New real estate business, Hearth & Home, opens in Albion

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Karen Conn, center, has opened Hearth & Home Real Estate Professionals at 110 East Ave. Conn celebrated the grand opening of the business on Friday evening. She is joined by her sister Laural Prentice, left, and niece Emily Banks.

Conn has been in the real estate business for 16 years. She is the owner/broker. Prentice has worked as a real estate agent the past two years. Banks will be the administrative assistant for Hearth & Home, which has regular office hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from Mondays through Fridays. The office also will be open by appointment.

Conn works as an elementary-general music teacher at Albion. Art teacher Tina Burgett designed the Heart & Home logo and students in the high school art club painted the sign.

Karen Conn is shown on the stairway of Hearth & Home. She and her husband Mitch Conn gave the building an extensive makeover with new windows, sanding and staining the hardwood floors, new lighting, a roof, painting the interior and the exterior.

Conn wanted to run the business out of a former home, rather than an office building. She has decorated the site with many images of Victorian homes.

Conn has a conference room upstairs to meet with clients, as well as offices downtstairs.

“It’s important to make people feel comfortable when doing business,” she said. “I want to put them at ease.”

Conn said she enjoys working with people, especially first-time homebuyers. She wants to help them through the process of finding a house that is the best fit for the long-term.

“I will give them honest answers with no pressure,” she said.

When Hearth & Home closes on a sale, Conn said the buyer will get a wreath for the home.

Shown at a ribbon-cutting on Friday evening includes Laural Prentice, Mitch Conn, Karen Conn, Emily Banks and Darlene Hartway, executive director of the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce.