,” he said.

“It’s a different approach to real estate than what (home buyers are) accustomed to,” said Lyndon B. Johnson, who manages Atkins Real Estate’s office in Pleasureville. “But when you sit them down and you show them on paper how you can truly benefit them, then that kind of relieves some of the worries.”

Johnson was once a first-time home buyer himself, working with Jim and following the five-step process. Jim recruited him into becoming an agent with Atkins Real Estate, and Johnson now now uses that process with all his clients.

“I think if anybody hasn’t ever tried having someone truly represent them as a buyer, it’s very muchworth their while for them to sit down and just see how the process works,” said Johnson.

Jay and Jim have been working together for about five years. Jay clearly admires Jim very much.

“Not only is he my father, he’s probably one of my best friends, and we just get along together,” Jay said. He most admires his father’s negotiating abilities and his penchant for going out his way to help his clients.

“I have never met a person that will go as far out of his way to help buyers,” said Jay. “There’s not a person who will do more or go the extra mile than my father, whether it’s driving to Lousville or Frankfort to meet with VA or Kentucky Housing.”

Jim is equally proud of his son’s success.

“Jay is very good with people and he understands the real estate business,” said Jim. “It came to him much easier than most people, so he’s been really successful. He took to it like a duck to water.”

The Atkinses share a common aim for their clients.

“Our goal is to help everyone who can buy a home get into a home,” said Jay. There’s nothing to me more rewarding than seeing some ones face when they get the keys to the property and they’re able to get into their home. There’s a lot of pride involved in that.”