Recently a merger with Barb Summers Real Estate, in Richmond Heights, and Clarity Street Realty was announced. The combined companies will work out of 1530 S. Big Bend Boulevard, Summers’ present location. 40 South News sat down with Summers and her daughter, Kay Basta, to talk about Summers’ long career.
Barb Summers began her real estate career as an agent in 1966 because she had four small children and wanted flexible work hours. Her family’s first home was a two-family flat in the city. They kept the flat and moved to a home in Maplewood on Zephyr Place in 1962. That was her first rehab.
Her daughter, Kay Basta, said it was a beautiful neighborhood. “It was like Leave it to Beaver land back then,” she said. Basta has owned and managed the real estate business the past ten years.
Summers went on to rehab many homes in the MRH area along with her husband of nearly 60 years, Jim.
She opened her own real estate business, Barb Summers Real Estate in 1975. She said back then, when Maplewood houses sold for between eight and thirteen thousand, being a million-dollar seller meant something.
Basta said her mother is a “joiner.” She’s been president of the Maplewood Rotary, a long-standing member of the Maplewood Chamber, charter member and former president of the Richmond Heights Chamber, president of Richmond Heights Senior Club, supporter of Boy Scout Troop 362, member of Maplewood Baptist Church since 1962, and organizer of Pride of the Heights, a charity-based house tour and home awards.
In 2002, the agency held a barbecue to raise money for the flag and flagpole at Maplewood Richmond Heights. Basta said they raised $2,700.
Summers is still rehabbing. “I’ve been doing it for 40 years, and you can’t just walk away from a job you love,” she said. She’s currently working on a house on Bruno Avenue. She said her favorite rehab was a big Federal style home on Lohmeyer Avenue.
Taking care of older folks is another of Summers’ causes. She said she hates to see someone take advantage of them.
“We were with a lady the other day, her insurance bill was three times what it should have been; they were billing her for a garage she didn’t have,” Summers said. She said a lack of senior housing in the area remains a challenge for the community.
What a wonderful woman Barb Summers is! So happy to see this story reported. She is such an asset to Maplewood and Richmond Heights. Keep improving the neighborhood one property after another, Barb and Jim!
My Grandmother is one amazing woman. She has been a great influence to my life. I am very proud of her accomplishments.
Congratulations to the Summers family. It’s so great to have them in the neighborhood.
Thank you, Doug Miner, for posting this kind of story. Folks who have served our community in positive way, for a long time, represent a valuable resource for those of us who were unaware of their presence.