Holiday Homecoming: Emissary Returns from Afghanistan to House Bought Sight Unseen

COSTA MESA, Calif., Dec. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Coming home for the holidays usually means returning to the comfort of one's most familiar surroundings.  For Mission Viejo, Calif. resident Jen Vitela, coming home for the holidays this year means enjoying the house she bought sight unseen while deployed in Afghanistan.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110117/LA31209LOGO)

Watch Jen's heartwarming homecoming at www.FirstTeam.com/MyStory.

After living what she considered a "carefree life," Vitela joined the State Department in 2008 in order to make a difference for others.  Washington sent her to war-torn regions of Iraq and Afghanistan to help rebuild civil society.  After living in 6-by-20-foot shipping containers, tents and cramped trailers with rockets and bullets often flying overhead, Vitela longed to buy a house to come home to that would give her a sense of normalcy.  But when she did not find one she liked during a brief visit last summer, she trusted her First Team Real Estate agent enough to buy a house sight unseen when the right one came on the market. 

Buying a house in Calif. from faraway Kabul wasn't easy.  Escrow officers wanted a cashier's check; they don't exist in Afghanistan.  When the company wanted her to wire money, she persuaded her bank to allow the transfer without her coming into the branch.  And when she needed to FedEx documents, she had to convince a friend headed to the US to express mail them for her after he arrived. 

Throughout the danger and challenges of her deployment, the dream of returning to her own home kept her going. 

"Walking into my home for the first time gave me a sense of accomplishment I never thought I'd have," Vitela said.  "I can't imagine any home being a better fit for me."
 

About First Team^® Real Estate

Headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif., First Team Real Estate is California's top-ranked, family-owned, non-franchised real estate company and is ranked 8th in sales volume nationwide.  Founded by President and CEO Cameron Merage in Orange County in 1976, First Team and its family of companies have more than 60 locations supporting more than 2,000 employees and agents. Services include residential and commercial real estate, title, escrow and mortgage operations.  For more information, visit www.firstteam.com or call 866-748-4982.

SOURCE First Team Real Estate