Believe it or not, business started picking up at the end of August. My lender sent me a lead for a couple (first-time homebuyers) looking in San Benito County, an hour plus south of here. I wasn’t too thrilled about them looking that far away, but as I’ve learned in some of our training, you have to reward the behavior. A referral is always a good thing, and I was certainly very grateful. The lender told me the couple would be interviewing with other agents, so I jumped on it as soon as I could and set up a buyer consult.

At first, they were looking in Hollister. Considering I had just closed a deal in Gilroy and Hollister was maybe another 20 minutes away, I figured I would suck it up and do it. After I met the family, they seemed so lovely AND their timeline was two short months so I why not? They signed on to work with me, and I was so thrilled. A few weeks in, I realized, they were actually looking in THREE different counties– none of them mine. Long story short, I made many visits south– as far as Salinas, which is 90-120 minutes away. Then, they were focused on new construction, then old construction, then back and forth again. You have no idea. On some weekends, I just couldn’t do an open house, tour with an existing client, and then tour with these new clients… I had to enlist the help of my mentor, who took them out twice.

It’s now October, and after three offers (one other one getting into contract), we’re in contract again. And you know me: I never get an easy file. Not only is the home far away, but their loan is not the easiest AND with the first home where we got into contract, I uncovered about $700/year in special taxes and assessments that the seller and disclosure reports never disclosed. Now, we’re in contract on another home and this time, there’s a 20-year solar agreement that the sellers didn’t know they were in. I’m telling you: I am reading so many contracts that John is lamenting I should have just gone to law school bc at least I would be getting paid (instead of working for free– at least until a deal closes). I can’t believe it but shit man, all those years helping my dad with his real estate transactions trained me up for reading this tedious and annoying fine print. Shit, I know the agreement better than the fucking solar company, I tell you!

Anyway, I’m hoping this deal will progress and I can get it through until closing day at the end of October. Meanwhile, I also signed on a new client through one of my open houses. The family has a healthy budget and is seasoned with home buying BUT the family is currently living in separate cities (way out of town) and they have a home for sale. Needless to say, for the last month and a half, it’s been a beotch coordinating two clients, both from out of town and searching for homes out of town. The logistics are a serious headache. The second family is nice but there’s also been a lot of flip flopping, so I’m getting pretty worn out.

I try to explain it to my friends: I’m super stoked and excited for the business. Both clients have signed me up as their exclusive agent. But both cases are very challenging, from the logistical standpoint trying to schedule showings and meetups as well as from the client navigation/guidance/management perspective. Their needs/wants are constantly changing, so things are hot one minute then cold the next.

Last weekend, I was out in Hollister all day long. Then both clients wanted to submit offers at the same time but on different homes. This shit happens in such a flash, that I ended up copping a squat at the local Safeway and using my mifi hotspot to review all the disclosures, run comps/analysis, make calls, prep the docs. Four hours later, I get an offer submitted. The second one is nearly good to go. On the drive home, the second family changes their mind on the home. All that work for nothing. Back to the drawing board… And that’s how this shit rolls. Up and down, on and off, hot and cold, stop and go.

But I realized yesterday that, despite the frustrations, once I get my people into contract, I like what I do. Especially with the first-time homebuyers, the work is very rewarding and I actually put two and two together last night. Real estate works for me bc it combines education with advocacy and care. I care about understanding the docs. I care about knowing the process and knowing all the ins and outs. And I want my clients to know what the hell they are signing with all these legal documents. Ultimately, I advocate for them and protect them even if it means the deal falls through and I don’t get paid.

Interestingly, remember my listing that imploded in April? Even though everyone around me and my co-listing agent insisted that my clients had no case (they signed what they signed), six months later, we got the City to work out a deal with a partnering housing nonprofit. We’re still getting the paperwork tied down, but at the end of October, my client will get almost $150k more than she would have gotten had we just acquiesced and accepted going by the book. Sure, it’s still not the market price we originally thought we’d get, but given the deed restrictions and her acquiring the home through an affordable housing program, this is a wonderful outcome. And I’m glad that we persisted– that we reached out to the City departments, made repeated appeals, scheduled repeated meetings, and thankfully, multiple agencies came together to create a better solution: synergy at it’s best.

So work is definitely picking up. I’m doing far more activities– I’m just hoping these activities will lead to results soon, bc I would really love to end the year off on a high note.