Amy Rauch Neilson is a freelance business writer based in Belleville, Mich., who specializes in real estate, human resources and financial writing. She writes for publications and websites including Better Investing Magazine, Pages Magazine, The Detroit News and efinancialcareers.com, and has a regular column on StockCentral.com. A breast cancer survivor, she is at work on a memoir.

I often hear people remark that times have changed, the pace of life has accelerated, the old days of sitting on the back porch with your neighbors and a pitcher of lemonade are a thing of the past. I challenge that notion. My husband and I bought a beautiful 1940s lakefront cottage-turned-year-round home in a quiet community 10 years ago. Our neighborhood is a place where kids beg to play one final round of Capture the Flag in the fading light of a long summer’s evening, where neighbors organize to paint your house while you’re laid up in the hospital, where people volunteer to help you re-shingle the roof before winter sets in. In real estate as well as in life, if you look long and hard enough, you will find whatever it is you are looking for."