Now This is What I Call Service

I admit it. I have another career besides real estate. Yes I have been an airline pilot for 20 years. I have been in real estate for 6 years. This was a chance to combine the two and give incredible service to a client.

The night my clients were leaving for a two week vacation to England I received an offer on their home. Figures! They really wanted to enjoy their vacation and not endure the stress of constant emails, counteroffers, and the other joys of negotiating.

Instead I happened to be flying to London on a scheduled trip for the airline.

Contract in hand I boarded the "tube" (London subway), met my clients at their hotel, and proceeded to have dinner with them.

After finishing a wonderful Indian meal we pulled out the contracts and went to work.A couple of changes made, contracts signed, and I was on my way home.

I presented the contracts to the buyers agent upon my arrival home. It looked good

However...

My clients had made enough changes that the buyers changed their mind, terminated the contract, and started looking for other homes.

Next time I will ask Queen Elizabeth for her help...

I can honestly say one thing: You cannot offer better service then that!

Paint the Door

My wife does the marketing for The Wells Team. One of her "things" is to have the door painted on a home when we list it. I have to admit that I never thought it was a necessity in many cases but I have been proved wrong.

Our highest priced listing had a showing last week. This home has been upgraded inside and out and has captured a lot of serious inquiries.

However last week I received some feedback from a recent showing. The agent said that the door was in bad shape and appeared worn. It gave a bad initial impression and subsequently lost the interest of these potential buyers.

A small point but one that had big ramifications.

When buyers are looking at multiple homes in a day a good first impression is crucial.

Painting that door might help!

I Had to Stop the Bleeding

I have been "preaching" that at times you have to cut your losses and move on when it comes to real estate.

Unfortunately I had to listen to my own advice.

After meeting with my financial planner I decided that I had to take the hit and sell my condo in Florida. From an emotional standpoint it was very difficult, from a financial standpoint it was an even harder decision.

I will be going to closing with cash. That is a very tough pill to swallow.

However my financial planner showed me the situation from a different perspective. The condo would have to appreciate 6% a year just to cover the cost of running the property! That does not even include the property actually going up in value!

If you find yourself in a similar situation meet with a financial professional. Have them show you the numbers, and formulate a long term plan.

This is going to hurt in the short term but in three years I will be ahead of the game.