Sometimes I drive by your house, part 2

It is always A Really Big Deal when a transaction finally closes. Just as some students do when I look back over 20 years of teaching, some homes and their owners stand head and shoulders above the rest when I look back over the years in real estate.

The Really Big Deal (or really little deal) blog challenge got me thinking, for sure. I thought about choosing my very first listing (which did not sell on my watch, because I foolishly let them over-price it). I just wanted my sign rider in a yard. I wanted to hold open houses on my own listing. I wanted a house picture in my ad.

I thought about my very first closing, a double wide trailer.

I thought about choosing my very first REO assignment, which DID sell on my watch. I had finally broken through into a niche market, and it helped make my career.

I thought about some of the estate homes I have sold, because those are always very service orientated. Dealing with the families at this stressful time is a challenge and an honor.

I thought about the house I sold when my buyers had to live in a motel for three weeks, awaiting an often-extended closing. The wife was in a wheelchair. They had two children, and a very large dog. That is a special family to me. The wife died the day the older child graduated from high school. I have now sold a house to her.

I thought about two different buyers who lived in travel trailers while waiting for their closings.

I thought about the engaged couple who were scheduled to close on Valentine's Day, but they broke up instead on that day! I went to the non-closing closing by myself.

I thought about a very special couple who thought they would never be able to own a home, and the sweet little cottage that is now the neighborhood jewel. I swell with pride every time I drive by.

I thought about a listing where a triple murder had happened.

I thought about short sales I have done, and I quickly decided that I do not want to relive a moment of those!

I thought about a supposedly haunted house I listed.

I thought about the home I sold for an elderly member of my church. Selling her home freed her to move to Georgia to be with her only child. Everybody at church misses her.

I could go on and on...but I chose the one I sold this year for clients who fearlessly and faithfully stood by me when I had a heart attack this June, just months after my open heart surgery. Many clients worried about me but mostly about whether my health would affect their house sale or house hunt. I told the story in my blog entry, In Despair, I Almost Let it Roll to Voicemail. Marilyn and Wendy will ALWAYS stand out in my memory, just as very special students from my teaching career stand out. They called to tell me they were praying for me and that I should not give their home a second thought. They left no doubt in my mind that I was special to them. That phone call was among the most memorable conversations I have ever had.

As has been true in many of my transactions, I learned that we can and do make very special, lifelong friends in this business.

If I can meet such special friends every year in real estate, I will be very blessed, indeed!