Nine months ago, Mary Foerster launched Real Estate Connections with a love of real estate, relationships, and helping people make good decisions.

But something happened along the way.

The conversations kept becoming about more than houses.

Guests talked about moving, money, family, careers, trust, healing, anxiety, hopes, dreams, and the transitions that come with deciding what we want next.

Mary started to realize that the real story was never only about real estate.

So Real Estate Connections is evolving.

In this short announcement, Mary shares why the show is changing and introduces what comes next:

Designing Your Next Chapter.

The full transition is coming soon.

For now, consider this your first peek at what's ahead.

Send us Fan Mail

This episode is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.

Connect with Mary:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-foerster-realestate/

https://www.instagram.com/realestateconnectionspod/

Real estate is about more than buying and selling property. It is connected to how we live, build wealth, care for our families, navigate change, and plan for what comes next.

On Real Estate Connections, host Mary Foerster brings together trusted professionals, thoughtful conversations, and practical information to help you make more confident decisions about your home, finances, and future. Episodes explore home buying and selling, downsizing, aging in place, multigenerational living, real estate investing, renovations, caregiving, financial planning, and the personal transitions that often accompany a move.

For years, Penny Hamel said she would never sell her home. After 31 years there, she thought it was where she would stay for the rest of her life.

Today, that house is on the market.

In this episode of Real Estate Connections, Mary Foerster talks with Penny about what changed and why she and her husband, Jeff, have decided to leave Massachusetts and make Jackson, New Hampshire, their full-time home.

This is not a story about being forced to move or following the traditional downsizing script. Penny and Jeff are active skiers, hikers, golfers, and outdoor people who have spent close to 30 years enjoying the Mount Washington Valley. Over time, Penny realized that the home they were maintaining in Massachusetts no longer reflected where they actually wanted to spend their time.

They found a lot in Jackson, chose a house design, and are preparing to build a home where they can walk outside into the kind of environment they already love.

Mary and Penny talk about what goes into a decision like this when you have spent decades building a life in one place. They discuss the financial realities of maintaining two homes, property taxes, healthcare access, leaving longtime doctors, adjusting to a different community, selling when the market is not perfect, staging a house, and figuring out what to do with rooms full of furniture you no longer need.

Penny also brings the perspective of a former mortgage lender and longtime community leader. She is currently serving as Rotary District 7910 Governor, so moving north does not mean abandoning the relationships and service that remain important to her.

This conversation is for anyone who has ever looked around the house they once thought they would never leave and wondered whether the life they want now might be somewhere else.

GUEST BIO

Penny Hamel is a longtime community leader, former mortgage lender, and the 2026–2027 District Governor for Rotary District 7910.

Penny has been involved with Rotary since 1989 and has served in a number of leadership roles over the years, including Club President, Assistant Governor, District Trustee, District Secretary, and Chair of District Friendship Exchange. Her professional background includes more than 20 years in the financial industry and mortgage lending.

She has lived in the same Massachusetts community for essentially her entire life and has spent 31 years in her current home. Penny and her husband, Jeff, are now preparing to sell that home and relocate full-time to Jackson, New Hampshire, where they are building a new home near the mountains they have enjoyed for decades.

Their connection to the Mount Washington Valley is not new. They have owned property there for close to 30 years, including their current Jackson-area home for 24 years, and have built much of their recreation and social life around the region.

Guest Resources

Rotary District 7910:
https://www.rotary7910.org/

Penny Hamel, District Governor 2026–2027:
https://www.rotary7910.org/Page/dg-penny-hamel-2026-2027

Send us Fan Mail

This episode is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.

Connect with Mary:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-foerster-realestate/

https://www.instagram.com/realestateconnectionspod/

Real estate is about more than buying and selling property. It is connected to how we live, build wealth, care for our families, navigate change, and plan for what comes next.

On Real Estate Connections, host Mary Foerster brings together trusted professionals, thoughtful conversations, and practical information to help you make more confident decisions about your home, finances, and future. Episodes explore home buying and selling, downsizing, aging in place, multigenerational living, real estate investing, renovations, caregiving, financial planning, and the personal transitions that often accompany a move.

Eight months ago, Mary Foerster launched Real Estate Connections with a pretty clear idea of what the show would be. She expected conversations about real estate, lending, moving, downsizing, and the practical decisions people face as they get older.

Then the guests started changing the conversation.

In this episode, Mary invites Julie DeLucca-Collins, one of the people who helped Mary create the podcast, to take an honest look at what Real Estate Connections has become and where it might be going.

Julie sees something Mary has been questioning herself. The show may have started with real estate, but its most meaningful conversations often happen when the subject moves beyond the transaction. Caregiving, family dynamics, identity, independence, community, relationships, and the emotions surrounding major life changes keep finding their way into the episodes.

Julie believes that is not a sign that the show has lost its focus. It may be evidence that Mary is discovering its real purpose.

Their conversation moves from podcasting into something much bigger: how our original plans change once we gain experience, why trusted guidance matters in a world overflowing with information, and how connection can eventually become community.

Mary and Julie also openly discuss whether Real Estate Connections itself may be ready for another evolution, including a possible shift toward helping people design the next chapter of their lives.

There is no big reveal or final decision in this episode. Instead, you get to hear the thinking happen in real time as Mary asks what she wants the show to become and Julie challenges her to pay attention to what the audience, the guests, and the conversations have already been showing her.

It is also a reminder for the rest of us: sometimes changing direction does not mean the original idea failed. It means we know more now than we did when we started.

Guest Links

Go Confidently Services:
https://goconfidentlycoaching.com/

Julie DeLucca-Collins:
https://juliegoconfidently.com/

Casa De Confidence Podcast:
https://casadeconfidence.buzzsprout.com/1035313/episodes

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/goconfidentlyjulie

Send us Fan Mail

This episode is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.

Connect with Mary:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-foerster-realestate/

https://www.instagram.com/realestateconnectionspod/

Real estate is about more than buying and selling property. It is connected to how we live, build wealth, care for our families, navigate change, and plan for what comes next.

On Real Estate Connections, host Mary Foerster brings together trusted professionals, thoughtful conversations, and practical information to help you make more confident decisions about your home, finances, and future. Episodes explore home buying and selling, downsizing, aging in place, multigenerational living, real estate investing, renovations, caregiving, financial planning, and the personal transitions that often accompany a move.