Saturday, May 31, 2008

What I Like About the Real Estate Business

Although it seems like it happens about as often as Halley's Comet, once in a while, the planets align, timing is right, a transaction proceeds with a minimal number of bugs on the windshield, and EVERYONE involved walks away happy. Here's a quick recap of how this one played out:

Three weeks ago Monday, I meet a young couple through the internet, relocating from Utah, going to Grad School at U of M, and would like to buy their first home. We look at 3 foreclosures Monday, one home on Tuesday, and 3 more on Wednesday, just for good measure. I don't care what you say, and we as real estate agents find ourselves always trying to "sell" homes all the time. Agents do not sell homes, the homes sell themselves. They fell in love with home #5, and it was so nice, we were scratching our heads as to how it could have still been on the market.

Anyway, we start search Monday, find perfect home Tuesday, offer made and accepted by Friday, and it closed yesterday, two weeks later. Inspection issues were resolved quickly and amicably, Appraisal hiccup was burped and resolved. The seller, who had an emotional attachment to the home, took much comfort in the fact that she was helping a nice young couple with twin 4-month old daughters get their first home. The Sellers agents, lender, and Title Company were a joy to work with. The buyers have a lovely new home, and were smart enough to realize the value of owning real estate vs. paying rent for the 4 - 6 years they will be studying at the U of M.

Mary and my enjoyment in the business goes far beyond the commission. Our joy comes from helping nice people through real estate transactions. Today's market is very tightly wound, too many people are under way too much financial pressure, and most real estate transactions are highly charged, emotional, and often less than satisfying (to say the least). When Seller, Buyer, Agents, Lender, and Title company walk away from the table looking forward to doing business again, it is time to take a moment to smell the roses.

Congratulations Adam and Jill: We love doing business with nice people, and REALLY love doing business with REALLY nice people.

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