How many of you find a way to make the transaction work? Do you go above and beyond "the call of duty"? How often do I ask myself if I'm doing the right thing when I give a credit or buy something for the client to make a transaction work? NONE! NEVER! NADA! ZILCH! ZERO! That's right...NONE! I don't second guess my decisions when it is to benefit the client and the transaction to make it work.

Three days ago I wrote about my loyal client, Mr. "W" in my post A Hawaii Real Estate Story: The Faithful and Loyal Client.  Now, I have been known to give credits, clean, paint, do yard-work, do double work (when the other side won't) and in the end do I regret it? NO. That's a real big fat NO, because sometimes I have to do this to make a transaction work.

In Mr. "W"'s case, I have been working with him for about 2.5 years. He is just one of those people I feel needed someone he could trust, that would be patient and loyal. That was me. I too, want client's who I could trust and be loyal. That is him.

On June 30th by 11:30 am I had put in an offer for Mr. "W" and since then this is what has transpired:

• July 2, 2007- Right before the deadline for our offer the seller's agent (Carol) calls. They are going to counter us on the price of the offer. (that was expected)
• Met with Mr. "W" and we call the LO again to go over all figures and different programs so he would feel comfortable if we countered them back at X amount. Fine. We submit the counter to their counter offer.
• July 3, 2007- 8:30 am- Carol calls and says the seller is adamant about not going that low. I told Carol there is no way that Mr. "W" can go up any further. After discussing our options we both agree to a solution.
• BOTH agents (Carol and I) will contribute a little from our commissions and credit back to the seller to cover X amount.
• I send Carol a revised cooperating brokers agreement  and she sends me a revised page 12 of the Purchase Contract with the agreement of Seller deducting X amount for the commission that Carol and I are chipping in.
• Seller AGREES!  We have an accepted contract as of 12:00pm!
• Carol has the Cooperating Broker's agreement signed and emails me with the document and asks if I can get my broker to sign and send back.
• Call my broker and ask her to pick up the doc from fax, sign and fax back. Done within two minutes. Scan and email back to Carol and right when I click send she is calling to ask if I got the docs. (Yup..and on it's way back)
• I call Mr. "W" and I let him know what the Carol and I are doing. He is stunned. Doesn't know quite what to say. He says he will call me back after he eats as he just got through swimming at Koolina beach.
• I get all the paperwork ready (escrow instructions, disbursement, contract and check) and rush it down to escrow and now escrow is opened for this transaction!
• Rush back to the office and drop copies off for the other admin. lady to prepare the file. (It's my day off from the office)

Mr. "W" called about an hour ago and he said he has already gone through emailing docs etc. to the Loan Officer. The Loan Officer? One of the faithful, trustworthy and loyal Loan Officer's I referred my client to. And then Mr. "W" says this: "Sally, I just want to thank you and the seller's agent for what you just did for me. I still can't believe it". I said, "You know what Mr. 'W', sometimes it's not all about a buck...and getting that last buck. And besides, look how you stuck by me this whole time. I thank you for being the loyal client." 

Wait! This wasn't all I wanted to write about. This seller's agent, Carol, has been in the business for 25 years, is the partner of the RE firm and I have worked on two other transactions with her. The first one we worked on together I represented the seller (co listed w/another agent). Carol represented the buyer and we got that baby in contract within 24 hours of the offer and that went smooth. The other one was for my own townhouse that I bought where she represented the seller. Now this one. Was she worried about chipping in for this one either...Not a bit of hesitation! Why? Because we already know how each other works and how smooth this transaction will go just because we are diligent agents and get everything done in a timely manner. It would be worth it!

So, after talking to Mr. "W" and while my pc is booting up, I check my email and the Seller's Disclosure is already in it for me to go over with my buyer. And....we have the home inspection scheduled for Thursday afternoon (I only work a half day at our office). We're on it! Loyal Client and A Great Agent working opposite me. What more could I ask for? I do believe that this will surely be another smooth transaction.

Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman's Mililani Hawaii Real Estate Blog 2007