On the telephone, Dale Yontz describes for her caller a four-bedroom, two-bath house on East Liberty Street that’s listed for $94,900.
It’s a 1917 charmer.
“I’d be happy to show it to you,” Yontz says.
The caller is interested, and they make arrangements to meet the next morning. Before hanging up, Yontz wants to give the potential buyer a heads-up.
“If it’s pretty tomorrow and you don’t mind,” Yontz says, “I might be riding my Harley.”
No problem, the client assures Yontz.
“I don’t care if you come in a boat,” she adds.
Thankfully, as a species, we keep evolving.
Now most of us realize that bikers are people, too. These men and women motorcycle enthusiasts come in all shapes and sizes, ages and nationalities and, by gummit, fill all manner of occupations.
Elizabeth Dallene “Dale” Yontz just happens to be an office manager and broker with B&R Realty of Salisbury.
Yes, she wears leather and likes to “dance” in the seat of her 2010 Street Glide Harley-Davidson as it heads down the highway, music blaring.
But the fact she can handle a 800-pound, chrome-clad bike and likes to travel in packs with other Harley lovers doesn’t mean she can’t sell a house.
Who’s to say the surgeon taking out your appendix this morning didn’t arrive at the hospital on his Honda Gold Wing?
Or maybe the attorney handling your will likes to take weekend trips on her Yamaha motorcycle.
Who says the reporter writing this column didn’t drive to work today in a Harley? He didn’t. He’s a wimp.
“Most people think it’s really neat,” Yontz says of people’s reactions when she arrives on her motorcycle to show a house. “I’ve never been one of those formal real estate people. I’m pretty laid back.”
Yontz, 50, is a Rockwell native and 1978 graduate of East Rowan High School. She and her husband, Jeff, a supervisor for Duke Energy, are in their 32nd year of marriage. They have two grown daughters, a granddaughter and have another granddaughter on the way.
Over the years, Dale has managed a convenience store, worked in a doctor’s office and been a broker for Wallace Realty, Century 21 and, for the last seven years, B&R Realty.
“I’ve always been — not your typical Realtor,” she says.
Dale and Jeff are relatively new to the biker game after having spent many years doing “the boat thing” at the ocean. They bought their first motorcycles in 2009, and Dale put 11,000 miles on her Harley-Davidson Heritage between March and October of that year, including a trip to Key West.
Her first trip with other Harley enthusiasts took Dale to the Outer Banks in April 2009 after she and Jeff had taken a rider’s education course at Tilley’s Harley-Davidson in Salisbury and passed their tests for licenses.
Within a year, Dale saw a paint scheme on the Harley of her dreams at a gathering in Daytona, Fla. She ordered her 2010 Street Glide from a dealership and immediately had it custom-painted in Shamrock green and black.
“This is my baby,” she says, standing proudly next to bike.
She explains that her next project is to add another exhaust pipe.
“I just like the sound of a Harley,” Dale Yontz says.
The Yontzes quickly became absorbed in a new circle of friends — Harley-Davidson riders, of course.
“We’re all a family now, and just think, all we had to do was buy a Harley,” Dale says.
Jeff has become director of the local HOG (Harley Owners Group) chapter, and Dale is president of the Ladies of Harley. She also recently joined the Patriotic Guard. It seems as though every Tuesday involves some sort of Harley-Davidson group meeting, and weekends are filled with trips in and out of state.
Their upcoming trips will include destinations such as Morehead City; New Bern; Jacksonville, Fla; and Savannah, Ga.
The local bikers also raise money for charities. A big event coming up is the “Biker Blues and BBQ Rally and BBQ Classic” Sept. 23-24 at Tilley’s in Salisbury. The store is planning for 4,000 people.
Why does she like riding her Harley? Dale Yontz says there’s a lot to like about the wind in your air, the tunes on the console and the feeling of freedom.
She recognizes the need to be safe and how other drivers often don’t see motorcycles or, for some reason, treat them differently than other vehicles.
When Dale goes on some of the longer trips, her boss, Karen Rufty, demands that she call home just to let her know she arrived safely.
“When the good Lord says your time is up,” Dale says, “it’s up. You can’t live it in fear.”
Unless you’re a wimp.
Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263, or mwineka@salisburypost.com.