My First Real Estate Sale Taught Me A Valuable Lesson. No matter how much follow-up, networking or marketing you do, you never know where your next sale is coming from. It is a lesson I've never forgotten to this day.
Back in 1984 I was brand new Sales Counselor, as we were called, working in new home sales for a major builder in Orlando. I was assigned to a new subdivision called Horseshoe Bend in the northwest side of town. Models were still under construction, no homes had been built and it was the middle of a sweltering, very humid Florida summer.
One day a very pleasant woman came by to see what we had available. The models weren't even framed out yet, but I had pricing, floor plans and plenty of time. She told me that her husband didn't want to be involved in choosing a home and had told her he would sign for whatever she decided on.
"Sure" I thought to myself. However, I carried on and did my very best to inspire her to invest in one of our wonderful floor plans. She fairly quickly choose a floor plan and insisted I right up a contract. She told me she had been looking for a while and knew what she wanted.
"Why not?" I again thought to myself. I wasn't very busy up until that point, and I needed the practice. She signed her name to the paperwork and announced she would be back with her husband's signature. "Yeah, right!"
Low and behold, about an hour later she returned with the fully-executed contract. She told me her husband was in the shower when she got home, she handed him a pen and he signed.
Well, to make a long story short as they say, this couple became the first homeowners in Horseshoe Bend, and the husband never did see the completed home until the day they closed.
There it is. My first real estate sale, and very valuable lesson at the same time. I have learned many other things over the years, but I will never forget my first sale!
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