Providence^® Real Estate is a small company obsessed with attention to detail and personal service. We're not the area's largest realty firm and we don't want to be. We believe we are like a custom tailor shop. We may not sell as many clothes as Wal-Mart, but we give personal attention to each client. Like a tailor, first we measure your needs -- by listening -- and only then do we propose a plan, one custom-suited to you.

The other guys invest in huge offices with big signs and lots of advertising to draw crowds. We prefer to invest in our clients, giving personal attention and unparalleled service, and then let our clients' word-of-mouth be our primary marketing.

Apparently a large number of home buyers and sellers are content with Wal-Mart quality (even though it's at custom-tailor pricing), which keeps the big realty warehouses in business. But if you are the kind of person who appreciates personal attention and our obsession for quality, we just might be the company for you.

John F. Toner
Broker, Providence^® Real Estate

From day one our company has operated by the Golden Rule -- we treat you the way that we would want to be treated.

Back in 1988 I bought my first home and, in the process, discovered that the real estate industry seriously under-served 1/2 of their clients -- home buyers. Back then no one acted as "buyer's agent", no one truly represented the buyer's interests. As a lawyer I was shocked that buyer's weren't even given a "Miranda warning" to let them know their rights. As an attorney I was also disturbed by how contracts seemed to be carelessly prepared by agents. So I opened Buyer'$ Agent-USA^® to meet the greatest need of the market at that time -- representing home buyers.

For almost 13 years we operated exclusively as buyer's agents. Each year more and more past clients wanted to sell their homes and buy others. They asked us to change our policy and represent home sellers too; giving the same level of loyalty, protection and 100% honesty they had received from us as buyer's agents. By now the mega-firms had shifted to offering dual agency, a watered down form of loyalty where the agent really doesn't represent buyer or seller completely.

So, in 2002 we took on the name Providence^® Real Estate and became a Single Agency brokerage. We can offer you true "buyer's agency" when you buy a home and true "seller's agency" when you sell one. We are small on purpose because we prefer to be 100% loyal to a few clients rather than try to serve the (often competing) interests of thousands of clients.

The mega-firms are proof that there are apparently a large number of people out there who don't care if their agent has divided loyalties. But if you are the kind of person who wants an agent you can trust 100% to represent you, perhaps Providence^® is the kind of company you're looking for.

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Our Five Core Values

As a company we aspire to live and work by the highest standards possible. We gladly abide by the Realtor^® Code of Ethics, the Mission of the Better Business Bureau and we whole-heartedly embrace both the letter and spirit of the law concerning Equal Housing Opportunity. But, we wish to be more in life, so we have set even higher standards for ourselves and established our Five Core Values.

Five Core Values
The Providence^® Way Of Doing Business

1. Simple Honesty
Honesty and integrity are the only foundation on which true success can be built. We will tell the truth: (a) to future clients, by setting reasonable expectations and promising only what we can and will deliver; (b) to current clients, by prompt delivery of all relevant information and offering completely honest advice; and (c) to fellow workers, by being truthful to one another and promoting an environment where honesty is rewarded, never punished.

2. Best-In-Class Service
We will provide best-in-class service in all that we do. A commitment to best-in-class service includes a commitment to say "I don't know, but let me find out the right answer" whenever appropriate, rather than to pretend to know and give a wrong answer. Every Providence^® member will be dedicated to continual improvement, both of their business skills and their personal character. We will provide best-in-class service regardless of the cost to us personally or as a company.

3. Humility
Occasionally mistakes happen. When they do, we would rather quickly accept responsibility (even if the mistake was not ours) and focus our energy trying to make things right, rather than to waste time and energy trying to blame someone else.

4. FUN!
We take our work seriously, but not ourselves! A fun work environment makes employees more productive, clients more relaxed, and our negotiations with other Realtors^® more productive. Humor relieves physical and mental stress, which directly benefits everyone involved in a transaction. Humor also reduces animosities, which can directly aid our negotiations with others on our clients' behalf. A fun day at work is a good day at work, and a good day at work is a fun day at work.

