One of the incredible things about being a real estate agent is the fact I get to meet such a huge variety of super cool people. People I would never meet otherwise because I never go anywhere and I have no friends. Not that I really like people, either. For the most part, I don't like people. Not the "general public" people.
Now, before you start griping and saying there is no such thing as general public, there is only public, let me tell you that you would be correct. But you know what I mean, right? The people at the grocery store who ram their carts into the backs of your ankles and steal your parking space before you get to it. The people at sporting events who splash beer on you and won't stand up when you try to squeeze by. The people at rock concerts who do stand up the whole time and block your view. Those clods.
But clients are generally special. Unique. Each has a different story. I learn something new from all of them.
I toured a home in Elk Grove yesterday for a pre-listing appointment that is, believe it or not, NOT a Sacramento short sale. These sellers had paid cash, more than $600,000 for this home. As I turned the corner from Bilby, I was wondering to myself what would constitute a $600,000 home in that neighborhood because I've sold others in that Elk Grove neighborhood recently that did not cost anywhere near that initial amount.
I was blown away by this house. It was evident a lot of thought had gone into the upgrades, and each was carefully selected. It's one of those homes that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt once it hits the market buyers will be fighting over it. It's that beautiful. But so are the sellers' dollhouses. This seller creates dollhouses that are real life replicas, which I suppose is the definition of dollhouse. Miniature gold-plated dinnerware, crystal buckets, crystal chandeliers, custom hand-sewn drapery. It was a jaw-dropping experience, and I admire such talent.
I toured another pre-listing home in Fair Oaks, which will go on the market next month. This home, too, is not a short sale. The seller owns this home free and clear, and she is retiring out of state. The seller is in her 80s, and I have special place in my heart for elderly people. I don't know very many older people. All of the older people in my family are dead. Her smoke detector was beeping when I walked in.
When I asked about it, she said her neighbor would come over some day and fix it for her. No, this is nuts. You can't live with a constant beeping sound going on. Yeah, she said, she could and she got used to it. Is this what I have look forward to in my later years, I wondered? Beeping going on all around me and I can't stop the sound? I have to rely on the kindness of strangers, those clods at the grocery store?
OK, so agents aren't supposed to do anything like this, but I don't care. I hauled the ladder out of the garage. Who cares that I'm wearing a dress and 4-inch heels. Up the ladder I go, like a fool. Remove the smoke detector, replace the battery and put it back.
I also got to see the seller's Help-I've-Fallen-and-I Can't-Get-Up device. She showed it to me. The butt of 3rd-grader jokes. Oh, you might think you will never need one of those but you're probably wrong. This seller did indeed fall one day in her garage. She could not get up. She pressed the button and help arrived. She thought it was pretty funny when I suggested that it would be easier to have a chip implanted in your arm, except how would you activate it? You can wear one of those devices in the shower, too. You never take it off, the seller said.
I felt like I should have hugged her when I left, but I didn't want to be accused of being one of those huggy-touchy-feelie people or overstep my boundaries. I'm just a Sacramento real estate agent who gets to meet really interesting people. I'll get the job done right for both of these sellers. And get them top dollar, too. Because that's my job. I am so lucky to be in real estate. You who are not in the business have no idea how much fun it is.
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