Recognition

Patricia at the closing table

Sigh of relief :)

Lets be honest. What is the most common response to why someone gets into Real Estate? Don’t you hear, “Because I love houses.” Well, really how great is it to get drive around for 5 hours looking at houses that may be overpriced with buyers who are afraid of actually making an offer, in the rain?! The reason why I love real estate is best summed up from my dinner last night. I met up with a client whose home I sold in Milwaukie. It was a home she had lived in for over 20 years. She has now moved on and found a ‘diamond in the rough’ on the coast at Yachats. Our relationship has developed from offering professional advice to a beloved friendship. She has relied on my free advice in her purchase in Yachats and looked me up on her 3 days trip to Portland. Sitting during happy hour we sipped our beverage of choice and started reminiscing about the past sale of her home, discussed health and most importantly…we giggled while looking at the pictures taken of this truly out-dated, green shag carpet, beach shells glued on the walls, beach house she has invested in.

At the end of the evening, after the alcohol has given us a sense of relaxation, I speak to the admiration I have for this 60 something year old woman. She has an immune disease which makes being around any kind of fragrance, pollution and chemicals, intolerable. Her body fights itself constantly and will start eating itself up, which gives her constant pain. However, at this point in her life she decided to do the best thing for her, sell and move to where the air is cleaner. That meant leaving all things she has know for the past 45 years, where she raised her daughter and left her secure job and good friends at the city. She exudes strength and yet shows her self open for advice and help when and where needed. She speaks of the color of the moon at the beach and get tiery eyed. I will defenitly take her up on the invitation to visit early next year, after the tacky finishes have been replaced with her new, chemical free, homey environment.

That my friends is why I am in Real Estate. Yes, I enjoy looking at homes. Yes, I enjoy helping people get closer to thier financial goals thru homeownership. But truly, these ones that I have been blessed to have contact with, is what I love about this business. I get the opportunity to meet, learn about and learn from people like this. Every person I work with has a different history, different passions and different challenges. I try to extract those lessons from each experience. At the end of the day, not all clients are this enjoyable to work with, but I wanted to say Thank you Patricia for putting your trust in my ability to sale your home, for teaching me how to keep a great outlook in life even in a trying situation.