5. Lasting, Positive Impact
At Providence^® we desire to do more than merely earn a profit. We want to be a positive influence in the lives of our workers, clients, other professionals and the community at large. It may often be expressed in "little" ways, like helping kids learn a sport or encouraging others with a good word or a good book. Or it could be in big ways, helping a struggling couple get professional counseling, overcome an addition or find peace with God. Our abilities to benefit others may be limited, but our desire to do so is not. We are on this earth to do more than earn a living, and to the extent we can positively impact others' lives, we intend to do so.

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John Toner

John is the founder, broker, and leader of Providence^® Real Estate. John is both an attorney (University of Missouri law school, cum laude, in 1984) and real estate broker. He has over 15 years of real estate experience, is an expert in real estate law and agency, and has testified numerous times before the Maryland legislature.

John lives in Columbia, Maryland with the love of his life, his wife, Angela, and their six children. Outside of real estate John is a nut-case about coaching little league baseball, plays blues guitar (slow blues... uh, really slow blues.. OK, OK, he wishes that he could play blues guitar) and helps lead the teen ministry at Oak Ridge Community Church.

Oh yeah, he also wanted you to know that if he could be any animal in the world, he'd choose to be an Otter - in case you were wondering. (Because they play more and have more fun than any other animal and they have life-long mates).

Contact: Phone 1.800.334.2893 (extension 3)

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Angela Toner

Angela Toner is married to company owner, John Toner, and is mother of their six children. Angela helps seller clients with decorating advice on how to improve their home's sale value by 'sprucing up' the right way. She is also company bookkeeper and licensed agent and will show homes to buyers in a pinch. And, she serves as John's very much needed, but un-paid, personal psychologist. (That is to say, she is the 'sounding board' for all of John's "new ideas").

What with working for the company and caring for six kids, Angela's hobbies are… laundry, shopping, laundry, picking up and dropping off kids, and, um, laundry. Seriously, Angela helps lead the teen ministry at Oak Ridge Community Church, is active in the women's ministry there, and is the kind of person that anyone would feel instant friends with. (OK, her husband made us say that - but it's true!).

Contact: Phone 1.800.334.2893 (extension 3) 
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Angela Sebek

Angela Sebek is John Toner's primary assistant as well as the firm's Client Service Coordinator. John says she is "Sweeter than Chocolate Pie", meaning that she has a genuine concern for others and constantly pleasant outlook. And, her cheerful attitude helps put others at ease, which makes it a lot easier for her to "fix" the "bumps" that sometimes arises in a transaction.

One of Angela's hobbies is full-contact karate -- so we're really glad that she's also so nice! She has been with the company since 2000 and has been licensed since 2003. Angela is active in Oak Ridge Community Church in Columbia.

Contact: Phone 1.800.334.2893 (extension 5) 
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Joanna Sebek

Joanna Sebek joined Providence^® Real Estate in 2003. As office administrator Joanna handles consumer inquiries, schedules and tracks settlements, and provides marketing assistance for sellers. Joanna also follows up on buyer client inquiries, by responding to information requests about specific properties.

Contact: Phone 1.800.334.2893 (extension 8) 
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Wyntre Denne

Wyntre (pronounced "Winter") lives in Columbia, Maryland with her husband, Marc, and their four children. Wyntre is a lead agent and has been with Providence® since 1995, and has extensive experience in Howard, Montgomery & Baltimore counties.

In her spare time Wyntre is known among her friends as a champion shopper! If you ever need advice on where the best deals are on shoes, jewelry, or almost anything else -- ask Wyntre, she knows!

