When I started out in real estate in San Diego I was enthusiastic, high energy, focused, and 
knew that if I worked hard enough that my business would succeed and money would flow. I was often told, “that what you put into the business, will come back to you ten-fold” and I believed it.
After watching me put in 12 hour days in the bullpen of my office, my broker called me in and told me that he knew I was working hard and wanted to give me a corporate lead. I was thrilled! Who wouldn’t be? He told me that an upper management person for a local media station would be coming to San Diego and needed to find a rental and would then be looking to buy a home.
I was over the moon! Seriously, a media personality and was going to buy a home in La Jolla from ME, a rookie? I put together a great folder all about San Diego and met him at the airport. We bonded immediately while on the ride to his hotel and later spending days together while looking for a rental for his family, we became friends.
His family arrived shortly after selling their home out of state and I helped them enroll their children into school. I was on their contact list at their children’s schools and proud to be able to help them adjust to San Diego and give them my recommendations for doctors, dentists, hairdressers etc.… I was their “go-to” person, their errand person, their pick up the kids when we can’t person, and their tour guide. And more importantly and helped me later, was that they were both very inquisitive and asked tons of questions. Those I couldn’t answer I had to find out and I soon became an authority on La Jolla.
After a few months in the rental, the day came that they were ready to start looking for a home. His wife and I spent hours, days, then months looking and showing the husband ones that she liked. Gradually I came to realize that they were not on the same page as to what they each wanted in a home, but I persevered and kept showing them properties. Individually they became more and more demanding, wanting to see everything, analyzing every property, wanting me to knock on doors to find listings etc. and even spending Thanksgiving Day showing them homes.
Finally, after a year of looking, I found them a home that they both agreed on. They told me to go to my office and complete the purchase agreement and to meet them at their rental. I rushed back to the office and when I got there I had a message from them (this was before cell phones). I called them and was told, “We don’t know how to tell you this, but we had met someone through work and he gave us the name of a broker in La Jolla who had pocket listings. He called right after we left you and told us about a great listing he was getting and it would be perfect for us, so we stopped to see it on our way home and we just signed the offer. ::long pause:: We are sorry, but thank you for your time.”
Just like that. THE END.
But not really, because while they did use the other agent to buy a home and while I was CRUSHED that my efforts had not paid off, my efforts were not in vain. That year, because I had shown them EVERYTHING and in every price range, I KNEW the inventory. I was able to help everyone I worked with find their dream home and was rewarded with “Rookie of the Year” for San Diego County and Top Sales Associate for La Jolla for several years after.
The lesson I learned was while you may think that a painful lesson is THE END, it can sometimes be THE BEGINNING of something even better.
Comments(58)