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It Pays to Be Chatty & Nice

(photo by By dboo)

I was de-staging a property today aroudn AT&T ballpark in San Francisco, which is VERY difficult to find parking with metermaids circling around waiting to ticket you.

During my first loading at my car, I saw that the meterman fast approaching. He stopped in front of me and I flipped out for a second because I thought I was getting a $50 ticket. It turned out he was just going to tag the car before me. Because my car is parked a little bit outside of line, I asked him it is alright.

"oh yeah, it's fine. You have nothing to worry about. I am just going to tag this car here."

"What do you mean by tagging?"

"See this little blue chalk dot here (ohhh, so that's how they get you!). If I tagged it that means I was here 2 hours ago."

"Oh I see, so when did your shift started?"

"6am this morning."

"wow, how long was your shift?"

"till 2pm."

"Oh that's great then you can go home and hang with the kids and everything!"

"That's the only reason why I do this job. I actually have another job [he started to walk away]"

"Oh really, what's your other job?"

"I am a home inspector."

"Oh, really?! I am a professional home stager! We can do some business together!"

Next thing you know, we talked on and on for another 30 minutes until this angry man who got a ticket came over.

So now we are going to do some business together and partnering up. He also gave me some useful tips on realtor association meetings, which I have been contemplating to do.

It just goes to show it pays to be nice and chatty!

Posted by Cindy Lin @ Staged4more, ASPM, IAHSP, IRIS on 05/09/2008 08:00 PM

Comments (11)

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11 Comments on It Pays to Be Chatty & Nice

Cindy ~ Isn't that funny? It seems as if you were almost meant to run into this man.

05/09/2008 08:37 PM

by Kathy Passarette, L.I. Staging/Decorating (Creative Home Expressions)

I thought you were going to say he forgot to tag your car and you ended up parking free but your payday was much better!

05/09/2008 08:45 PM

by JoEllen Stranger-Thorsen, Lake County, FL (Catherine Hanson Real Estate, Inc.)

Kathy -- Yes I think so :)

JoEllen -- he did forget to tag my car!!! i endedup parking for 2 extra hours :D

05/09/2008 09:11 PM

by Cindy Lin @ Staged4more, ASPM, IAHSP, IRIS (Staged4more Home Staging & Redesigns)

I'll bet you are always nice, but interesting when we just talk to people how much deeper they are than our first judgment of them. Everyone wants to be seen as a person rather than a label.

05/09/2008 10:06 PM

by Terrylynn Fisher StagersLIST.com Buy Stage Sell (Diablo Realty)

aww Terrylynn you are too kind. I generally pull the typical San Franciscan attitude: "i am too cool to talk to you." :D

05/10/2008 11:14 AM

by Cindy Lin @ Staged4more, ASPM, IAHSP, IRIS (Staged4more Home Staging & Redesigns)

Cindy,

We never know where business is going to come from next. It's always a good policy to introduce yourself and let people know what you do for a living where ever you are. Grocery Store, Church, Walking the Dog, etc. Congratulations, I hope this relationship with the home inspector turns into something HUGE!

05/10/2008 03:41 PM

by Michelle Pimentel ASP, IAHSP Empire Home Staging (Empire Home Staging Solutions)

I agree it seems that when I am not rushing about and actually take time to chat with someone it always turns out to be a blessing. Glad you did not get a ticket

Phyllis pafumi

05/13/2008 03:03 PM

by Phyllis Pafumi-ReStyled to Sell Staging Homes NJ (ReStyled to Sell Home Staging New Jersey)

It's true. You never know what you may learn about a person during idle conversation.

05/19/2008 08:56 PM

by Rosario Lewis, GRI ~ DDR Realty, Orange County, NY (DDR Realty)

Cindy- As someone who was born and raised in San Francisco, I love the people and all that they have to offer. All I can say is keep chatting it up, it makes life more interesting. Emma

05/20/2008 11:12 AM

Leave it to you Cindy...this is just great. Kym

05/26/2008 11:51 AM

by Kym Hough, Staging Consultant , Staged to Sell, SF Bay Area, CSP (Staged to Sell & StagersLIST.com)

Cindy,

Hey, he might just cut you some slack on parking. I'll stop complaining about parking in Seattle.

05/27/2008 01:51 AM

by Susan Peters - Seattle Realtor/Staging Specialist (Re/Max Mutual Realty)

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Home Stager: Cindy Lin @ Staged4more, ASPM, IAHSP, IRIS (Staged4more Home Staging & Redesigns)

Cindy Lin @ Staged4more, ASPM, IAHSP, IRIS
San Francisco, CA
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Staged4more Home Staging & Redesigns

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