Contact: Phone 1.800.334.2893 (extension 4) 
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Terri Donaldson

A lifelong area resident, Terri lives in Ellicott City along with husband David and two children. Terri specializes in Howard County, but also represents home buyers and sellers in southern Carroll and Baltimore counties. Terri has been with Providence^® since 1998. She is a committed mom and active in her church, Grace Community Church. Terri limits her active client list to insure that she can provide the best service possible to only a few clients at a time.

Contact: Phone 1.800.334.2893 (extension 6) 
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Rick Willard

Rick has always had a love of hard work and helping people. That explains why he has two careers -- as a Baltimore City policeman and a licensed real estate agent. Rick is committed to getting things right the first time for his clients, who primarily come to him by personal referral from other satisfied clients. Rick's wife, Karen, as a former office manager for Providence^® understands the business thoroughly and provides an excellent administrative back up to Rick. Rick and Karen live in Ellicott City with their two children.

Contact: Phone 1.800.334.2893 (extension 7) 
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Amy Madeoy

Amy lives in Bowie, Maryland and specializes in Prince Georges County, Anne Arundel County, and Charles County. She has been licensed with Providence^® since 2001 and had three years of prior real estate experience. Amy says she was drawn to work for Providence^® because of the high ethics and commitment to mutual encouragement and support within the office.

Contact: Phone 1.800.334.2893 (extension 9)
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In the dictionary "Providence" has two primary meanings.

Prov"i*dence, n. [L. providentia]. 1. The act of providing or preparing for future use or application; a making ready; preparation. 2. Foresight; care; especially, the foresight and care which God manifests for his creatures.

"Providence" is what a farmer does and it is what he relies on every day. The farmer must work to produce a crop, he must prepare in advance, and he must be ready at harvest time. Yet even while working diligently he is also, simultaneously, completely dependent upon his Maker to send rain, and sun, in the right amounts and at the right time. Both his hard work and the Maker's provision are necessary to produce a crop.

We chose "Providence" for our name because we believe this perfectly describes us as well. No one will work harder for you to get the result you desire. No one will sweat the details more. Yet even in the midst of all our hard work, we openly admit that we rely upon God to literally give us the breath of life, again, today and every day. That is why we are taught to say, "Give us this day our daily bread."

We won't leave things to "chance" -- if there is anything we can do to help you buy or sell a home, we'll do it! But we openly, and gladly, admit that we are reliant upon God to send us the equivalent of rain and sun to help produce our harvest.

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Most agents are trained to put together the most "deals" possible, rather than to focus on quality service. By focusing on "deals" most agents find themselves constantly hunting for more clients ("prospecting"), leaving little time to serve the needs of the clients they already have.

An often quoted industry statistic is that agents should spend 80% of their time prospecting, leaving only 20% of their time to serve their current clients! Quality of service suffers and quality of relationship between agent and client suffers. A common complaint against agents is: "She grabbed her commission check and ran - and I've never heard from her since."

At Providence^® we put relationships and quality service first. We spend no time "prospecting" or looking for the next "deal." Rather, we invest all our time into our clients. Whether it is showing you homes, marketing your property, contacting lenders, answering your questions, or just returning a call promptly, we spend whatever time is necessary to make sure that you feel completely taken care of as a client.

And, when your transaction is over our service is not. We continue to serve your interests, whether it's our regular mailings of helpful information, to recommending a good plumber or roofer when you need one, or just calling on occasion to "check in" and make sure everything is OK, we continue to put your interests first even after the sale is over. When did anyone ever do that for you before?

Other agents spend 80% of their time serving themselves ("prospecting" for more business) and only 20% serving their clients.

We're the opposite. We invest 80% of our time serving our current clients, and 20% of our time serving our past clients! As our client all we ask in return is that you do our "prospecting" for us, by referring us to your friends and neighbors who are buying or selling a home.

Our 80/20 rule works out as a 100/100, or "win/win" situation for both our clients and our agents! You get the best we have to offer, and we get to work with the best clients anywhere -- the friends, family and neighbors that you refer to us!

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