Be on the Lookout for Your Next Client…of 2040

Monday Morning Match is a simple post – maybe a quote, inspirational story or idea – intended to spark some motivation inside each of you so your week gets off to a fantastic start on Monday morning.

Sometimes Relationships Take Time to Build

I remember how excited I was to have my first sale back in August of ’98. As I hectically worked to get that first buyer to the closing table I would jealously look at many of the top agents in my office in awe as they casually attended multiple closings in one day, sometimes three or four a week. I remember thinking that I’ll never be that good.

Fast forward a few years and I was starting to get busy. Consistently busy. I maybe hadn’t defined it as my philosophy yet but I was definitely “building relationships, solving problems, and having fun” every single day. I was going from appointment to appointment, burning the candle at both ends and enjoying the hell out of it. Before I knew it I was the agent attending multiple closings on the same day and averaging about four or five sales each month.

When I finally decided to hire my first assistant, I wasn’t quite sure whether I wanted an administrative person or a buyer’s agent. I interviewed a few people without really knowing what their “role” would be but I kept searching until I found someone that seemed willing to figure it out as we went along. When Molly started with me, she had two young sons; Ian was 6 and Trevor was 3.

I stayed busy and kept getting busier. Molly started out working with buyers but eventually ended up settling into more of an assistant role, managing all the files and behind the scenes details of my real estate business. Molly kept me busy and focused and I kept her busy and focused. We had a blast over the next few years, eventually adding a client of mine to the team as a much-needed buyer’s agent. Kristin joined us about 7 months before I assumed the role of branch manager and stopped selling real estate. Molly moved on to work with another top agent and Kristin eventually moved to Southern Ohio where she continued her real estate career.

The Years Roll By

I stayed in touch with Molly over the years and watched her boys grow up, graduate high school, and head off to college. We didn’t see each other much but randomly connected on social media. I thought of her often whenever I gathered with fellow agents from those glory days of our branch office when so many of us really launched our careers. It’s really neat to see how many of us are still active and successful in the industry and can recall so many stories from those years together that probably become just a little bit funnier as time goes on.

Over the Christmas break last year, Molly and I connected for a few beers and she told me that I should be expecting a call in the Spring from her son, Ian. He and his wife Kaitlynn were almost ready to buy their first house and there was no one else that she would want to help them. I finally got that voice mail from Ian introducing himself as Molly’s son and politely asking if I would be able to help him. As I listened to that voice mail a few times before returning the call, all I could picture at the other end of the phone was that little 6-year-old boy I remembered meeting two decades ago.

No Rain, No Rainbows

As the CoronaVirus pandemic was just beginning with hysteria and uncertainty, I held our Buyer Counseling Session online over Zoom. I had dropped off some wine and beer in a fun packet to their apartment so we could enjoy a “virtual happy hour” discussion of their timelines and plans. We got to know each other, talked about the current fast-paced market, and did our best to set expectations as far as wants, needs, and dreams.

The first house we wrote an offer on we were competing with 13 other offers. Ian and Kaitlynn were not discouraged when I called them to give them the news that we didn’t get that house. More appointments were scheduled, more showings were held, and finally, we found another possibility. This time there were not 13 other offers. There were 22. Yikes! The next offer made only had 6 others offers but they still weren’t the one selected by the Sellers. The search goes on!

All through the process, Ian and Kaitlynn remained positive and never took the “missed opportunities” personally. Ian might be the most positive, happy-go-lucky kid I’ve met so it always made it easier to tell them they didn’t get the house…but at the same time made it harder because I wanted to find them a great house to call their home.

This Might be “The One”

Each morning, if a new listing matched Ian and Kaitlynn’s search parameters, it would show up in my mailbox. As soon as I saw the listing agent on one of the houses that came in the email that morning, I had an exciting feeling that this might be the one. Alex was a new agent when I was the Director of Agent Development and had become a good friend over the years as he became one of the rising stars in our company. Less than an hour later, I got a text from Kaitlynn asking if we could see the same one (she had received the same notification too). I smiled as I texted her back telling her I had already scheduled it along with 4 other homes for our next tour.

I scheduled Alex’s listing to be the fourth of five we would see that day. The first three were good…but just not good enough. From the moment we walked into Alex’s listing, Ian and Kaitlynn’s smile never left their face. Each turn to a new room brought more excitement and hope. As we left the house to go look at our last possibility, I texted Alex to tell him I had the next buyer for his home. (I was doing everything I could to “position” what I knew would be a strong offer from my client’s very soon.) As expected, the final house only further reinforced that the last one we had seen was the best one we had seen.

To Make a Long Story Shorter…

(Insert negotiation discussion blah blah blah here)

(Insert calling Molly to share the excitement that we might have found “the one” here)

(Insert anxious night of sleep for Ian and Kaitlynn here)

(Insert final questions and clarifications between me and Alex here)

The Call Every Realtor Loves to Make

As I called Ian early on a Sunday morning from the 9th fairway of the Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course, I had a huge smile on my face.

“Guess what?,” I said, as Ian enthusiastically answered the phone. I shared the good news and then I listened.

“We got the house,” Ian yelled to Kaitlynn, his voice almost cracking in excitement.

“Are you serious?“, Kaitlynn yelled back.

I’m not certain, but my adrenaline was pumping so much after making the call that every Realtor loves to make, I’m pretty sure I sailed my approach shot over the 9th green…but I didn’t care.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

The inspections went well, the appraisal happened quickly, and then all that was left to do was wait. It wouldn’t be a transaction in 2020 if there wasn’t a little anxiety but after a tense last 24 hours waiting for some lending loose ends to get tied up, we were sitting at the closing table.

Last week as we walked out of the title office, I couldn’t help but smile as I looked across the parking lot at that little kid who used to call me “Mr. Carpenter.” Ian and Kaitlynn had just purchased their first house. Kaitlynn was proudly holding the key in her hand and all their dreams of turning that house into a home were in her heart. All that was missing was their dog Milo, who would soon be running around his new back yard.

I told Ian and Kaitlynn that evening, as we finished up a celebratory cocktail, that they could (and should) call me with any questions. It wasn’t 24 hours after the ink had dried on the closing documents that they both had called or texted me with a question about something. After quickly responding, I smiled and laughed as I realized that even though it’s been twenty-plus years and we haven’t worked together for fifteen of them, Molly is still helping to keep me busy.

Cover photo courtesy of Matt Howard