Relationships with People

A seasoned agent friend of mine told me 20+ years ago that you can only gain a reputation once. This has always stuck with me and when I conduct business with colleagues, vendors and friends, I am always very conscious on how I treat them, I slip occasionally but when I know I've been rude or short with someone, I call them back and apologies. This is not at all about how perfect I am, this is about trying to be aware of how I treat and interact with others. I mess up all the time, get worked up over something and say stupid, sometimes nasty things. It probably also stems from me wanting to be liked by all. However I got there, it really feels bad to me to be mean to others, I do it, I hate that I do it and I try to correct. I think I've gotten nicer and more patient over the years but time will tell.

Closing the deal

Today I closed two very long escrows, one client that started looking at homes almost a year and a half ago. Initially they started looking to lease something here in town, they live part time in New York and spend a lot of time lately in Los Angeles. After looking at a lot of property, the finally decided they should buy a home here, that search took over six months and interesting thing about them, husband and wife, they both thought they were on the same page about what style and type of home they were interested in but in the end, they both had very different ideas about what they really liked. It was complicated but in the end worked out. I think they picked out a lovely home in the perfect neighborhoood, quiet, private and secluded.

The other deal was a large condominium in Century City, my partner Daniel and I were the second agents to get the listing, the seller an older gentleman, needed to sell in order to maintain his lifestyle as he grows older. His daughters were basicaly in control of the deal and orchestrated the final deal. It was emotion packed, very sad and tough watching he and his daughers interact, I am sure it brought up old family feelings and rememberance of the loss of his wife, there mother and how life just moves so quickly and our immortality.

I am glad they are both done, took a lot of work and energy but I think the end result was good for everyone.

The Uncertainty of Appraisals

Today I met an appraiser at one of my listings. He was an odd fellow, said very little and ask few questions. I offered to help him in any way I could but he refused. I talked up all of the wonderful points of the property; view, size of rooms, outdoor area, pool and guest house. He remained completley unemotional. When he was done I walked to his car and offered to email him comparible sales (comps), he said he would contact me if he felt he needed them. OH WHAT A FRUSTRATING process this is, relying on people you do not know, hoping they are educated about the area they are appraising, hoping they "get" the value of the property and waiting for the final result via the lender. I guess I understand how cautious these people need to be after the devastating damage done over the past couple of years based on inaccurate and trumped up appraisals. I uncomfortable with the unknown.

The perfect marriage

Today I spent most of my morning at inspections at my listing at 2366 Astral Drive off of upper Nichols Canyon (www.2366AstralDrive.com) The buyers and the sellers were all in attendance, many agents get uncomfortable with such meetings but I feel that in many cases that when both parties meet and have a little love fest it helps reinforce the deal. In this case I have the most wonderful sellers and the buyers are a lovely young couple about to have a baby who are in love with the house. One of my sellers is the architect who designed the house and I felt that he could answer many of the inspectors questions while on site and possibly defer any concerns the buyer might have. It worked like a dream and it was and will be the perfect marriage of the right buyers for the right house and I truly beielve that it will also help the deal move along easier as the sellers and buyers now have a face and are no longer the other side negotiating with each other, now there is a personal connection. This is one of the parts I like best about my job.

Friday's Breakfast

I have breakfast with my friend Jude every Friday morning at Il Forneio in Beverly Hills, she is a very old friend of mine and also a colleague, she is a Title Rep for Equity Title Company. We catch-up on the past weeks events and because of our history we speak about mutual friends as well. This mornings topic was communication and our frustration with people not returning calls & emails in a timely manner. I am festidius about returning all calls and email the same day I receive them, even if that means at 11:59pm, Jude is the same. The real estate business moves so fast and is such a instant gratification type business, clients and agents want to know now and with Blackberry's and IPhones, there is really no excuse not to get back to people quickly. There is something very comforting about knowing you have a weekly standing breakfast date with a good friend + we have our favorite waiter Rudy and the food is delicious.

First Day of Blogging - April 21, 2010

Welcome to my first day of blogging. I was at first resistant to the idea of doing this but I was at a friends birthday party this past Sunday night and and the host who I am friendly with and I struck up a conversation anout social media and how important it is to let people know what you do and how you do it, he suggested that it is important to blog and not only write what is going on in my business world but to tell it honestly and candidly. So here I go. I am just finishing up closing a large deal with some wonderful clients of mine, there business manager is in NY and as you may or may not know, selling real estate in New York is done completely different then in California. They do not use an escrow company to transact the deal, they use attorneys who has the deal out and close it. We've had a few miscommunications over the past 45 days, our way of selling homes is so different, this business manger is a very nice man and very smart, he is also very protective of his clients. I have enjoyed working with him for the past year + and now as we come to the end of this process, I sense his frustration with the deal and I am sure with me as well. It will close next week but the last 10% of the deal have been frustrating for all.