Real estate is a people business. As a real estate agent I am in marketing, advertising, sales, business, accounting, and so many other professions all wrapped up in to one job. However, at the core of what I do I take care of people. I put their needs at the forefront and help them achieve their goals of home ownership or home sales. I carefully and thoroughly listen to their ambitions, steer and guide them in the direction they need to walk to succeed.
I always look forward to the first meeting between myself and a new client. It's a chance to get to know each other, start developing a relationship, and establish the expectations of the journey we're about to embark on. Every home buyer and seller are different and there are always various motives behind why they want to purchase or sell a property. We hit a stride with some clients early on and others take time to get in sync. There are individuals who we personally connect with and some who remain strictly professional throughout the transaction.
I met a married couple several months ago who were referred to me by a close friend. They wanted to sell their home and move to a different suburb of the Phoenix area as their lifestyle wasn't conducive to where they were currently located. They are young with no kids and enjoy more of a nightlife than what the Gilbert area has to offer.
I had never met them before but our first meeting at a local coffee shop could not have gone any better. They were both heavily tattooed like myself and besides the obvious physical similarities our personalities could not have matched up better. This was going to be an extremely fun transaction!
I listed their home and had three offers within the first weekend! I presented the offers to them at which point they both looked absolutely stunned and terrified. It took them off guard at how quickly I was able to get their home sold. Immediately they advised me to let the potential buyers know that they would not be accepting any of the offers and would be taking their home temporarily off the market until they could find a place to live themselves. Reluctantly we proceeded forward with their decision.
While their residence was temporarily off the market the wife was injured in a car accident, one of their two beloved Great Dane's fell ill, and the husband was called away on out-of-state business. Chalk it up to bad luck or bad timing. Either way, they ultimately decided to cancel their home sale and stay put for the time being until life gave them another chance to catch their breath.
I was of course saddened at the loss of business potential but more so the fact that I had thoroughly enjoyed my time with them and was sorry that my time was cut short. Over the past few months I have continually reached out and checked up on them always with the promise of getting together in person but never quite being able to find the time. That is until this weekend.
Their schedule and mine finally came together and allowed us to spend a great night together this weekend. The conversations were fabulous and the time flew by so fast none of us could believe it when the night finally wrapped up. The sale of their home wasn't even a topic the entire night. It was just about getting to know these great clients more than time allowed the first time around. We left the evening with a plan and a date to get together again in a few weeks!
So what did I learn in real estate this week? You just never know when you'll have the privilege of meeting those special people that you will not only be able to assist professionally, but also enjoy their company personally. Going back to my opening statement, this is a people business. I've been an agent for over 17 years. I can't even count the number of clients I've assisted in that time period but the amount of deep friendships I've made along the way aren't nearly as many. Cherish those few that come in to your life that have a lasting impact because they don't come around often.
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