Change the World with Conscious Real Estate

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How much do YOU want to change the world?

Here at Conscious Real Estate, we want to change the world a lot. Let’s talk about what we do… We help people buy and sell houses and we love that!  But we took it one step further and created a philanthropic real estate business model.

We are Colorado’s only real estate social enterprise.  Each time one of our clients buys or sells a home with us, we contribute 10% of our own commission to the nonprofit of our clients’ choice.

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Here is some sad news… On the day of this writing, August 21, 2015, Conscious Real Estate did NOT close on any homes.  Yet a quick look at the MLS states that 299 homes sold on this day in Colorado.  Our owner, Allison Parks, decided to tally up the total sales prices of 100 of these homes.  Taking the total of these 100 sales into consideration and considering that commission is negotiable, our estimate is that if those buyers and sellers would have used Conscious Real Estate on just one side of the deal, that would have generated around $75,000 to $100,000 for nonprofits.  That’s right… we could donate that in just one day of real estate sales.

Imagine what a DIFFERENCE that $75,000 to $100,000 could make in our local and global community from JUST… ONE… DAY of people buying and selling houses with Conscious Real Estate.  And that’s if we only represent 1/3 of Colorado’s home sales from that one day…

Now imagine if those buyers and sellers used Conscious Real Estate for those 100 home sales each day next week, just Monday through Friday.  That would create $375,000 to $500,000 for nonprofits in just one week.  What difference do you think that could make?

In one month, it would create $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 for nonprofits.  What difference would THAT make?

In a year, that would create $18,000,000 to $24,000,000. That is an enormous amount of money to give away and quite frankly, nothing would make us happier.

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Every day at Conscious Real Estate is Colorado Gives Day.

We’re here, folks.  We are willing to do the work.  We are willing to grow as big as we need to, we are willing to hire more people and create jobs, and we will always keep our commitment to customer service our top priority.  We know that, without our clients, we are nothing. We will keep our communities close to our heart every step of the way and implement innovative business practices that increase the greater social good.

If you would like to change the world with us and you have a friend who is planning to buy or sell a home, let them know that they can make a difference with their next real estate transaction if they work with Conscious Real Estate.  For more information, please contact Allison Parks at 303-908-9873 or [email protected].

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Celebrate Memorial Day with Conscious Real Estate and Freedom Service Dogs

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With Memorial Day coming up (and just because we love dogs), we decided that Freedom Service Dogs should most definitely be this month’s featured nonprofit. Last week, we got an exclusive tour at their facility in Englewood. It was dog-tastic and we learned a ton!

Freedom Service Dogs began with Mike Roche, a paramedic injured in the line of duty. Together, with his wife PJ, the couple trained what would be the very first Freedom Service Dog, “Oreo”, to help Mike with daily tasks.

Freedom Service Dogs is a nonprofit organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by rescuing dogs from shelters and custom training them for individual client needs.

Michael, a lucky boy who received a custom-trained dog put it this way when talking about his new best friend Fender on the Freedom Service Dogs website, “He has become my best friend and given me self confidence. He is also helping my walking. People no longer stare at me because I walk differently.  They now look at me and my dog and smile.”

Allison Parks of Conscious Real Estate started her firm in order to fulfill her two obsessions:

1) Real estate (she can’t get enough of learning about trends, eco-friendly building materials, and the rich history of Denver neighborhoods)

2) Making a difference to nonprofits like Freedom Service Dogs by donating 10% of her commissions to nonprofits of her clients’ choice after every completed home sale.

Allison says, “I like Freedom Service Dogs because it’s one of the few nonprofits that helps people and dogs.”

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Allison Parks, Conscious Real Estate Owner/Broker, with Lindsay Ganassa, FSD Development Manager and “Cargo”

The dogs are rescued from shelters and trained to become service dogs for people who otherwise would not be able to afford one. Getting a service dog trained is very costly and can cost over $25,000, and these dogs demonstrate how amazing dogs rescued from shelters can be! Also, if you have ever seen a dog work, you know how happy they are to have that opportunity. It’s truly amazing to see these dogs have a second chance at life, happily working to help the people who need them.”

Freedom Service Dogs is thriving. They have expanded by helping veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries by custom training dogs to help children as young as 12 live more comfortable lives – despite such daunting conditions as autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and more.

Noticing the extreme PTSD that military personnel were coming back with after fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Freedom Service Dogs started Operation Freedom to help wounded warriors returning from traumatic conditions abroad.

Freedom Service Dogs Development Manager, Lindsay Ganassa filled us in on some of the details of the program. “Operation Freedom provides custom train service dogs to help mitigate multiple issues. Our clients might be facing PTSD, traumatic brain injury, or mobility impairment.  We can teach the dogs to perform room sweeps where they go into each room, turn on the light, scan for intruders, and signal “all clear,” which is important for flashbacks and anxiety.”

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Allison Parks, Conscious Real Estate Owner/Broker and “Cargo”

Ganassa told us that their custom-trained service dogs “can find phones in case of emergency, open and close doors, and can learn more than 50 custom commands.”

On average, Freedom Service Dogs rescues between 105-110 dogs per year. Out of that bunch, about 35 dogs are chosen to be trained as highly specialized service dogs. Those who do not make it as service dogs are adopted into forever loving homes.

There are many ways to support Freedom Service Dogs! Our favorite is buying a home with us and choosing to donate to Freedom Service Dogs through our Conscious Real Estate philanthropy program.  To date, we have had two clients select FSD after purchasing their homes and we look forward to the opportunity to multiply this number and increase our impact on this fantastic organization!

You can also attend the Ryno & Tracy’s Rally for Freedom on June 13th. Or, you can donate directly, volunteer to walk dogs, foster a service dog, or start your own fundraiser. (Think: dog wash for charity!).

For more information and to learn about all the different ways to give to Freedom Service Dogs, check out their website here.

And, if you’re thinking about purchasing a home the socially conscious way, contact Allison at Conscious Real Estate today to set up a complimentary Q&A session.

Finally, please share! The more you share, the more you care.

Check out more from our tour of the Freedom Service Dogs facility in Englewood, Colorado right here.